Caroline Linden Read Online Free PDF Page B

a woman to know how to pout. Now it will not help her, but later, with a man ...” Lucia nodded, gesturing with her cigarette. “So. What did he say?”
    Charlotte frowned, and handed Lucia an ashtray. “Your voice will never recover as long as you smoke those.”
    Lucia blew a thin stream of smoke. “I haven’t lost my voice, only my muse. When I find him, my voice will return.”
    Charlotte let it go. Lucia had always done just as she pleased, when she pleased. It was hardly Charlotte’s place to badger her about either her voice or her belief that sexual satisfaction would bring it back. “He made no attempt to deny he’s after Susan’s money. He said a large fortune was often a woman’s best asset.”
    “And a man’s, as well,” interjected Lucia with another nod. “One can hardly fault him for speaking truth. What else?”
    Charlotte stopped at the window and pulled back the drape. “I told him I would never consent to the marriage, and he made the most insulting remarks about my fitness as Susan’s guardian.”
    “Ahhh,” said Lucia with increased interest. “What did he say?”
    “He called me a hypocrite, and said I was no virgin.”
    “Well, this is true, is it not?” Charlotte glared at her. Lucia shrugged. “What man has any use for a virgin, anyway?”
    Charlotte snorted. “Englishmen do. So long as they’ve money, at least.” Then she sighed. “Perhaps I am a hypocrite—I did marry Piero for his money, in part—but I’ve learned from my mistakes. I’m just trying to keep Susan from making those same mistakes.”
    “You married Piero for his protection. And his money, of course, but think why he married you. Let us not even pretend he was man enough for a woman who could have been his granddaughter. He wanted a beautiful woman on his arm, and he got one. What would this Stuart Drake give Susan, besides his lovely self?”
    “His grandfather is a viscount,” muttered Charlotte, staring blindly out the window. Stripped to the bone like that, it didn’t sound like a bad match: the handsome heir to a respectable title would be a fine catch for a girl whose father had been merely a gentleman. Only the details revealed the ugly truth.
    “So she would be a lady someday, and he would be rich now. What other sound reason do people have to marry?” Lucia took a long drag on her cigarette, waxing enthusiastic. “Such a pity it is the English feel compelled to marry to enjoy each other. It is much better to leave marriage out of the picture. Why tie yourself to one man when there are so many in the world?”
    “Naturally I won’t tell Susan your opinion,” said Charlotte dryly. “She sees only one man right now.”
    Lucia laughed. It was the one time the glory of her lost voice shone through, and always made Charlotte a little bit sorry for introducing Lucia to the Turkish prince who had in turn introduced her to his tiny, addictive cigarettes. What a waste, for Lucia to smoke herself hoarse. “Well,” said Lucia with a meaningful glance, “at least he is a delight for the eyes to see.”
    Charlotte refused to discuss that. No matter what Lucia thought, Stuart Drake was dangerous; Susan was an innocent, naïve girl with romantic dreams of love, not a worldly woman who knew what men were really like. “Her infatuation wouldn’t last a week if they were separated.”
    “What love affair would?” Lucia sat up, her face brightening. “If you do not wish to seduce him, perhaps I shall. Do you think that would help? I offer for Susan’s sake, of course.”
    “No!” Charlotte didn’t want to think about his hot mouth on Lucia’s throat, his long fingers caressing Lucia’s body. She stirred uncomfortably at the memory of his mouth on her throat, and his hands on her body. Then she forced herself to remember he had almost made love to her minutes after assuring Susan of his desire to marry her. Stuart Drake did not deserve to be seduced, he deserved to be shot.
    “No, Lucia, I