However, she must have felt she was being watched for she lifted those enchanting blue eyes and offered him a smile that nearly struck him down with its brilliance. “Good morning, Your Grace.”
“Good morning,” he murmured in return, forcing his legs to carry him over to the sideboard where he selected a few tempting delights, although none was as mouthwatering as the woman seated at his table.
As he walked over to join her, she started to rise. Her cheeks reddened slightly as she began to move her things. “Pardon me. I’ve just become so used to sitting here—”
He waved her back down and took the seat at her right. “Pray, don’t change anything on my account.”
She frowned slightly, and he had the overwhelming urge to kiss that furrow away. “But as the master of the house, it’s right that you should take precedence.”
He picked up his knife and fork and began to cut his ham. “It will take some time to accustom myself with English ways again. Propriety was something that I didn’t have to concern myself with when I was abroad. Things were definitely more simple.”
She sighed. “It sounded absolutely splendid from the way you described it in your letters. I kept every single one of them and read your exploits until they became permanently creased.”
“Did you?” He smiled at that, imagining her before bed curled up with one of his letters. And then, before she snuffed out the light, she might allow her hand to drift down below the covers…
His grip tightened on his silverware. Those were dangerous paths to cross.
“It was a way for me to stay… connected to you,” she admitted softly.
He paused to look at her. “I feel as if I’ve wronged you by keeping you here on your own. I should have hired a companion—”
“Oh, no. That’s not what I’m saying at all. Please don’t think I’m complaining about my time here. It’s been an absolute dream.” Her focus turned distant. “I’ve felt like a princess in a storybook waiting for her prince to return.” Her blue eyes warmed as they lit on him. “And here you are.”
Hunter had to choke down the last bite of eggs, and then he pushed his plate away as the food he’d just consumed turned to ash in his stomach. He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I’m far from a fairytale hero, Miss Welton. You should know that right now. I’ve done dastardly things all in the name of justice. One might even say, for someone who wants to see a man hang badly enough that he is willing to give up five years of his life in pursuit of enough evidence to send him to the gallows, that I am a villain.”
When he would have stood, she reached out and clasped his hand. Her gaze beseeched him. “What happened to cause all this animosity toward Lord Gregory?”
He hesitated, torn between confiding in her and burying the secrets of the past that had changed him irrevocably. “Let’s just say he did terrible things, unconscionable grievances against my sister that I can never forgive.” His jaw clenched. “I pray that he burns in hell for the rest of his days.”
With that, he stood and strode out of the room.
***
“Miss Welton.” The Countess of Virsage greeted Sephy with a kiss on either cheek. Although Charlotte was English, she’d spent many years in France and was influenced by many of their habits, including fashion. She was one of the few women that still wore a powdered wig and refused to give up her patch box. She was also the only courtesan Sephy knew who had married her protector, who had died and left her quite a wealthy widow. “I received your note this morning and was rather surprised by your urgent request to meet. Although,” she added with a wink. “I daresay I was rather intrigued. Come, sit. We shall have some tea while you regale me with a scintillating tale.”
Sephy couldn’t help but laugh. Her friend was a social butterfly who was a former pariah, and Sephy was quite sure Charlotte’s presence in the ton was tolerated because she knew too much about everyone’s personal life to be ignored. The secrets that she held were undoubtedly quite numerous. But then, she’d never hesitated to confide in her, for Charlotte was fiercely loyal to fallen women. While Sephy was still innocent, as far as anyone except her dear friend knew, the duke had debauched her.
Sephy slowly stirred the sugar into her tea with her spoon, trying to figure out the best way to approach the subject. “Falcourt returned last night, but I fear he seems rather… reticent to resume our nocturnal activities. He claims something terrible happened to his sister, Louisa, at the hand of Lord Alabaster Gregory which keeps him at a distance, and yet, he is reluctant to discuss the torrid details with me.” She glanced up at Charlotte. “I wondered if you might know anything about it?”
The countess tilted her head to the side as she took a sip of her tea. “I imagine anything to do with Lord Gregory would be rather detrimental. He’s a known libertine whose sadistic rituals rival that of the Earl of Rochester and the Marquis de Sade. No doubt if the duke’s sister had any sort of interaction with him, it wasn’t pleasant, which is why I was grateful when Falcourt rescued you from him.”
Sephy resisted a shudder, although just thinking of how different her life might have been if she’d been sold to the gentleman made her even more grateful for Hunter’s interference. “Indeed. Which is why I’d like to ask you a favor. Find out what happened to Louisa that Falcourt finds so difficult to overcome.”
“Of course.” Charlotte smiled gently. “You know that I would do anything for
