Page 31 of The Seduction of Viscount Vice

Iain frowned. “You weren’t leaving at that stage?”

“No. I thought with a little time, I could somehow change my father’s mind. But that night, Farnsworth forced his way into my bedchamber. I knocked the earl out with a chamber pot, then ran to Ramsey in a blind panic and begged him to take me with him. So instead of meeting you in that clearing the next day as we arranged, I was aboard a creaking, swaying vessel, wishing I were dead.”

“What happened when you arrived in Paris? How did you first meet Madame Yvette?”

“Actually, we met in Calais. I was beyond desperate; Ramsey was struck down with a bad fever, and a satchel containing most of our money was stolen from the docks. Yvette saved us both and offered us jobs as a seamstress and a footman at her pleasure club. We didn’t have a choice. I felt like we owed her a great debt, though, so we went with her happily enough.”

“Ah,” said Iain. “So that was the hold she had over you. Ten years as a theater seamstress. Christ. Not pleasant, I’d wager.”

“It was awful,” Mairi whispered. “Long hours, backbreaking work. Society ladies have no bloody idea what goes into a gown. But then more and more pleasure clubs were opening around us, so Yvette made the decision to move to London. I made a bargain with her. If I could spy on the most successful club in England—Fallen—and make Worldly better, then she would allow me to be a performer instead of a seamstress.”

“So you disguised yourself as a footman and discovered…me.”

“It was a horrible situation, Iain. And only got more so as I kept seeing you and falling in love with you all over again. But I owed Yvette so much, and I had this stupid dream of performing sultry acts onstage. Which has now been crushed completely. By the by, I must confess something else…”

“Good God.” His hand on her hair stilled. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“Before I came over here, Yvette and I had a terrible fight. She said if I walked out the door, I could never go back.”

Iain burst out laughing. “Highland warrior. I knew it all along. As it happens, Fallen is looking for someone special to fill a most exclusive role. Perhaps you might be interested?”

Her heart began to pound. “Tell me about this role.”

“It’s for a lady. Fierce, courageous, and whip-smart. She must be tall, have a backside like a peach, long ebony curls, and enjoy fucking in public. She would take a lead role in Fallen shows, you see. Be feted and envied and applauded by audiences in the hundreds. Oh yes, and in compensation she’d have an unlimited allowance, maids, a chef to cater to her every dessert wish, and a passel of tailors for new breeches and shirts.”

“That is very, ah, specific.”

“But there is one non-negotiable condition,” Iain said quietly, a finger under her chin gently turning her head toward him. “While the audience and other players are free to watch forever, the leading lady will be fucked only by the leading man. Her husband.”

Joy unfurled so powerful she could scarcely bear it, spreading to every part of her body until it felt like she might be glowing like a street lamp. “I see. So what you are saying is, to have my dream life, I must marry the only man I’ve ever loved, or will love.”

He grinned so sweetly, a tear slid down her cheek. “Yes ma’am. See, I’m not letting you go again. I thought…I thought I would never find someone to love, who could love me, who I could share my life and work with. Because I adore what I do. Truly. And then you returned and liked to dress up and fuck in public and create theater. When I was seventeen I loved you, that is the truth. But I didn’t know you were the other half of my soul. We both had a lot of learning to do. So…what say you, then?”

“I choose love. I say yes. Yes, yes, yes!”

With a guttural groan, he cupped her face and brushed her tears away with his thumbs. Then his mouth crashed onto hers, owning and devouring and worshiping, and Mairi wound her arms around his neck and returned it to him tenfold.

This was it. This was true happiness.

At last.

Epilogue

Vice had never been so damned nervous in his life as he waited to begin the first show at Fallen both overseen and performed by himself and Mairi.

Well, apart from three mornings ago when everyone from Fallen had yet again descended on poor Archbishop Manners-Sutton at Lambeth Palace to witness a wedding. For a man of the cloth and a Sassenach, the archbishop was surprisingly all right, welcoming them with warmth and humor and a Bible verse to soothe their souls. Although to be fair, the man’s favored hospitals and orphanages had certainly benefitted from the substantial donations made by Sin, Devil, and himself after each special license wedding, so the archbishop was both a kindhearted and practical man.

What a ceremony it had been.

Surrounded by his Fallen co-owners, his mother and Parkton, plus Helena. He in a formal jacket and kilt, the Vissen clan badge proudly affixed to his lapel. Mairi in a gown the stunning blue-green of a deep loch, her hair tumbling down her back and swept off her face with silver and diamond combs, and an expression on her face of such love, he’d had to look away briefly to compose himself.

As for the guests, they’d had Prinny and Mrs. Fitzherbert applauding in the front row. Lord and Lady Castlereagh sat beside them, two very secret members and occasional attendees of Fallen, nodding in stern approval at a love match like they themselves enjoyed. Then Ramsey and Olivier beaming in the second row. Well, Ramsey’s smile had been more of a grimace than anything else, but the understated feeling was there. The two men had confided to Mairi that Madame Yvette was now in negotiations with several investors, and they didn’t like the uncertainty of their positions. So just yesterday they had accepted an invitation to come and work at Fallen, Ramsey as a senior footman and Olivier as a props master for the shows.

In the next row back sat Nell and Charlie, their domme, plus all the maids from the harem, who took up several pews and were twittering like intoxicated birds. Hell, he’d even coaxed Diaz to leave his post for a short while, although their butler had spent most of his time gazing at Charlie, interestingly enough.

It had been the production of his life, staying upright and remembering to speak in actual sentences as the most beautiful, passionate, adventurous woman in the world pledged her troth to him.

The second most important was tonight, here in the secondary ballroom.