“Let us begin the auction!A real live virgin should be worth at least a hundred pounds, eh?”
A hundred pounds.
The starting amount resolved her.That would be fifty pounds for her and her family, because Mr.Blash had promised them half of whatever she made.He would split the other half with Mr.O’Connell.It was more than fair, they’d explained, since she would not be in a position to make nearly as much without their assistance.
And, indeed, Johanna could not imagine asking a man for a hundred pounds in exchange for her virginity.
But that was Mr.O’Connell’s starting point, and men were already shouting out higher offers.More money.
I can do this.
I can do this.
Hearing the amounts being thrown around made her courage stronger.
One fifty.
One sixty.
One ninety.
Two hundred.
Up, up, up, the amounts went, the number of voices shouting them out quickly dwindling.
Five hundred pounds.
Johanna could have cried with relief.
At this rate, she was going to be able to feed her family for the next two years off of one night.
“Two thousand pounds.”
The room fell utterly silent.Johanna’s eyes widened in utter shock at the sudden jump in amount, from an entirely new voice she could swear was familiar, yet she had not heard bidding until now.How could someone here be familiar?Who could she possibly know?
She knew no one.
But that was not true, she realized as the silence had Mr.O’Connell calling out the final opportunity.The man who was making his way down through the room, who had bid two thousand pounds for her virginity,wasfamiliar.
Dark hair that waved back from his forehead, dark eyes, broad shoulders in an impeccably tailored coat, he swaggered with all the confidence of a duke… because he was one.Johanna’s mouth dropped open as she recognized the Duke of St.Albans, who she’d met at the Blackstone house party, though when she’d met him, he had been smiling.This was the first time she’d seen him without an affable expression on his face, and it made him appear rather imposing.
“Sold, to you, sir,” Mr.O’Connell said, grinning and pointing at the duke.Clearly, he did not realize the gentleman’s identity.Johanna stared at St.Albans, wondering if she was dreaming.
Matthew
Lady Johanna was staring at him as if she’d seen a ghost.Matthew supposed he could not blame her.
This was hardly his usual surrounds.He’d followed his friend Drake, the Duke of Ormonde, here, trying to figure out what he was up to, as this was not a place he would expect Drake to frequent, either.It was pure chance that he’d seen Lady Johanna and the virgin auction.But that was often what Matthew’s life was like—ruled by chance and luck.
It was her good luck, as well as his.
Her family might have fallen on hard times, but that was no excuse for walking away once he’d seen her.
“Right this way, sir,” the auctioneer said cheerfully, gesturing.“We’ll take care of the paperwork and payment, then bring you to her room.Penny will take her there now and prepare her.”
“No.”His voice was hard, clipped, very unlike his usual tone.He sounded more like Drake at that moment.Reaching out, he took hold of Lady Johanna’s hand and pulled her toward him, threading her arm through his.“She stays with me.”
“I… ah…” The auctioneer blinked in surprise, apparently flummoxed.Then he shrugged his shoulders, as if to say there was no explaining the quirks of the aristocracy.It would hardly matter to him as long as he was paid.“Very well, then.This way, sir.”
