“You will have to stop me, then, because I will not tolerate such treatment.I do not let men waste my time.”
“You are about to become a courtesan,” he sneered.“I will not be the first to waste your time, I assure you.Be thankful you will be paid handsomely for the experience.With me, at least.I cannot assure others will do you the same honor.”
He had reached the door that joined their chambers.Then he turned back, his expression more severe than she had ever seen it, transforming his placid, handsome face entirely.
“Do not leave this house.If I wake and you are gone, Iwillfind you.”
“I have made up my mind, Lord Leith,” she snapped.“I will be departing this house very soon indeed.”
But he had already slammed the door.
Chapter Fourteen
Standing in herempty, very pretty bedchamber, Beatrice considered fleeing.
But not only did she have no carriage, it was nearly the middle of the night.
If she were on her own, she might consider chancing it on the streets of London, but she couldn’t put Sally in that position.
No, any flight would have to wait for the morning.
She heard a click from the hall door and whirled around, ready to face down Leith once more.
But, instead, Sally’s pale face peeked through.
“Come in,” she said.“Quickly.”
The girl obeyed, tiptoeing across the tread and closing the door.
“I heard raised voices,” she whispered.“Are you all right, Bea?”
Her sister’s wide eyes brought down her ire and, suddenly, unaccountably, she found herself swallowing back a lump in her throat.
“Oh, I’m fine,” she said.But, to her embarrassment, tears began to silently run down her face.
“Bea!Oh,” Sally said, coming towards her and wrapping her in an embrace.“Did he hurt you?”
“No, no,” she said.“It’s not like that.”
Nevertheless, she put her wet face into her little sister’s shoulder and found, for a moment, that she was unable to speak.Beatrice worried, even as she did it, that she was scaring her sister.She had long resolved to be strong for her siblings, even when she had received word of her father’s debts and the estate’s encumbrance.But she found she couldn’t help herself from taking this small bit of solace.
“Shh, all will be well,” Sally said, patting Beatrice’s hair.
Beatrice stood back and brushed her cheeks with her fingers.“I am being foolish.I am sorry.”
“You do not have to apologize, Bea.What you have been through would overset anyone.I have been so worried about you, you can’t imagine.Can you tell me what happened?”
Beatrice nodded and gestured for Sally to sit on the little sofa near the end of the bedchamber.She followed her.
“Yes, it’s so absurd, Sal.We—we went to bed.”
Sally nodded, her eyes not looking nearly as scandalized as normal.Beatrice supposed that their week in London had already jaded her slightly, which she could not be sorry for.
“And he was very peculiar.”
“Lor!Did he ask you to do something dreadful?”
“No.”
