Your very unimpressed friend,
Addie
Sam placed the letter on his desk. Devons would be her first lover. He saw red. Devons was his friend; how dare he touch his wife? He grabbed the paper and rolled it into a ball, slinging it at his office wall. There was no way in hell he would allow Devons to touch her. He strode out of his office to inform Mr. Tomlin he would be returning to London. If he left right away, he would make it back in time to attend the Ball of Sin.
Chapter 16
Clara sat in the carriage, nervous. Addie eyed her dubiously. “Are you sure you want to attend? This is not an event for innocents.”
Clara smoothed out the skirt of her provocative dress. She would not be swayed. For the last few days Addie had done her best to convince her she shouldn’t attend, but she didn’t care. Still, now that they were out front of the Den her stomach rumbled with nerves. A red satin mask concealed the top half of her face, but she doubted it really hid who she was. The moment she walked into the decadent ball there would be chatter. She didn’t care.
“No, I’m attending.”
Addie looking just as beautiful but equally as scandalous in a Grecian gown, frowned at her. “I am not sure this is appropriate.”
“You have had numerous lovers. Why is it different for me?”
Addie blushed and Clara instantly felt bad. “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. I don’t judge you, Addie. I mean that.”
Addie smiled and shook her head. “Everyone judges me, but I have made my peace with it. I just want to help you not make choices you can’t undo. There are some things you can’t ever come back from. Have you and Sam even been intimate?”
Clara blushed. She didn’t want to have this conversation with Addie, someone whose past was filled with multiple lovers, including her husband. She felt like a naïve, silly girl compared to her even though Addie wasn’t much older than her.
As if Addie could read her mind, she said, “I can’t change what transpired between me and Sam, but I want you to know from the moment you met him at Adderly’s party, he has never looked at me again. It wasn’t something special. Maybe I should be ashamed of that, but he is one in many. I would give anything to have my husband look at me the way I have seen Sam Kincaide look at you.”
Clara shook her head. “It isn’t like that.”
Addie smiled at her bemused. “I remember when he rescued you in Hyde Park.The moment you arrived, he watched you. He couldn’t look away.”
Clara snorted. “Addie—”
“No, Clara. There is something there. Why he’s chosen to be such a dolt I don’t know, but he is a man that wants his wife very much. Don’t ruin your chance of happiness before it starts. Trust me, I know what that pain feels like,” Addie said quietly.
Clara studied her, stunned. Addie rarely spoke of her husband and when she did, it was with utter contempt. What had Clara missed? “Your husband—”
Addie leaned over and squeezed her hand. “I do not want to talk about that annoying man. He bores me.”
Addie winked at her, returning to her mischievous self but Clara saw for the first time the pain she hid so deeply. Clara started to say something, but Addie first said, “Shall we go in?”
Clara hesitated but then nodded, still wanting to attend. She didn’t plan on taking a lover, but she had spent too long doing everything exactly right. No more.
Addie sighed and said, “Well, let's go. Men will be falling all over themselves to get to you.”
They opened the carriage door, and Clara touched Addie’s arm. She turned back and Clara said, “I don’t intend to take a lover this evening.”
Addie winked at her. “I know.”
They made their way into the estate and Clara's eyes rounded with shock. Men and women were everywhere, dressed in the most scandalous attire she had ever seen with their faces all hidden behind masks. Addie pulled her along through the crowds and as they passed people, there were gasps and murmurs. Clara smiled wryly. The mask certainly did not help.
They entered what would be the drawing room in any other house but at the Den was a theater room. A stage was set up and women dressed only in corsets, stockings, and knickers danced and led the crowd in a rowdy song. Clara could feel her cheeks turn red at the sight. She looked around and caught sight of a woman seated on a gentleman’s lap; his hand was sliding up her skirt. She gasped, turning back and bumping into Addie.
Her eyes twinkled. “I told you it’s a lot to take in.”
Clara laughed. “I’ll be fine.”
Addie grabbed her hands and led her out onto the terrace that led out into expansive gardens littered with more people. A barely dressed man and woman were performing an act with a swing, twirling and flipping through the air. It was mesmerizing.
“Hello, beautiful Red Angel. May I fetch you a drink?” A masked gentleman asked her.
