Deliciously Debauched by the Rake. Ann LethbridgeЧитать онлайн книгу.
you all right, my dear?” Miss Barnhurst asked. Dear old Barny had welcomed her with open arms. She’d been Elizabeth’s governess in happier times, before she’d married her old rich husband. A mean old skinflint who, because she had not produced the expected heir, had left her penniless.
Elizabeth’s brother had offered to find another husband. Another man like her first. And when she’d refused, he, too, had cast her off. Barny had taken her in, despite her own dire circumstances. So Elizabeth had shared her good fortune with the woman she now considered her friend.
“Well enough,” Elizabeth said with a smile she was proud of as she let her gaze wander the slowly filling pit. Several gentlemen caught her eye and bowed low. She acknowledged their homage with the merest inclination of her head. It would not do to appear too eager. Men want what they think they cannot have another courtesan had told her once.
But it hadn’t been like that between her and John. The artifice. The skill of the hunt and the capture. The moment he had walked into her box, this very box, she had known he was the one.
She scanned the boxes opposite. A few contained parties of ladies and gentlemen. Some were empty. But it was early yet. Young gentlemen on the town rarely arrived for the opening curtain.
Her hand convulsed around the handle of her fan. They would ogle her. Send flowers and messages, and she would greet a few of them discretely in the shadowy recesses of her box. The presence of Miss Barnhurst and the burly footman she’d hired for the purpose would prevent any unwelcome advances from young men in their cups.
She just hoped John would see where his duty lay quickly so she could retire to the cottage in the country she was in the process of purchasing for her and Barny.
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