Chapter 3

3

Agatha kept her eyes locked on the cup of tea in her hand. The fine bone china warmed her palms and though she longed for it to do so, the murky brown liquid did nothing to sooth her nerves.

“Perhaps if you’d talk to me about whatever is eating at your mind, you wouldn’t need to stare at that tea quite so hard. Besides your cup is too full for you to even see any leaves to read.” Violet tapped her spoon on the side of her teacup, then took a small sip.

Agatha watched her friend and debated how to even broach the subject.

Violet’s eyes lifted over her cup and met Agatha’s gaze. “My dear friend, you know I only offer a gentle ear. I have little room in my life to point fingers or toss stones.”

Agatha took a deep, cleansing breath and blew it out slowly. “I took your advice.”

“Always a risky endeavor,” Violet said.

A smile tugged at Agatha’s lips.

“Which advice are we speaking about? Because you know I hand out unsolicited advice as if they were pamphlets outside of Parliament.”

This time Agatha chuckled and it released the knot of tension that had coiled in her neck. “I’ve decided to take a lover. If I must rely on a man for protection and income, then I would like him to be one of my choosing.”

“Brava, my darling. So who did you select?” Violet sipped her tea, then set the saucer down on the table between them.

“No one, yet. But I’ve made the first step. Except I fear I was little too overzealous in my efforts and I’ve made a mess of things.”

Violet grins and looks very much the cat that ate the canary. “I’m going to need the entire story.”

“Right. Very well. I went to see Lady LeBlanc to inquire about her services in teaching me how to seduce a man, how to be a good lover. I suspect those skills, in particular, are what makes a good mistress.”

Violet’s eyes round. “You went to a brothel? Alone?”

Agatha winces, then swallows. “I did. In hindsight perhaps it was not my safest decision, but I wore my full mourning attire so no one recognized me.”

“Did she turn you away then?”

“Not precisely. Did you know she was a mother?”

One perfectly sculpted brow arches over Violet’s pretty blue eyes.

Agatha releases a nervous laugh. “As it turns out, she has two grown sons, twins, it would seem. I met one of them. And well, somehow he convinced me that he would be a better instructor for such lessons since he is, in fact, a man.”

Agatha risks a peek at her dearest friend and finds Violet’s lips squished together clearly repressing a laugh.

“Oh do make fun, my dear, I deserve it. What was I thinking?”

“Tell me more about the man?” Violet asked. “Is he you and handsome? Or old and bald and rotund?”

“He is undoubtedly the most devastatingly handsome man I’ve ever seen. It bordered on ridiculous. Of course his mother is gorgeous so it should not be surprising that he’s dashing.”

“I fear I’m missing the problem in this scenario. So a beautiful man volunteered to teach you the ways of seduction and you somehow think this is a problem?”

“Well, yes, I do not even know him and he kissed me!”

Violet’s careful restraint on her amusement cracks and a laugh bubbles up her. “What a dastardly thing to do to a woman who has sought out the most notorious madam in all of London at her brothel, no less, to hire out for lessons in love making. The cad!”

Agatha can’t help but grin in return. “Yes, yes, it is all very hilarious. But I do not know this man. I can’t simply decide to have relations with him.”

Violet’s hands rest in her lap and she levels a shrewd look on Agatha. “My darling, you are attempting to become a mistress, remember? All in an effort to claim control and power over your own life and decisions. If this man—the most handsome man in London evidently—offers to pluck your virginity, why the devil would you say no?”

“I didn’t say no. He kissed me and I nodded like a fool. But I’m going to tell him that I’ve changed my mind. I believe I prefer your original suggestion of seeking out the council of Miss Andrews. You said she was a very popular mistress in her day?”

“She was and a dear friend of my aunt’s, God rest her soul.” Violet frowns. “I understand you’re nervous, but I still think you should reconsider.”

“I will think on it, but I don’t know. There’s something about that man that makes me terribly nervous.”

“Describe him to me.”

Agatha frowns. “Why?”

“Because I’m a lonely old spinster who must live vicariously through her slightly younger widowed friend.”

Agatha rolls her eyes. “You are so dramatic.”

“Indeed. Now details, please.”

“Very well. He was ridiculously tall and broad and I suspect he has a physical job of some sort because his chest was incredibly firm to the touch.”

“You touched his chest?”

Agatha waves her hand dismissively. “During the kiss.”

“His hair is unfashionably long and golden—like his mother’s—and he wears it tied behind him in a queue. The room was rather dark, but I believe his eyes were a sultry green. Perfectly sculpted cheekbones and jawline and a deliciously plump mouth. I’ve never before noticed a man’s lips, but his were decidedly kissable.”

Violet fanned herself with her own hand. “Yes, I can see why spending intimate time with a man like that—naked—would be tedious.”

“I can’t explain it, Violet, but there was something about him. Have you ever met someone and known that they had the potential to irrevocably change your life?” Agatha puffed out a tight laugh. “That doesn’t even make sense. I might as well read those tea leaves.”

Violet’s features softened. “I tease you, my dear friend, because it is how I love. But the truth is, if this man makes you too nervous to enter into an arrangement with him, then I think we can find another solution for you.”