The French Aristocrat's Baby Read Online Free PDF

warned, a purplish stain flushing through her thick layers of face powder and blusher. ‘He doesn’t take kindly to being manhandled by the lower orders.’
    If only you knew! Gwen thought. The lovely Etienne hadn’t been showing any signs of prejudice a few moments earlier.
    ‘I took the count a drink, showed him where the first-aidkit was and thanked him for saving me from unwanted attention. That’s all, madame ,’ Gwen said boldly.
    The fat, bejewelled countess looked down her fleshy nose at Gwen. ‘Good. I hope this sort of thing doesn’t happen often. I expect better from a place that charges so much.’
    With that, she swept away to the sympathetic company of her grand friends. Gwen felt her eyes filling with furious tears. She pressed her lips together tightly, to stop a vicious retort bursting out. Her bills couldn’t be paid until she had banked the balance of this awful woman’s invoice. All the loathsome countess had to do in her pampered life was sign cheques and authorise payments. Gwen earned every cent of her money. To get it, she had to smile politely all evening while being bullied and generally treated like dirt by her so-called ‘betters’. One of her mother’s favourite sayings came back to haunt her: ‘The rich get all the pleasure, the poor get all the pain’.
    She bolted into the kitchens. For the rest of the evening she worked behind the scenes, unless it was absolutely vital for her to emerge as the glamorous hostess. She understood cooking and loved it. Socialising was a part of her life she was really beginning to hate.
    For the past two years, Etienne had been living under a heavy cloud of memories. His relentless lifestyle of work and partying was a reaction to it. He had been dead to pleasure for so long, something as simple as that reckless moment with Gwen should never have been able to lighten his mood. Yet somehow it had. There was something about her so unlike the others; itmade him smile to think about it. He knew he should be wary, but it was difficult to forget the girl’s proud assurance that she wouldn’t be boasting of the experience. Etienne had been burned by kiss-and-tell merchants in the past. He knew the way they worked. That, and the fact she kept to her kitchen for most of the rest of the evening, made this little mademoiselle very unusual. As he circulated and made polite noises to his friends and acquaintances Etienne kept half an eye on the kitchen doors. Whenever she came out, she would scan the party, but when she made eye contact with him she always blushed and looked away. He wasn’t about to put her on the spot by approaching her again. That would only encourage Sophie to get up on her hind legs. He was content to appreciate the divine Mademoiselle Williams from a distance. Her rare appearances made an otherwise dull evening worthwhile. To his surprise he found himself totally unable to take his eyes off her.
    It was a long time since any woman had done that.
    Eventually, the happy racket out in the restaurant died down. Chauffeured limousines queued up outside to collect their glamorous owners. Gwen pasted on her sociable smile, and went out to wish each and every one of them a good night. She looked forward to gazing up at Etienne one last time, but she was to be disappointed. The whisper around the kitchens was that he had left earlier with a few friends. Gwen was quick to stop her staff gossiping, but that didn’t prevent her listening to what they said. Apparently the more restless spirits had gone on to an exclusive casino in town.
    A long time later, Gwen said goodbye to the last of her staff. Then she locked the door with a thankful sigh. As usual, she was the last to leave. Checking that everything was spotless after the party and ready for the next opening took a long time. With no money to pay more than a skeleton staff, Gwen always tried to make life as easy as possible for them all. Once she was sure the whole place was perfect, she