Page 10 of How To Seduce A Wife

“Thank you, ma’am. I can only hope that will be sufficient.”

“For what, my lord?”

At the bite in her words, Nicholas looked up from contemplating his boots. “Do you think I’m up to no good, ma’am?”

She raised her chin at him. Helene had never been afraid to speak her mind, and Nicholas suspected she was going to speak it right now. “That is none of my business, sir, but I would respectfully remind you that you have been married for less than a year.”

“And you think I mean to resume my lascivious ways and abandon my wife? I wouldn’t be the first man within your establishment to enjoy another woman. Why are you being so judgmental? It’s not like you.”

“That’s not the point.” Helene’s eyes narrowed. “May I take this opportunity to inform you that a month is all you have? I don’t intend to offer you another year of membership, but, despite my reservations, I will honor this current one.”

He grinned at her. “You do think I’m up to no good.”

“It would appear so, and I confess to some disappointment.” Madame Helene took a deep breath. “I’ve known you for years, and, in truth, I thought better of you.”

“That is exactly what I wanted to speak to you about. I’m allowed to bring a guest with me, aren’t I?”

“You are, my lord.” Her blue eyes were frosty now, her posture rigid.

He sat back and watched her for a long moment, then drew a leather bound book out of his pocket and placed it on her desk. “Then you won’t object if I bring my wife. I believe you might be able to help us with something important.”

* * *

By the timeshe reached home, Louisa had a terrible headache and a strange reluctance to do anything but crawl into her own bed and pull the bedclothes over her head. She’d braved her husband over the breakfast table, misled his sister into thinking she was filled with marital bliss,andmanaged to endure a lecture from her mother as to her shortcomings as a daughter and a wife.

She walked up the stairs, trailing the ribbons of her bonnet behind her, and went straight to her bedchamber. Polly, her maid, was adding coal to the fire and stood to welcome Louisa back.

“Good afternoon, my lady. Would you like some tea?”

Louisa shuddered as she took off her pelisse and tossed her bonnet onto the nearest chair. “I’ve had enough tea to drown in today. Could you bring me a glass of brandy instead?”

Polly curtsied and deftly removed the pelisse and bonnet from where Louisa had flung them. “I’ll see to that now, my lady, and then I’ll start your bath. Are you dining at home this evening?”

“I believe so.” Louisa took the chair next to the fire, kicked off her slippers, and curled her cold stockinged feet up on the seat. When Polly returned with her glass of brandy, Louisa took a long sip and felt the spirits burn a fiery path down to her stomach. She shivered and placed the glass on the small table beside her chair. The crystal chinked against her spectacles, and she picked them up and placed them on her nose, her hand delving down the side of the chair for her book.

With a frown she tried the other side of the chair. “Polly, did you move my book?”

“No, my lady. Which one was that?” Polly stood framed in the door to Louisa’s dressing room where she was preparing her bath. “If I’d seen it, I would’ve put it on the table by your chair.”

“The pirate novel I was telling you about.” Louisa climbed off the seat and upended the cushion, but there was no sign of the book. “I wonder where I put it?”

“Oh, I hope you find it, my lady. I can’t wait to hear what happens to that dastardly pirate!”

“Me neither,” murmured Louisa as a truly awful thought occurred to her. Had she merely misplaced it, or had Nicholas found it and decided to read it for himself? The idea made her simultaneously excited and scared. He would think her a feather-headed fool, just as her father did. A lowering thought when she’d tried so hard to convince Nicholas that she had a brain and was capable of discussing anything he wanted, anything at all.

“Your bath’s ready, my lady.” Polly’s cheerful voice floated out from the dressing room.

“Thank you.” Louisa got up and headed toward the steam-filled room. Polly helped her out of her damp clothes and then left, promising to be back in time to dress her for dinner.

Louisa lay back in the rose-scented bathwater and closed her eyes. Why had she ever said anything to Nicholas? If she’d just kept quiet, everything would still be the same and she wouldn’t be feeling so vulnerable, her confidence in her abilities shaken yet again.

“Good evening, my dear.”

Louisa opened her eyes and found Nicholas smiling down at her through the perfumed steam. Instinctively she crossed her hands over her breasts and drew her knees together. “Nicholas...”

He sat on the edge of the bath and tucked a strand of her curling wet hair behind her ear. He’d taken his coat, cravat, and waistcoat off and his shirt had fallen open at the throat. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“You didn’t, I...” His hand lingered on her skin, traced a soapy path from her earlobe down to her throat. She swallowed convulsively. “Was there something you wanted?”

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