Page 29 of Countess So Shameless (Scandal in London 1)

“You want me to help you have an affaire with Gravina?” he asked with an incredulous bark of laughter. “Surely you don’t think I’ll damn myself by doing such a thing?”

“You’re the only person I know who can teach me how to go about it without getting caught,” she calmly replied. “I’m going to do this, David, with or without your approval. You may as well give in now, because I’m not going to change my mind.”

Silence stretched as they stared at one another.

“One condition,” he said at last.

Mélisande raised a brow and mirrored his cross-armed stance, waiting.

“If you get yourself with child, we get married.” His tone brooked no argument.

After getting over the initial shock of his offer, Mélisande began to laugh in earnest. “Your motives are admirable, but such gallantry is misplaced. I’ve long known how to avoid conceiving.”

“Nevertheless, I’ll have your word.”

Rapping her fan on the back of a chair, Mélisande smiled. “I’m not a child anymore, David. I’ve never asked you or anyone else to fight my battles for me. I’m quite capable of taking care of myself.”

David sighed and shook his head. “I understand you wish to retain your autonomy, but this is not just about you. You know what it’s like to have the threat of bastardy hanging over your head. Surely you would not expose another innocent to such suffering, whether in secret or otherwise?”

Her stomach roiled. Damn him for knowing exactly how to gouge her conscience!

“If disaster strikes, you must come to me immediately,” he continued. “No one would question it if we married, and my name would provide a safe haven for both you and the child. I want your word,” he demanded again.

Mélisande gritted her teeth. Such a promise was pointless, since she would never need to follow through on it, but she would say the words if it made him cooperate. “Fine. If I find myself in an untenable situation, I’ll marry you,” she grumbled, fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

“Your promise.”

“Yes, yes. Very well. I promise. Now, naturally, I wish to begin as soon as possible,” she said, moving on to the more important topic, “but I’ve no idea how to go about such things. How do people conduct affaires?”

“You cannot simply jump into this, Melly. It will take careful planning. If you were to choose someone else,” he tried again, “someone a bit less...noteworthy, perhaps, you could at least be discreet. But with Gravina, you have little chance of an affaire going unnoticed. Go ahead and take a lover. Take ten, if it pleases you, but not him!”

The venom in his tone took her by surprise. “You truly despise him, don’t you? Why?” she asked, suspicious. “He’s done you no wrong.”

“You were barely out of nappies.”

“I was nearly fifteen!” Mélisande retorted, exasperated. “My parents were already planning my our—wedding, for pity’s sake. And why should it matter, anyway? You were only twelve when you tupped your bloody governess, and I happen to know she was more than ten years older than you! Besides, he didn’t know how old I was. I was dressed in my mother’s gown and I didn’t exactly announce my age—David, he didn’t know!” she insisted, seeing his jaw tighten in rejection of the facts. “I was just as much to blame for his conduct,” she admitted. “I kissed him back, after all.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, David sighed. “Couldn’t you choose someone else to initiate your fall from grace?”

“No,” she replied firmly. Gravina was the only one who had ever made her feel anything. She’d waited five years. It could be another ten before anyone e

lse appeared, or it might never happen again. She could not simply let him walk away. If she did, she would regret it the rest of her life.

“He’s not so awful, David—you’ll see. He’s a lot like you, or at least a lot like you used to be,” she dug at him. “Truthfully, I think we’re going to be great friends. He has his redeeming qualities like anyone else. Like you.”

He blanched at the comparison. “I can see it’s useless trying to convince you to take a safer course.”

Her smile broadened. “You ought to know by now that the safer path has never been my lot.” Ignoring his baleful glare, she continued. “Now. I believe location should be the first matter addressed.”

A sullen mask of resignation settled over David’s features, and she knew she’d won.

“The gentleman usually does the arranging,” he told her. “In this case, however,” he cut in before she could voice her protest, “I believe it would be to your advantage to retain control over the logistics. You’ll need to rent a house. It should be modest, nondescript, and in an area unfrequented by those who move within our level of society.”

Mélisande’s mind leapt ahead. “It will need to be furnished and maintained. I’ll have to make purchases, hire staff,” she mused, “but I cannot suddenly begin making property inquiries and looking at furnishings, can I? Everyone would know within the day, and if they found out I was equipping a second town residence...”

“Indeed,” David replied. “You’ll need an agent to do it for you. I would avoid using anyone familiar. Maintaining anonymity is going to be of the utmost importance.”

Even as he said it, she knew it was impossible. Her voice and features were unmistakable. If she wore a veil to obscure her face, there was still her height and bearing, and of course it would all be over the moment she spoke. The more she thought about it, the more dangerous it seemed. She was an unwed, wealthy countess. An unscrupulous agent would most certainly threaten her with blackmail.

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