He chuckled, a sweet mellow sound. “Fear not. In this house, we also require regular bathing.”
She said nothing, her thoughts turning. She knew so little of the English people. She had not seen any sailors bathing and had assumed that none of the English did. Obviously, that wasn’t true. She would need to learn as much as possible before she left here. And since Max was in a talkative mood, she would do well to ask her questions. But she wasn’t exactly sure where to begin.
“What do you do?” she asked, her ability with English failing her. She didn’t know if her question was insulting or not. “What is the… What eats your time?”
“A great deal of nonsense,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m a courtier to the prince. I am his companion in whatever he chooses to do.”
“A worthy task,” she said because that is what she would say at home. But his answer was not nearly as assured.
“Worthy or not, it is how I spend my days. Or rather my nights. Prinny’s fascinated with China these days, and since I’ve always been equally fascinated, he’s pulled me into his circle to entertain him with tales. I’ve run out of things to say, so I hope you will talk to me about China.”
“I will answer whatever I can.”
He clapped his hands with clear glee. “Excellent! And in return, I will show you as much of London as you care to see. And if you are up to it, perhaps we can even visit Bath.”
He sounded delighted with the idea, and she gaped at the screen in response. What man relished showing a servant around his city? But of course, that was old thinking. She was no longer the lowly daughter of an apothecary. She was a concubine and—if appearances held true—a favored one.
What a change in fortune for her! A concubine had luxuries and sometimes her own wealth. But often, her freedoms were severely restricted, and her behavior was scrutinized by everyone. Better to be a servant, someone no one cared about so long as the work was done. Much easier for a servant to disappear when it was time to strike out on her own.
But she could not regret her connection to Max. If she were to be his wife, then she would consider that role. Indeed, part of her was very excited by it. But she knew that men could be fickle in their favors. Best to act as a dutiful concubine, and then,when ready, she would disappear. Pretend, pretend, pretend with Max, and then escape.
Now that she had done her duty to her family, she was determined to have no obligations to anyone except herself. That was a future that no man, not even Max, could take away.
Chapter Seventeen
“She’s still alive!”gasped Prinny.
Christopher winced. He’d been trying to divert the prince’s attention since the moment he’d arrived that afternoon, but he’d used up all his tiny diversions. Max had begged him to keep Prinny distracted while Max figured out exactly what he was going to do with his Chinese fiancée. Christopher had agreed because they’d been brothers to each other since their first days at Eton. But the Chinese bribe was the talk of theton.Everyone wanted to know what was going on, including Prinny, and there was a definite limit to the prince’s patience.
Max’s time was up.
Which put Chris on his heels as he considered his priorities. First and foremost, he needed to remain relevant to the aristocracy. The only way he ate in London was by invitation to other people’s parties. It was also the only way he managed a complex system of favors and kindnesses that translated into his family’s survival. He cared for an aging dowager’s cantankerous dogs and thereby received a trunkful of old gowns that his mother could remake into dresses for his sister. He saved a naïve young lord from card sharks and turned that into several bags of free seed for his tenants plus a litter of pigs.
Favor after favor was parlayed into his family’s survival, but only if he remained here playing entertainer to society’s richest patrons. And few were as rich as the prince regent.
“Come on,” Prinny whined. “What news have you of Max’s fiancée?”
Chris leaned back in his chair, surreptitiously surveying his audience. If he had to give up the goods on Max, then he needed to wring some benefit from the betrayal beyond dinner at Prinny’s table. Lord Henderson was here—Ernie to his pals—and Chris had long been working on getting the man’s cooperation on a matter.
“She survives,” he said. “Everyone is agog. Doctors and surgeons alike are flabbergasted.”
Prinny narrowed his eyes. “You said that she was infected. That her fever would kill a normal gel.”
Chris nodded. “She was very ill for several days. But before she passed out that first night, she gave Max instructions for some Chinese medicine.”
Ernie leaned forward, his bushy brows contracted. “Chinese medicine?”
Excellent. He had the man’s attention.
“That’s a secret, Lord Henderson. But I can tell you that finding the ingredients sent Max all over London. It’s why he hasn’t been here these last days.” That was a lie. Max had been combing through London trying to talk to anyone who knew anything about China. The man had even visited the docks to talk to several ship’s captains.
Ernie rolled his eyes. “If her fever has broken, I can assure you it wasn’t because of some Chinese medicine. She either wasn’t that infected or she recovered as a matter of course.”
Damnation, he was losing the man, not to mention the prince who had just called for more wine. Christopher needed them fully entranced by his words, not thinking of their stomachs.
“I believe Doctor Morton is known to you.” He treated half the aristocracy or at least the ones who could afford him. Ernie was status conscious enough that he would surely use thepompous man. “He swore to me that the lady would not live through the night.”
Ernie pursed his thick lips. “He treated my mother. I always thought him a competent man. But even the best can be wrong.”
