Page 85 of The Pirate and the Pagan
As he put his hands to her shoulders to remove her cape, she noticed how extraordinarily long were his beringed fingers. His hands were very large and strong, almost like a peasant’s, and looked capable of heavy physical labor. His manners, however, were impeccable. His hands did not linger about her person in a lascivious way. Charles relied upon charm alone to seduce a lady.
Summer curtsied low and Charles raised her immediately, “That’s quite unnecessary, my dear, when we are private.”
“Your Majesty, thank you for agreeing to see me so quickly,” she breathed.
“Lady Helford … Summer, it is a pleasure. Please don’t be a stranger to the court now that you are in London.”
“Thank you, Sire,” she murmured, wondering how soon she could petition him for help without seeming rude.
“Allow me to wait upon you for a change. Would you join me in a glass of port?” He led her to a chair and stood against the mantelpiece, where he could observe her beauty. The room, filled with priceless furniture, paintings, and art objects, could only be described as opulent. Summer was grateful that he had not received her in his bedchamber.
Her eyes glanced over the masterpieces on the walls as she composed what she should say to him, but suddenly her eyes came to stop on a magnificent portrait and she blurted, “Oh, is that a Raphael?”
“Yes. My father had the greatest art collection in England. That damned usurper sold off priceless works of art as if they were coconuts at the fair. I’m trying my best to restore his collections of Raphael, Titian, Guido, and the like.”
“We used to own a Raphael at Roseland but my father gambled away everything,” she said with candor.
“Well, I’ve been both prince and pauper and know what it’s like to have to sell heirlooms for practical purposes, but to sacrifice them for gambling is an obscenity.”
“Sire, I cannot ask you for a favor without offering something in return; my pride won’t allow it.”
He smiled down at her with jaded eyes. “Pride is a luxury we sometimes cannot afford. Summer, you neither flatter me nor flirt with me, as all other women do, so I must assume you are not offering the usual fare.”
She blushed, then plunged on. “My husband spies for you. I, too, could do that. Think how much a woman could learn and pass on for the good of her country. I know information is leaking to the Dutch, and perhaps I could find the source of that leak. Baron Arlington, your secretary of state, is married to a Dutchwoman.”
Charles laughed. “Egad, Arlington is after Hyde’s job, he’d better not be married to a traitor.”
“I didn’t mean to imply the baroness was a traitor, Sire; I’m simply using her as an example.”
“Yes, yes, I do understand and what you suggest has a great deal of merit I am in need of someone here at Court who will gather information for me and it would be best if we were just friends rather than intimate.”
She blushed again.
“Summer, you are that rare phenomenon—a woman who is in love with her husband.”
Summer’s flush deepened. If only he knew the truth about her, she was certain he would be very shocked.
“I feel I can be very open and frank with you and you will keep my confidence,” he said low.
“You may trust me implicitly, Sire,” she assured him.
“There is a young lady my sister brought home from France. Her name is Frances Stewart. I have a special interest in the lady, but she rebuffs every advance. She professes to be an innocent maid, a virgin, and I would know if this is true or if she spurns me for another.”
Summer was dismayed. “Oh, Sire, I don’t mean that sort of spying!”
“Well, my dearest Summer, while you get this information for me, perhaps you will learn other things regarding the security of the realm.”
“I think you are just playing with me.”
“Sweetheart, I’d like to play with you but you hold me at arm’s length like la belle Stewart.” He chuckled. “Tell me what it is I may do for you.”
“My brother was wrongly imprisoned in Falmouth and sent to Newgate. I was there yesterday, Sire, and it broke my heart to see his condition.”
“My dear, Ruark has already spoken to me about this. I gave my permission for him to get your brother released.”
She was so surprised her mouth fell open a little.
“Haven’t you spoken with your husband?”
