Miss Foxworth's Fate (13 page)

Letitia gasped and then burst out laughing.

“If anyone can, you can, Miranda dearest. Especially in that gown...”

Both women turned to the glass as Miranda fastened the black velvet mask over the top half of her face.

The gown was sensational against the white of her rounded breasts and the violent red of her hair. Miranda’s eyes glittered through the slits in the velvet mask, and she giggled as she raised her hem slightly and showed off her shockingly black stockings, held up by black ribbon garters. A tiny red satin rose in the center of each garter was the only color she had allowed.

She stood tall, towering over her pregnant friend by almost a foot. Letty knew that if Miranda had not been married so young to Lord Montvale and whisked off to the wilds of Yorkshire, she would have been termed “Goddess” of the Ton within weeks of making her debut.

“Do you have your invitation?” she asked nervously.

“Yes.”

“And your carriage?”

“The crest has been covered, the driver is a hire for the evening, and I have taken every precaution, Letty. Stop fussing.”

“How can I
not
fuss?  You have almost no experience with men, yet you have managed to procure an invitation—heaven knows how—to the home of one of the most licentious men in England. There, you intend to seduce him into bed, and get him to scream out his pleasure while he’s buried to the hilt inside you, thus winning you ten thousand pounds. Which you will then take home to Yorkshire with you and use to secure Montvale House in your name. Did I mention everything?”

“Yes.”

“There is something very, very wrong with this plan.”

Miranda widened her green eyes and stared innocently through the mask at her friend. “Wrong?  How can anything be wrong?”

“Well, what you’re thinking about doing—it’s not—you shouldn’t—you are...”

“I’m a widow who is going to be homeless soon if I don’t get money quickly.”  Miranda reached for her cloak. “I won’t be a burden on my friends, and this is as good a way as any to solve my problems, don’t you think?”

She took one last glance into the mirror then turned away and straightened her shoulders. A small smile curved around her generous lips.

“You’re looking forward to it, aren’t you?” asked Letty in disbelief. “You’re actually excited by the idea of seducing one of the biggest rakes in the country, and I’m not just talking about his reputation.”

“You said it yourself, Letty dear. Nick Barbour is quite a man. I cannot, in all fairness, say I am adverse to the idea of—shall we say—trying him on for size?”

Letty sputtered and threw her hands in the air. “You’d better tell me every single detail. Take notes—no, better yet, take measurements.”

The laughter of both women rolled through the entrance hall as they neared the door where Miranda’s carriage was waiting.

Letty reached for her friend and gave her a quick, awkward hug. “Be careful, Miranda. This man is no-one’s toy...”

“Perhaps he’ll be mine by the time this night is over. One never knows. Don’t worry, Letty, I’ll be fine.”

Miranda grinned conspiratorially, and leaned over to drop a light kiss on her friend’s cheek. She turned and left a worried-looking Letty in the middle of her foyer.

*~~*~~*

Find out what happens when Miranda meets Nick Barbour and the explosion begins!!! You can also read about the adventures of Beatrice and Poppy and the woman who befriends them all – Louisa.

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