Grantham tipped his head back, thinking. “If you help them and your mother discovers it, she will be terribly wounded. If society discovers it, there will be those quick to remind everyone that the Countess and the Earl of Raine were once envied for their courtship and marriage, and that it was all a sham.”
“I have considered every possibility,” Sebastian said. “And the certain scandal. Society is never so content as when it feeds upon someone else’s pain.”
Radbourne tilted his head. “What have you decided?”
“Nothing that holds for more than an hour.” Sebastian set his glass down and looked into the fire as if it promised answers. “When I look at them, I feel indifference and anger. And yet I cannot cast them to the wolves. Do I give them money and sendthem away? Do I set dowries and trust that without connections, they will find decent matches? Do I put them in the country and bind the servants’ tongues? All of it feels inadequate or dangerous.”
Templeton regarded him over the rim of his glass. “Here is a fact. You are not required to do anything for them. Your only duty is to Lady Raine and Lady Cordelia. To protect your family, you may let the wolves have them.”
Cold, ruthless sentiments, yet Sebastian had thought the same more than once. He reached for the decanter, refilled his glass, and lifted it to his mouth. He let the brandy warm his tongue and granted himself the charity of ten heartbeats.
Radbourne sighed. “What will you do?”
“I have moved them for the moment to my investment townhouse in Russell Square and given the house staff a plausible story. The servants will keep their heads down. A modiste will fit them out with proper wardrobes. After that, I have no damn clue what to do with them. The solicitor my father used for his secret pretends there is no provision. My father could be careless in some things; with money, he was exact. If he loved them as his letters implied, he would not have left them to the wind. Something is missing, or mislaid, or misused.”
Templeton leaned back. “Dowries can be arranged quietly—five thousand pounds each. Enough to make a rector’s son see the sun with new eyes, or to tempt a conscientious second son from a respectable family. If you wish to avoid the scent of trade, procure a sponsor of polish to usher them forward.”
Sebastian considered and let the notion sit. Such entanglement was not feasible, and he felt no call to involve himself so deeply in their lives.
Grantham poured himself a drink, a faint frown settling upon his features, his hazel eyes thoughtful as they darkened with contemplation. “Their illegitimacy will ensure that no propergentleman makes them an offer—unless their connection to the Earl of Raine is made known.”
“And that will never come to pass,” Sebastian said, his tone edged with a chilling indifference. “Which means I must sever whatever connection exists between us—and do so without delay.”
The door opened after a discreet knock, and Madame Rebecca drifted in, red silk peignoir like smoke about her, diamonds caught in her hair as if she had shaken them down from the ceiling. Her smile was perfect.
“My lords,” she said, sinking into a sensual curtsy. “How delightful to find you all assembled.”
“Never say you have been pining for us,” Grantham replied, rising to kiss her hand. “Does this mean you will at last fall into my bed and favor me with your charms? I have long wished to delight and corrupt you.”
“Ah,” Madame Rebecca murmured, eyes bright. “How shocking that you believe there remain things for me to learn, Grantham—and if there were, a young pup such as yourself could not teach them.”
“How you wound me,” he drawled, amusement glinting in his hazel gaze. “I am told you have never yet been brought to the pinnacle—that all challengers have failed abysmally. I promise I could have you crying out within ten minutes. What am I saying? Let that be five minutes.”
Faint color touched Rebecca’s cheek, and for a moment Sebastian was bemused. Was sheblushing?
“I have no wish to indulge in your flirtation, Grantham,” she drawled. “Pray seek out someone more susceptible to your particular brand of wicked charm. It will never succeed with me. I have never been inclined to find a sybarite appealing.”
Yet from where Sebastian sat, he could see the quick, betraying flutter of her pulse at the delicate curve of her throat.
How very interesting.
Grantham, for his part, regarded her with the keen focus of a hawk, while Rebecca lingered nearby with the quiet watchfulness of a mouse. “How I admire a challenge,” he murmured. “I am, I confess, a most ardent devotee of luxury and carnal indulgence. I had thought you might relish the notion of reforming me of my wicked ways.She withdrew her hand from the earl’s grasp and turned away without responding to his provocation.
“Raine, I was hoping you’d come bearing good news about our little gallery. It is fair to say you are one of my most beautiful members, and more than a few of my girls have spoken fondly of your… endowment. I think many ladies would be delighted to behold such exquisite art.”
“Listen to you, attempting to rouse my jealousy,” Grantham drawled. “It very nearly succeeded, which I find warrants some introspection.”
Rebecca ignored him, though the flush in her cheeks deepened. “There will be veils, masks, and shadows. No faces revealed unless a gentleman wishes to be so bold. The patrons will only see what I allow. It will do wonders for your legend.”
“His legend can withstand a dull season,” Radbourne said, laughing.
Madame Rebecca’s glance slid to him and softened. “Yours has been improved by matrimony. Give my respects to your lady. She sent word that if I so much as attempted to offer you any of my ladies, I would wake to find my pleasure palace reduced to ashes the next morning. I have already sent a dozen roses in apology.”
“I will give her your respect,” Thomas said, warmth in his tone.
“My artist is visiting me tonight,” Rebecca said, shifting her regard to Sebastian. “I thought you might… conduct theassessment of hersuitability. I have no one else in mind for it. Please say you will assist.”
Something in her emphasis pricked Sebastian’s curiosity. He rose. “Then I shall oblige.”
