Jack growled but he attempted to flatten the newspaper with the side of his hand.
“In truth, I’m not fond of your company when you’re so cross.” Phineas sighed. “You are, without fail, once a month, the worst kind of malcontent. Quite like a woman yourself with your lunar moods. But for you, it’s always because it’s that delicate time when you arebetween, isn’t it? Between mistresses.” He cocked his head. “Because why fuss about going to the brothel? You can afford it, Jack. You can afford it three times a day, every day of the year, for years on end, you rich wretch.”
“Yes. Although you know I like to watch my pennies.”
“It’s the very little bit of the Scot in you, I dare say. And it’s part of why you’re so rich. But going to a whore—it doesn’t satisfy you, does it?”
“If you’re implying I can’t get it up—”
“Of course not.” Phineas rolled his eyes. “I’ve come behind you a few times, wiping away the tears of your discarded wives of other men.” He grinned. “They tell me all about you and your cock before I soothe them with my own special prong. I know getting satisfaction is not a problem for you.”
“Then what the devil do you mean?”
“You tell me, Jack. Why don’t you like going to the brothel?”
“Because—”
“Because you want a woman to want you, more than you want her.”
“No.” Jack leaned forward, ready to refute Phineas. Because that wasn’t it, was it? Yes, he liked attention. But the whores paid him attention. For an hour or two. Maybe it was that he likedgenuineattention.
“I think,” Phineas said. Again, an uncharacteristic pause. He must be weighing his next words carefully.
Blast Phineas. It was none of his business why Jack did what he did.
But they had known each other a long time. Been lieutenants together years ago on theHMS Endeavor. Seen action and faced death together. Phineas had been decommissioned when he was suddenly made the Earl of Burchester. Jack eventually rose in the ranks to become captain of his own ship. It was how he had made the beginning of his fortune which had grown exponentially with some clever and risky investments. And after the wars, when Jack had resigned his commission and settled in London, he had found the Earl of Burchester the same stalwart and jovial companion he had been when they had roamed the Atlantic together as young men in the Royal Navy.
Phineas finally spoke. “I think you want women to fall in love with you. That’s what I think.”
Jack shook his head.
Phineas persisted. “You want them to fall in love with you and just as they do, you want to break it off. You want to be the heartbreaker, not the heartbroken.”
Jack scoffed. “Who doesn’t?”
“You might be surprised.”
“Not you, Phin!”
“Oh, hearts are not involved with me.” Phineas thumped his chest. “They all know what they’re getting with me. A bit of fun. A romp. A good giggle.”
“That’s what they get with me, too.”
“No, Jack. That’s not true. They think they’re getting unplumbed depths with you. You’re a dashing hero, after all. That’s why they’re so angry when you turn out to be just as shallow as the next fellow.” Phineas smirked. “Besides, most of my women are widows, not matrons. I am the relief between husbands. You are the reliefforthe husbands. Is it any wonder your women expect a grand romance since they are risking so much to bed you?”
It was long past time for Jack to change the subject.
“The question still stands, Phin.”
“What’s that?”
“Madame Flora’s. Tonight. Yea or nay?”
“Are you paying?”
“For you? Never. You rack up all kinds of extras.”
“That was only the one time, Jack. And believe me, it was worth everything you paid for it.”
