Brynn patted her shoulder. “Of course, I don’t. Now let us conclude this conversation because I have a lot of work to do if I am to fit all of these into your luggage.” she sighed. “I may have to sneak some shoes into my own bags though I have less allocation than you.”
“No, it’s fine, what won’t fit we shall just leave. Don't pack it in your things. You need space for your own clothes because, for sure, you will accompany me everywhere.”
Brynn simply gave her a strange look and continued packing.
Melissa was well aware that she was being over solicitous of Brynn’s welfare. Ever since ‘the incident’ as she called it, it had come home to her how important Brynn was to her. At the moment, the lady’s maid was the only person she could fully trust.
It was a sad testament to her life and she knew it, but could not see what could be done about it now. Dinner with Patrick had reminded her that he was kind, thoughtful and chivalrous but the trust would only be built over time. She was more secure in the choices she had made but the ground was still slippery beneath her feet and she needed to step carefully. Having Brynn’s support as she navigated these strange waters meant more to her than she could say.
She looked over at her friend, wanting to reach out and hug her again but she supposed Brynn had had enough of her strangeness for one day. Instead, she picked up a book and began to read; or tried to. Her mind kept going back to that seemingly-long-ago kiss she and Patrick had shared. The feel of his lips on hers, the heat of his hands on her body, how tightly he held her. She had never felt so protected as she did in his arms.
She dropped her book on the bed and turned to Brynn who was busy attempting to fold her boots. “How do you think I should prepare to elope, Brynn?”
She startled her lady’s maid so much that she dropped both boots with a small scream before putting a hand over her heart and breathing hard. “Don’t scare me like that,” she said.
“Sorry. Did you forget I was here?”
“Well, you were so quiet.”
“Well? Do you have any advice for me?”
Brynn paused in her folding to stare into the distance. “I suppose you won’t have your mother there with you on your wedding night to take you aside and have a talk so maybe you should learn what she would tell you before.”
Melissa sat up in alarm. “And how do I do that?”
Brynn shrugged, regarding her wryly, “Unfortunately, I’m not married either so I cannot tell you. You cannot ask any of the married servants in this house because it might get back to my mother which might mean getting back to your mother.”
Melissa sighed. She deeply regretted the rift her relationship had caused between that of Brynn and her mother. She had always envied their close bond and now it was broken.
Because of her.
“I am so sorry about all of that,” she said softly.
Brynn’s lips twisted. “She thought she was protecting me. I cannot find fault with her for it. But, that means that I cannot trust her with any of this.”
“Perhaps she was right to do so. I involved you in my shenanigans without thought as to what my mother would do to you if we were caught. It isn’t fair. I don’t know what I was thinking. The last thing I would ever want is to cause you a problem.”
Brynn came to sit on the bed beside her, one hand over hers. “If you didn’t involve me, then who?” she said gently. “I am your friend.”
Melissa turned her hand around, the better to squeeze Brynn’s. “Well then, friend, what shall we do about finding a married madam to tell us all about the facts of life?”
Brynn looked thoughtful and then grinned wickedly. “Well, it’s not only married women who know. We could find ourselves a trollop.”
Chapter 24
Risking it All
Melissa could not believe she was doing this again. It was the early hours of the morning and here they were, clad in shawls, her face hidden, creeping along the thoroughfares of Convent Garden, in search of a prostitute.
This has got to be the wildest thing I have ever done in my life.
Still, she kept an eye out noting how many noblemen were also trawling the thoroughfares in search of women of easy virtue. She snorted quietly to herself, thinking how so very repugnant some men were.
“There is one who has no customers,” Brynn hissed, startling her.
“Fine, how do we proceed?”
Brynn shrugged, as they stood staring at the woman. Then abruptly, Brynn marched over to her. Melissa hurried after her, her heart pounding with fear.
“Good evening,” Brynn said.
The scantily-dressed woman looked her lady’s maid up and down, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.
“Wot dy’e want?”
“We were wondering if we could talk to you?”
“Talk?” the woman spat the word out like it was poison, “I don’t get paid to talk.”
“We will pay you,” Melissa hastened to say and the woman snorted.
“Look, whatever you’re after, I don’t ‘ave it. Whoever ‘e was, I don’t know names, so I can’t tell you if yer ‘usband or yer intended or whoever was ‘ere or not. So, piss off, will you?”
“Oh no, no, you misunderstand. We are seeking information on...” Brynn hesitated, looking for a word.
“We want to know the facts of life,” Melissa cut in.
The prostitute regarded them both with open mouths. “Have you lost yer minds?”
Brynn and Melissa exchanged glances, “No.”
“It’s just that we have no one else to ask,” Brynn earnestly explained.
The woman looked from one to the other and then suddenly she reached out and snatched the shawl from Melissa’s face. Melissa gasped, her hand flying up to hide as much of her face as she could, realizing that what they had done was extremely dangerous. This woman might raise the alarm, for brigands to come and hold her for ransom!
The woman stared at her face. “Yer no lady’s maid,” she said.
Melissa simply gave a haughty stare as Brynn tried to cover her with her body. She appreciated the effort but Brynn was a bony girl who was also shorter than Melissa. It was a valiant attempt but ultimately useless.
Melissa drew herself up to her full height. “No, I am not. And I can pay you. So, will you help us?”
The woman looked from Melissa to Brynn and then sighed. “You have somewhere we can talk?”
They shook their heads simultaneously. “No.”
She rolled her eyes and then turned away. “Follow me.”
* * *
Patrick didn’t know what made him wake early and make his way to Convent Garden that morning. He highly doubted that Melissa would be there–she hadn’t been ever since the last time he’d seen her there. He did not know why he thought today would be any different.
But he was out of sorts after his talk with Stenwick. He had barely slept. Everything he had learned was haunting him. To discover that his father had feet of clay in such a manner was not something he would wish on anyone.
The fresh air will do me good, even if I do not see her. He decided.
He was sitting beneath a large oak, eating a pomegranate obtained from an extremely-determined vendor when he looked up and saw her. She was walking beside her lady’s maid and unlike the other times, she was not buying or haggling. In fact, from what he could see of her, she was doing nothing but staring vacantly off into the distance, her face pale. Her lady’s maid did not seem in any better shape.
He was on his feet before he even thought to stand, and chasing after them. They didn’t even have horses; he really did not know what they were thinking.
“Melissa!” he hissed as soon as he was within hearing range. She jumped, clutching at her lady’s maid’s arm in fear before whipping her head around and staring at him with wide scared eyes. He hastened forward to clutch at her arm. “Shh, it is only me. What are you doing here? I thought you stopped these games.”
She stared up at him with an open
mouth. “I...” Her mouth fell open as her long lashes fluttered, covering her eyes; she got even paler if that was possible.
“We have to get home,” Brynn cut in.
He looked from one to the other with narrowed eyes. “Where are your horses?”
“We left them tied at the edge of the forest.”
“Why?”
“We wanted to be more inconspicuous,” the color was returning to her cheeks in droves and that made Patrick even more worried.
“Why?”
“We had business to attend to.” Melissa tried to pull her arm out of his hand but he held on tight.
“I swear to God, Melissa, if you do not start explaining…”
“I owe you no explanation.” In spite of her flaming cheeks, her voice was calm. That was worrying.
“You are here, alone, in Convent Garden, at the crack of dawn with no protection but your serving girl, and you say you owe me no explanation?” his voice was getting higher with each word.
“Shush,” Melissa looked around as if her father might pop out from anywhere, “Someone will hear you.”
“I am surprised that you grasp that danger. Come, I will take you to your horses and you will explain to me exactly what you are doing.”
He began walking still clutching her arm, completely unable to let it go. This part of Convent Garden was a place of ill repute in the evenings and even now, there were still women of easy virtue about, mingling with the early shoppers. He had never seen Melissa here this early before, and it seemed that they were leaving which meant that they had come in the dark. He really could not fathom what she was about.
* * *
Melissa could barely feel Patrick’s hand on her arm as she was still very much in shock. To see him so soon after she had seen and heard what she had was disconcerting, to say the least. Would he do those things to her?
Has he done those things with someone else?
The woman they had accosted–Soraya had been her name she said–had taken it upon herself not just to explain what that most intimate of acts was about but also, to show them. She had put them behind a tree as some man, who was clearly in his cups, had accosted all three of them. She led him away, whispering for them to watch carefully, and began to kiss him. It was unlike any kiss Melissa had ever seen. It looked more like licking and biting, eating each other’s mouths. Melissa’s nose had wrinkled in disgust just to see it. And then the man had reached up and squeezed Soraya’s breast. She had made a loud moaning sound and arched her back. Melissa’s eyes were bugging out of her head so far that she feared they might roll out completely.
Soraya’s leg lifted and she settled it about the man’s waist as he was fumbling with his trousers. Then she had caught a glimpse of white flesh but promptly shut her eyes as tight as they could go.
She opened them again when she heard the groaning and moaning. It sounded a little painful to her scandalized ears. The pair were moving up and down in a rhythmic fashion and now both of Soraya’s legs were about the man’s waists and he had her wedged between him and a tree. She kept her eyes somewhere around their shoulders after having glimpsed the twin white peaks of his buttocks gleaming in the moonlight.
It did not take too long thankfully and then the man was shaking and shouting and Soraya was saying things. The man stepped away from her and refastened his clothing before handing her a coin.
Soraya sauntered over to where they were standing, frozen and shocked, and grinned. “Well, you wanted to know the facts of life, there you have it. Now, where’s my money?”
Melissa had handed over every penny in her purse without another word and the woman had been kind enough to lead them back to the thoroughfare where they could make their way out of the park.
Melissa and Brynn had avoided each other’s eyes, walking in silence, not knowing what to say, until Patrick had startled her. He seemed very agitated to find her here and she wondered if he had ever partaken of Soraya’s charms or someone else’s.
She stole tiny glances at him, unable to look him in the face with the image of Soraya and that man still squarely front and center in her mind. She knew there was no way that she could tell him what they had been up to. She wasn’t that naïve.
They stopped by the horses and Patrick turned her squarely to face him so that she could not avoid his eyes. “Melissa?” his voice was softer than any tone he had heretofore employed with her, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she hastened to assure him.
“Then why won’t you look me in the eye?”
She struggled to lift her lashes and meet his eyes but found that she could not do it without blushing crimson. He stared at her, his brow furrowed, eyes shadowed with worry. She was sorry to have discombobulated him but they were not–yet–husband and wife and so he had no rights over her movements.
“I’m sorry, we need to leave or else we shall surely be caught,” she whispered softly.
He lifted a hand and placed it gently on her hot cheek. “You know you can tell me anything right? I have kept your confidence so far, have I not?”
She nodded jerkily, feeling a little guilty.
“Well then?”
Melissa decided that there was only one way to distract him from his stubborn line of questioning. She reached up, and placed her lips on his, pressing down hard against him as if she knew what she was doing. He made a surprised sound, almost like a whimper and then he was sucking at her lips, both hands holding her face still as his tongue entered her mouth and plundered her.
It was not a chaste kiss. It was not even remotely similar to what she had thought was a passionate kiss they had shared in her chambers. This was a taking, a sating of hungers undeclared, a claiming. Her knees were weak and she clutched at his shoulders to hold herself up. He continued to lay waste to her mouth.
Oh, My Lord.
There was a strange wetness between her legs and she just did not know what to do.
Brynn cleared her throat loudly and it registered somewhere in Melissa’s mind, but not significantly enough to take any notice.
“We’re still out in the public!” she said very loudly and Patrick jerked away from her with a gasp and a sigh. Melissa took two steps, blindly following his mouth but he held her back, chest heaving.
“Please,” he said his voice raw, wrecked and pleading.
She stopped and really looked at him, seeing in his eyes, everything she was feeling. She stepped back, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
This is probably why they were moaning. The thought flashed through her mind and surprised a laugh out of her. One that started as a snort and then became helpless, long and hysterical. Beside her, Brynn began to smile uncertainly before braying along with her while Patrick watched them with an indulgent smile.
“You have really lost your marbles,” he said speculatively.
That prompted another burst of laughter from the girls and eventually, Patrick as well. It took a while for the hilarity to die down, the sun was already climbing halfway across the sky.
“We need to go, Lady Melissa,” Brynn said.
“Yes.” Melissa turned to gaze adoringly up at Patrick, “I look forward to seeing you at your father’s hunt.”
He stepped forward, reaching for her hand. “I look forward to seeing you.”
He lifted her hand, keeping his eyes locked with hers, and kissed it. They gazed at each other for another moment before Patrick reached down to form a step with his hand and help her up onto her horse.
“I shall follow you at a discreet distance, to make sure you arrive home safely,” he told them.
Melissa smiled, nodded and spurred her horse onward.
* * *
Patrick was still at a loss and he did not miss the fact that Melissa had deliberately sought to distract him with a kiss. Whatever they had been doing at the market, she clearly had no intention of sharing it. Which was worrying, but not life threateningly so.
The thought occurred to him that ever
since he had spotted her at the market, his mind had given no thought to his father, his dilemma or the fate of the woman his father had used and discarded. He felt grateful for the respite as he rented a horse from the market to follow them discreetly home. They arrived without incident and he turned away at the end of their street, debating about whether he should go home, or to the docks. A shipment was expected soon, from Sri Lanka and he wanted to be present.
Bewitching the Forbidden Duke: A Steamy Regency Romance Page 21
