Mistress by Marriage Read Online Free PDF

She could ask some of the girls on the street in for tea. It wasn’t her usual Thursday reception day, but perhaps someone would be at loose ends. The two newest Jane Street mistresses, Laurette and Charlotte, had already moved out before they ever really settled in. Laurette had gone to the country with her marquess, while Charlotte had simply disappeared, which was probably just as well. Charlotte was simply not cut out to be any man’s plaything.
    Nor was Caroline. She was no longer at the mercy of Edward’s single night a year.
    She might never see him again, unless it was by chance. She expected that his advocate would contact her over what needed to be done. She’d prefer legal counsel of her own, although she knew perfectly well she had no rights under English law. Only a man could bring charges of infidelity in a petition for divorce, and most men were not quite furious enough to do so. Her reputation, tarnished now, would be irretrievably black once the act of Parliament became fact.
    She didn’t have a solicitor. She’d best ask Garrett for a recommendation—which would mean Garrett would know her circumstances were about to change and it would be even more difficult to keep him at arms’ length.
    A trial would be public and mortifying. Every bit of her dirty laundry—far worse than her soiled sheets—would be published for all the world to know. The truth would come out about Andrew, and possibly even her brother. Mary’s Surrey serenity might be affected as well. Maybe she would decide at last that Caroline was not a fit sister to consort with.
    It had finally come to this. All Caroline’s past machinations to salvage her Parker pride had been worse than useless.
    But a divorce could take years. Perhaps Guy Fawkes could return from the dead and blow up Parliament successfully this time and she wouldn’t have to worry.
    The brisk rapping of her door knocker shocked her out of her musings. Edward! He’d come back! She flew downstairs barefoot before Hazlett woke. It was well past two, but the gas lamps of the street were bright enough for her to see one of the Jane Street guards on her steps through the sidelight. Puzzled, she pulled the door open.
    “Beggin’ your pardon, Lady Christie, but I saw your lights, else I wouldn’t bother you. There’s a young gentlemen here to see you. Says his name is Edward Christie, but the other man claimin’ to be Edward Christie just left a while ago, so that’s a lie. We’ve got our list, you know. Nobody gets in or out at night without us knowin’. Thought I’d double-check before we send the boy on his way.”
    Security on Jane Street was strictly enforced. The men who kept their mistresses there protected their investments from dusk to dawn. They might be unfaithful to their wives, but their mistresses would stay true whether they wanted to or not. Of course there was plenty of daylight for dalliance, a foolishly overlooked fact.
    “There must be some mistake.”
    “That’s what we thought. These young bucks get in their cups and want to see the Janes for themselves, poor devils. Their time will come. I’ll get rid of him.” He tipped his cap and turned.
    “Wait! What does this boy look like?”
    “A nice-lookin’ lad. Quality. Dark hair. Real tall and skinny, all arms and legs, although his legs won’t be holdin’ him up much longer. Dead drunk, he is.”
    Ned. Dear Lord. He’d been almost as tall and just as handsome as his father five years ago. She should let the guards send him home. Edward would be furious with them both. “It’s all right. I believe it must be my stepson. Please bring him to my door.”
    “Aye, if you’re sure.” The man looked at her, doubt written all over his face.
    “It’s quite all right. I’ll wake my butler.”
    “That’s a good idea, my lady. You never know what a fellow might do when he’s jug-bitten.”
    Caroline stepped back into the dark hallway. Hazlett was already coming down the stairs with a