“Would you like for her to join us, Your Grace?”
At his silence, Ellen said, “Agatha’s father owes Madam, and he offered his daughter a night to pay off his debt. The girl agreed. No one has had her yet. Madam was planning an auction.”
“An auction?” Trust Madam Rebecca to come up with something that would titillate even her most jaded customers.
“ If madam knows you are interested, Agatha will no longer be auctioned to the highest bidder.”
James walked over to the armchair, where he sprawled indolently. “Inform Rebecca I wish to see her and the girl.”
Ellen flashed him a smile, hopped from the sofa and slipped on a silk peignoir before sauntering from the room. Several minutes passed before Rebecca entered with Ellen and the girl. He stood and went over to where they halted in the center of the room. James maintained a respectable distance as he assessed her. She looked more like a young lady. She appeared to be around twenty years of age and was incredibly beautiful. In truth, more lovely than any lady he had ever seen.
“What is that discoloration on your face?”
The girl’s eyes widened, and she touched her cheeks. “I—”
“Just a small bruise, Your Grace, from her father earlier,” Madam Rebecca rushed to assure him. “I had a physician over to examine her. The girl is indeed untouched and healthy.”
There was nothing more despicable, more cowardly, than a man who’d hit a woman, even if he was her father. A cold feeling moved through James’s heart. “How much does her father owe?”
“Eighty pounds, Your Grace. One hundred and twenty pounds was added as interest, to which he agreed. Hence, the full amount owed is two hundred pounds.”
Merciless, but it was what could be expected of a woman as shrewd and cunning as Madam Rebecca.
“You expect this girl to earn that sum for you in a single night?”
“Given the prize that she comes with and her beauty,” Madam murmured, peeking up at him coyly, “Many men would willingly pay double for the chance to deflower her. Would you not agree? I can arrange the auction now if it pleases you, or you can make an offer and enjoy her for the night.”
An odd sort of detachment went through James, and not for the first time, he wondered why he was here. Perhaps Ambrose’s disenchantment was affecting him.
He considered the young lady. She was a ravishing beauty indeed, with rich black hair that hung in a waterfall of silk to her hips and large green eyes set in an arresting face. “How old are you?”
“She is—”
“I am asking the lady, Madam.”
She lowered her head in a bow. “Of course, my apologies, Your Grace.”
“I am one and twenty,” Agatha said, lifting her chin.
James saw no fear in her eyes, only the fires of defiance. It almost pulled a smile to his mouth. “Did you agree to this?”
She fisted her hands at her side so tightly he knew her nails must be hurting her palm.
“Two hundred pounds is a sum I would need a few years of working to pay off. Madam Rebecca is unwilling to wait. I agreed not only to one night … but to one man. The highest bidder.”
“That is if he bids high enough to release you after one night,” Madam snapped. “It might take a few nights to clear the debt.”
“As you said,” the girl replied icily, “My prize will … will certainly fetch the owed sum.”
Her voice had cracked, and he noted the fine tremor that went through her slender frame. James agreed life was all about choices and making ruthless and practical arrangements to survive and live. He’d inherited his dukedom at the age of twenty and had done many things to bring his family and estates back from the brink. Things many people would think unworthy and demeaning to a man of his rank and consequences.
“I will take her,” he said. “Two and fifty hundred pounds, and there will be no auction.”
Madam smiled brilliantly and bowed. “Thank you, Your Grace.” She hastened from the room, grabbing Ellen’s hand and tugging her along.
Tension coated the room, and her throat visibly worked on a swallow.
“What is your full name?”
