Fortune's Son Read Online Free PDF Page A

own little rebellion.
    â€œCome now!” Jane laughed. “You must know what a stir you have caused. Half the peers in this theatre craned their necks for a better view when you came into the box.”
    Including the prince himself, Lady Messingham thought ruefully. Although seated with his wife on one side and his chief mistress on the other, the heir to the throne had cast his eye upon her a number of times throughout the performance. Perhaps he’d begun to tire of Jane’s constant importuning for her husband’s advancement, or, more likely, was just following family tradition by adding to his collection of mistresses. In either case, the proposition of a liaison with the bug-eyed prince held no appeal to Susannah.
    Leaning closer, Jane spoke behind her fluttering fan. “You know, Sukey darling, there are any number of highly placed gentlemen who could ensure you a more than comfortable life. You could easily take your pick of the lot, after a proper interval, of course.”
    â€œBut, Jane, I haven’t the slightest desire to remarry.”
    â€œPshaw! What nonsense!” Jane said and gestured grandly to the posh theatre and its fashionable occupants. “You well know, such a life as this is not lived without considerable expense.”
    â€œI am more aware than you know, but any eligible man of my own age won’t have me. After my childless marriage, ’tis no secret I’m barren. If I cannot provide the requisite heir, I have only the options of an aged bachelor or widower, and I refuse to live the rest of my life warming another old man’s bones!”
    Jane smirked. “Then do you intend to spend your dotage as a shriveled-up old dowager with only the company of a house full of cats?”
    â€œIndeed not!” Sukey heartily denied the thought. “I’ll not lack for company. Now that I’ve put off my weeds, I plan to attend the opening of every opera, dance holes in my slippers at each ball, and promenade all of London’s pleasure gardens on the arm of a different dashing beau every evening.”
    â€œDo you now?” Jane’s brows rose in mock censure. “Then perhaps a word of wisdom would not go astray? Though I hate to disillusion you, dearest, even the most gallant of men will expect some… tangible reward… for his service to you. But with youth and beauty yet on your side, wife or mistress would be purely your choice…”
    â€œBut Jane, you don’t understand at all.” Her voice was nearly choked with frustration. “After living so many years akin to an exotic pet on a chain, now that I am finally free, why should I trade one cage for another?”
    â€œYou know as well as I, Sukey, a woman in your position has but two options: a husband… or a protector.”
    â€œI won’t have it, Jane. There must be another way,” Susannah insisted. “I refuse to be placed under any man’s dominion again. Who, now, must I truly please but myself?”
    Jane’s eyes only grew wider. “But without a man’s patronage, how in heaven’s name do you propose to maintain your lifestyle?”
    After a moment’s reflection, Sukey asked, “Jane, just how do so many men of similar reduced circumstances go on?”
    Jane scoffed in reply. “Those without a patron, you mean? Far too many of them subsist only by gaming. Cards, dice, cocking, pugilism wagering, horse races… the list of worthless pursuits goes on and on.”
    â€œGaming?” Sukey repeated with a sudden gleam.
    Jane was aghast. “My dear, you have no idea the danger you would court in contemplating such a ruinous thing!”
    â€œBut why not, Jane? If others make a living at the green tables, why shouldn’t I?” She thought of the young gentleman she’d met over the hazard table the prior evening and her face lit with a winsome smile. “After all, I only lack someone to teach