“Yes, which is why—”
“But selling things is my work. Do not think to tell me what is fit for one of my customers.” He looked her hard in the eye. “Will you let me do it? Will you let me sell one of your paintings?”
She had no strength to deny him. Nor could she argue when he was so determined. And so, she offered him the one thing she had never thought to give anyone but him. The idea that it might go to someone else and be seen by countless others left her feeling ill. It was her private thoughts stroked onto the page. But it was the only piece that could possibly work for a prince.
“I have only one painting fit for a king,” she said. “And as it was always meant for you, you may do with it as you will.”
“Thank you,” he whispered. Then he pressed another kiss to her lips. One that felt like a promise or a good-bye. She couldn’t tell. Her emotions were too confused. She knew only that her heart was so firmly set in his hands that she felt as helpless and lost as she had ever been.
Don’t hurt me. Don’t leave me. Don’t destroy my life.
Then he looked up at Bessie. “Do you have clothes that she can borrow? Ones appropriate to meet the prince?”
“What?” Li-Na gasped. “What!”
He smiled. “Did you think I would act the same as that damned church court? No women allowed. No voice to the ones who have the most to say. It is your art. It is you who must make the plea on my behalf.”
She blinked. “I cannot meet the Prince Regent. I am a Chinese servant. I work in a gaming hell. I—”
“You are the one who is my best hope. Please help me.”
What could she say but yes?
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Daniel did nothave time to see Li-Na’s painting. He was too busy finding clothes for himself. He’d rushed here direct from Cornwall without benefit of any of his usual court attire. Thankfully, Mrs. Dove-Lyon sent a message to his valet who came immediately. Very soon, he was dressed appropriately and was rushing to one of the gaming hell’s carriages. There was a very small window of time when he could be sure that the Prince Regent was awake, not surly, and not in his cups. That time was rapidly dwindling, and so he all but leaped into the carriage when it arrived.
And then he sat dumbfounded because Li-Na was there before him.
“You look stunning,” he breathed. She wore green velvet that hugged her body, and in a move that shocked him, her hair was completely unbound. It fell down her back in a river of black silk that made him want to stroke his hands through it.
She flushed and her hands fluttered above her bodice. “I cannot understand the English need to bare the chest. I feel naked.”
“The Chinese do not have low bodices?” he asked, thinking that was a terrible shame.
She shook her head. “The chest is covered completely, but…” She flashed him a mischievous look. “The skirts have slits that reveal the leg. Madame Zhong cut hers up to here!” She touched the middle of her thigh.
Lord, now he was envisioning her in such a gown and was becoming very uncomfortable where he sat. That was not a fit state in which to meet the Prince Regent.
“Don’t be afraid. I shall do all the talking.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Then why did you need me to come? You could have presented this yourself!”
He could not do half as much without her there. “Prinny likes to meet the artist. He likes to talk to them about their work and…” He shrugged. “He also likes beautiful women. Even if you say nothing, you will interest him beyond anything I can do.”
She bit her lip and her shoulders tightened. She said nothing, but the fear in her was rising.
“You will be safe. I will not abandon you.”
She swallowed twice, but then found the courage to speak. “I was only once in the Zhong family receiving room. In all my years serving that family, I never went there. It was the most beautiful, the most expensive room in the entire area. Servants were not allowed there, and so I never went. Not until the day…” She took a breath. “Until the day I was given to the English captain.”
He watched her hands shake and her eyes dart nervously about the carriage. They were seated face to face, their knees touching, but there was room for him beside her. He quickly crossed over and took her hands.
“This is different from that other time. You cannot imagine that I would do such a terrible thing to you.”
“I don’t,” she said as she looked down at their hands. Hers were gripped tightly together. His lay atop hers. “I don’t,” she repeated.
“But it feels the same?”
