Page 27 of Becoming Wanton (Trade Wind 3)

What if he lived a life where he could even take his wife up to her chamber this very moment and—

A movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention.Damn.

The Dowager Marchioness stood regally in a doorway off the foyer, eyeing the scene with a deceptively serene gaze. Her iridescent pale-green gown was the same color as her eyes—his, too—and her blonde hair shone. Whatever wickedness dwelled within her had not marred her outward beauty…but he was not deceived.

He smiled at Beatrice before stepping back. “Thank you for coming to me, my lady. I won’t detain you further.”

“Most unfortunate,” she said lightly, smiling back. “I shall see you later, then.”

She inclined her head and greeted his mother before passing her, and to his disappointment but not surprise, the Dowager Marchioness remained.

“Good afternoon, Mother. Have you had an agreeable day?”

“Agreeable enough, I thank you. What of your time with the Earl?”

“Oh, he trounced me at tennis, as expected.”

Her eyes narrowed shrewdly. “Did you let him?”

“I fought him every step of the way. For naught, I’m afraid.”

“You’re like your father,” she said, sending a chill down his spine. “You wouldn’t allow such a thing without a reason. What did you want from him?”

As much as William respected her intellect, he had enough experience to curse it in situations like this. He could inform her it was none of her affair, but if he did share anything short of the truth—such as pretending to have gone for the game of tennis—she would know he was lying.

He weighed his options, quickly determining that avoiding the topic would only pique her interest and push her to investigate further. Choosing the lesser of the two evil truths, he spoke. “To recruit him.” She could not know of his investment in the Earl’s firm. He simply didn’t trust her with any sensitive information.

Cocking her head, she considered this. “Enlisting him in your parliamentary plots?”

“Plots? I think not.”Leave it to her to cast my efforts thus.“My work for Britain.”

“Yes, of course. And? Was he persuaded?”

“No. His attentions remain outside of politics.”

“Trade,” she said, her tone dripping with scorn.

“Yes.”

“So much the better, William. You needn’t have his stench on you.” Sniffing delicately, she took a step back. “You’ve enough of your own, my dear.”

“So I have, my lady. If you’ll excuse me.”

“Let this experience with the Earl serve as an important reminder,” she said quietly as he passed.

Keep going. Keep going!But the sense of foreboding and his own curiosity made him stop. “What do you mean?”

She stepped back into his line of sight. “You could not change the Earl, and it’s a good thing you didn’t force it.”

“Why not?”

“Keep him as an ally and use him as he is—a rich peer on the fringe. Perhaps you could make him into a politician, but you would lose something out of it somehow.”

Angling his head, William didn’t hide his suspicions. This wasn’t the only wisdom she sought to impart. “What else are you telling me?”

“You toy with the idea of making your wife your whore.”

Fury at her words overcame him. Not only was she right, invoking his own shame, she was insulting him and his wife! “Mother, you will—“

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