“Very well, thank you,” she said. “I’m currently affiliated with the Marquess of Harding and he treats me well. Not as…passionate as some of my lovers, you included, but every chapter of a book like mine is different, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “You have always written a fascinating tale, Simone. No one could deny it.”
“How long will you be in London, then?” she asked. “Are you back permanently?”
He hesitated. There was the question, wasn’t it? He’d come “home” to a place that had never felt home. But the place he’d run to hadn’t felt that way either. Would he stay here? Would he run back? Would he go somewhere else?
“I’m not certain,” he finally admitted. “A month, maybe more if this all doesn’t become unbearable.”
“Hardly enough time!” Simone said with a false pout that turned into a wicked smile. “You know someone in my acquaintance is going to bethrilledto have you here.”
He blinked at that surprising and entirely confident declaration. “What?”
Her expression became teasing, playful, as it was often wont to do, and she laughed. “Oh, nothing.”
“It doesn’t sound like nothing, you cheeky little minx.” He was laughing but his interest was truly piqued, and that was something. “Are you saying I have a secret admirer?”
Her laughter boomed out over the crowd and caused a few to look their way. “Oh, I wouldn’t ruin it for you. It is so lovely to have you back, darling. Will I see you at Vivien’s later this week?”
Vivien Manning, another infamous courtesan, was hosting a fete in a few days’ time and somehow she had been aware of his return, as well. Of course, the courtesans always knew everything, Silas had always admired them for the information they shared to protect themselves and each other.
“Yes, the invitation hit my tray before my trunks were even unpacked.”
“Well, it’s not every day we see such a welcome return,” Simone said. She squeezed his hand. “I’ll see you then.”
He watched as she darted off into the crowd, back to her protector or some other lover or to who knew what entertainments. Once she was gone, he sighed. No, he really didn’t know if his was who he was anymore, where he fit. And that was like a weight around his neck.
* * *
The courtesans of London were a network of sorts. Staying connected, sharing information, it made everyone safer, but also gave insider facts so that a woman might make a quicker connection, get a better settlement or avoid an entanglement that would ask her to perform acts she didn’t like.
Once monthly, the courtesans gathered at a rotating residence, to drink tea and compare notes and coo over clothing and jewels that had been gifted by grateful protectors.
Arabella loved these nights of friendship and connection and tonight she stood with her two sisters, Evelina and Julia, and they watched the milling crowd of women with smiles on their faces.
“Georgina looks well,” Julia said. “She seems to like her new arrangement with Lord Leughton.”
“Her old one was so ghastly,” Evelina reflected with a shiver. “It’s one thing to agree to those kinds of things, it’s another to have a man want to force them.”
Arabella nodded. “Well, he’s on the list now, isn’t he? Not a one of us will grace us with our attention. He’s shunned. He can go back to his wife.”
“Well, consideringshe’shaving an affair with LucyandLucy’s protector, Mr. Horace, I doubt he’ll be having much luck with her either,” Julia giggled.
Arabella pivoted to face her. “What? I hadn’t heard that.”
“It’s all very new, apparently,” Julia said. “I bumped into Lucy at the opera two nights ago and she was with them both. Couldn’t stop smiling.”
Arabella smiled herself. It was always lovely to see a person come into their own. To do what they wished and what pleased them. Of course, she worried if their friend was so happy, she might have developed feelings for one or both of her lovers. That could lead to hurt, but every courtesan had to learn that lesson for themselves if they couldn’t see it from those around them.
She had never risked her heart with any of her lovers. It was part of her charm that she was a dancing sprite who pleased and laughed and charmed and then flitted away without so much as a look backward as she counted her settlement.
At present, of course, she was between protectors. She had parted ways with the lovely second son of an earl just a week before. She’d taught him things that had made his eyes go delightfully wide and then sent him on his way as soon as he’d started talking about a young lady he was properly courting. He liked her, would probably love her eventually, and he would be happy in his choice. He’d allowed Arabella to keep all the jewels he’d given her over the few months they’d been lovers and added nicely to her coffers with a monthly annuity to last for the next year. Perhaps she’d wallpaper the breakfast room. It could use some freshening up and she liked to make it pretty since it was one of the spaces in her home where she and her sisters were the only ones who came. A private place not for lovers.
“Arabella!”
She jolted as Evelina said her name with some force. When she glanced at her sisters, they were both staring expectantly.
“Oh, was I woolgathering? My apologies. Just wondering if I should do green or blue in the breakfast room if I redecorate.”
