Silk Is For Seduction - Loretta Chase [37]
She cheated at cards—he was sure of it—or if she didn’t cheat, she shaved honesty mighty close.
She said she did not seduce her patron’s menfolk, but she’d—
“By God,” he muttered. “By God.” Her scent lingered in the carriage, and he could almost taste her still. He could almost feel her skin under his fingertips.
Only a kiss.
He’d gone from desire to madness in a single pulse beat.
He was still . . . not right.
And no wonder.
They would have to finish it. Then he could put her out of his mind and complete in peace his remaining weeks of freedom.
Chasing a provoking woman about Paris was not part of his plans, and certainly not in his style. He was accustomed to games with women, yes. He liked play as well as foreplay. But it was an altogether different matter, dancing to the tune of an impudent dressmaker who would not stop talking about her curst business—even if she made him want to laugh at the exact instant he wanted to choke her—and even if she kissed like Satan’s own mistress, trained specially by Mephistopheles, who’d helped design her body . . . her perfect breasts . . . the smooth arc of her neck . . . the exquisite curve of her ears . . .
Her wicked tongue.
Her lying tongue.
What engagement had she with Sylvie Fontenay that would occupy all of Friday and Saturday?
Meanwhile, at the Hotel Fontaine
“Pack?” Jeffreys repeated. Expecting Marcelline to come back late, she’d napped. She was brightly alert at the moment.
So was Marcelline. She was alert with panic. “We need to leave as early as possible tomorrow. Today, I mean,” she said.
It was only two o’clock in the morning on Friday. If they could get seats on a steam packet to London on Saturday, they could be home as early as Sunday. The guests at the ball would not be writing their letters until later today, which meant they mightn’t be posted until Saturday. And the London post was closed on Sundays.
With any luck, she and Jeffreys would be in London before any letters arrived from Paris. That would give Sophy time to devise a way to capitalize on any rumors about Mrs. Noirot and the Duke of Clevedon.
“We haven’t a minute to lose,” she said. “By Tuesday or Wednesday, the rumors will be flying. We have to manage them.”
Jeffreys didn’t say, “What rumors?” She was not naïve and she was not stupid. She knew Marcelline had attended the ball with the Duke of Clevedon. She’d noticed the torn dress. She’d even raised an eyebrow. But it was an interested eyebrow, not a shocked or censorious one. Jeffreys was no innocent lamb. She’d had dealings with the upper orders, especially its male contingent. That was how she’d ended up as “an unfortunate female.”
No one had to tell her how the dress had come to be damaged. Her concern was whether the damage was reparable.
“It’s all a matter of interpretation,” Marcelline said. “We simply reinterpret. Something like—let me see—‘Duke of C captivated by Mrs. Noirot’s gown of poussière silk displayed to magnificent advantage in the course of a waltz,’ ” Marcelline said, thinking aloud. “No, it wants more detail. ‘Gown of poussière silk, dotted with crimson papillon bows, a black lace pelerine completing the ensemble . . . met with the approval of one of the highest ranking members of the peerage.’ Yes, that could do it.”
“I can mend it easily,” said Jeffreys. “Everyone will want to see it.”
“They will see it, if we manage this properly,” Marcelline said. “But that means taking charge of the tale before anyone else gets it. Sophy can give her contact at Foxe’s Morning Spectacle an exclusive, early report. She’ll tell him the Duke of Clevedon took me to the party as one of his jokes. Or to win a wager.”
“Wouldn’t a joke be better?” said Jeffreys. “To some people, a wager might sound disreputable.”
“You’re right. My being there started out as a joke, but the dress captured the other guests’ attention—”
“Something ought to be put in about ‘the effect of the color arrangement while in motion—’ ”
“Exactly,” said Marcelline. “Then something about a waltz as the perfect showcase for the dress’s unique effects.