Regency 02 - Betrayal (4 page)

This was the other reason he hated the park.
Unless there was a lady present, Adam was always inundated with
questions about his mistress. Everyone eagerly awaited the moment
it was known that he let her go and some other lucky gentleman had
the chance to be her protector. He actually considered sending an
announcement to the papers to save a lot of people a lot of trouble
when…if…the time came.

As much as Adam disliked women and sometimes
hated them, he had been with his mistress since his return from the
peninsula. He found her interesting as a person and, although he
wouldn’t admit it even to himself, she was far more than a
mistress. She was his friend. He wasn’t bored with her yet although
it had been well over a year since he’d met her and she had agreed
to be his mistress.

She was also, unfortunately, an actress at
the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. Worse than that, she was an
exceptional actress of exceptional beauty. She was a great favorite
with the gentlemen and the green room was always full to
overflowing with her admirers, often men who wanted no more than a
glimpse of the exotic beauty.

She was Miss Raven Emerson, The Ebony
Swan.

It was her role as Juliet that made her
really famous. She
was
Juliet. She made every audience
member feel her blossoming awareness of first love, her desperation
to be with her love despite all odds, her despair and confusion
over her cousin’s death at the hands of her love, her sudden loss
and anguish at her dearest Romeo’s passing, and ultimately, her own
release in death.

It was not very often that true beauty and
natural talent converged in one person on the stage but Raven was
that perfect entity. She was tall—only a head shorter than Adam who
was over six feet tall. Her hair was glossy black, straight, and
silky. She never wore it up, not even at home. She had dark, nearly
black eyes that tilted slightly giving her an exotic look.
Delicately arched brows and long black lashes made her eyes stand
out even more than they normally would have. Her nose was in
perfect proportion to her face and her mouth was made for kissing
with a fuller bottom lip and a slightly thinner top one. She was
naturally graceful in movement and with every spoken word she
managed to captivate man and woman alike, even her fellow
actors.

Adam knew he was not the only man who found
her appearance irresistibly seductive. Baxter had been after her
since before Adam had even known of her existence. Raven had
confided that the man was one of the few gentlemen who accosted her
regularly that refused to take no for an answer.

Adam had never cared whether or not she was
faithful to him, but he had always had the feeling that she was.
Even Baxter’s words failed to rouse his anger with Raven. It did,
however, rouse his anger at Baxter. Prestwich was tempted to call
the man out and have done with the whole damnable situation.

“I imagine she kept herself suitably
entertained. And since you ask, she was obviously wise enough not
to have been with you,” he said equably. “And now, I really must
go.”

Raven kept rooms near the theater for
convenience sake although Adam knew she had the wherewithal to buy
a house if she wished. His offer to set her up in a quaint little
house on the outskirts of Town had been turned down with a smile
and assurances that she was quite comfortable right where she was.
She was frugal with her money and unlike most courtesans, she knew
the wisdom of saving for a rainy day, or in her case, her
retirement from the theater. He admitted to a reluctant admiration
of her because of this.

He walked into her little sitting room where
he knew she would be at this time of day. She usually practiced her
lines there with the help of her little maid, Molly. He waited
patiently until Molly was dismissed before he approached the
actress.

Raven smiled at him, delighted to see him, as
usual. He wondered if she ever thought he might marry her. She had
never in any way indicated that she felt he should or would, but
how was he to know what actually went on in the woman’s head? She
was, after all, a woman. Didn’t they all cherish hopes of
matrimony?

When she saw the look on his face, Raven took
his hand and led him out and up the stairs to her bedchamber. She
normally did not like to indulge in sexual activity so close to the
time when she had to be at the theater, but she sensed in Adam the
need for a release and she was more than willing to oblige him.

He had, after all, been the one to introduce
her to the fine art of lovemaking. It had been against her earliest
decisions to take a protector. But that was before she learned of
the unpredictability of receiving her pay for working at the
playhouse.

And that was before she had met Adam
Prestwich. He had not attempted to turn her head with the empty
flattery that she so often received from other gentlemen. But the
admiration was clear in his eyes and for the first time she had
found herself sorely tempted by a man.

It had only taken the first time he asked her
to be his mistress and she had heard a voice remarkably like her
own saying yes.

That had been well over a year ago. She had
been an actress since she was twenty. Even at that young age she
had a wisdom beyond her years. She had at one time carried the hope
of meeting and falling in love with a man who would marry her and
save her family from penury. A year of trying to make ends meet on
her meager salary with ten other mouths to feed had changed that.
But she found she was unable to bring herself to say the words that
would seal her fate with some gentleman who was only interested in
her body and not her heart or mind.

But in Adam she had sensed a need. What it
was, she wasn’t sure. But it was there nonetheless, and she was
willing to try to learn what it was he needed and strive to meet
that need.

And now, she thought of him as her closest
friend.

An hour of pleasurable activity later, Raven
half-dozed in the circle of Adam’s arms. They lay on their sides
facing each other and he held her against him while wondering when
he would get bored with her. He was amazed at how long he had been
with her already.

Normally, he gave a mistress her marching
orders after a relatively short acquaintance. He remembered the
longest as being about two months. They always seemed to become
rather arrogant and sure of his affections. One had even had the
gall to ask when they were to be married. After dropping her
unceremoniously on the floor—he had been in the process of carrying
her up to her bed—he had sworn never to have anything to do with
semi-respectable ladies of the
ton
again. That was one
promise he had found relatively easy to keep.

He had never wondered or particularly cared
what went on in any woman’s mind, much less a whore’s. But he often
found himself pondering the inner workings of Raven’s beautiful
head and sometimes even asking her.

Perhaps he did this because he had trouble
really thinking of her as a whore. She had been innocent until the
first time with him and he had been strangely flattered that she
would choose him for her first sexual experience even though he
knew she had had several offers from half the gentlemen of the
beau monde
. Surely, she could have found a man far better
heeled than he was and far more handsome, definitely far more
personable?

But she had chosen him and as much as he
tried to tell himself that she was just like every other woman—a
scheming little adventuress just trying to get her hands on as much
wealth as she could—he was never truly convinced of what to him was
a fact rather than mere conjecture.

Black eyes opened and gazed sleepily up into
his. He hadn’t even realized he was staring at her. She smiled and
kissed him lightly on the lips. When he didn’t smile back, just
continued to look at her intently, she asked, “Is something wrong,
Adam?”

He liked her offstage voice. She had a soft,
slightly husky voice that he found soothing and erotic at the same
time. He traced the line of her jaw with one long finger and kissed
her deeply.

Just before rolling her onto her back and
covering her body with his, he whispered, “I’ll tell you
later.”

It was some time later that Raven finally had
the answer to her question. Well,
an
answer at any rate.

They were once again in the position of him
holding her, only this time he was lying on his back and staring up
at the silk canopy of the bed. She was laying half on top of him,
one hand playing idly with the dark curling hairs on his chest and
one leg draped negligently over both of his. He had drawn the
bedsheet up to cover the lower half of their bodies. Both were
relaxed and smiling.

They lay like that for several minutes before
Adam recalled her question.

“Did you really want to know if something was
wrong?” he asked with a slightly cynically inflection in his
voice.

She cuffed him lightly on the chest. “I would
not have asked if I didn’t want to know,” she replied with a smile
that took the sting out of her action.

He had to smile. “I have a problem,” he
began, his smile disappearing as he thought about Lady
Rothsmere.

Raven waited patiently, knowing Adam would
only continue when he was ready. When he rose and dressed, she sat
up, a little puzzled but still silent.

Pausing with his hands in the middle of tying
his cravat, he said reflectively, “I find myself encumbered with a
certain burden who refuses to…cooperate.”

This was enough to arouse Raven’s curiosity.
Rising and pulling on a robe, she asked, “Can I help in any
way?”

Gazing at his beautiful mistress
thoughtfully, he nodded. “Perhaps.” Glancing at the clock on the
mantle, he smiled. “We are both late now, my dear. I am due at
White’s and you should be at the theater.”

“You look awfully pensive, old man. What’s to
do?”

Adam didn’t bother to rise. He simply
gestured to the seat opposite and waited for Connor to sit
down.

“Nothing is wrong except I have a runaway
heiress in my house and a sick feeling in my stomach that she would
actually be better off with me than with her own family.”

“I wondered if you had realized,” Con said
seriously. He ordered from the waiter that approached and sat
silently until the man had left before continuing. “I have to admit
that I wonder what would make one of the richest titled ladies run
away and actually prefer to be left to die as a petty thief in
Newgate. She must have been desperate.”

“Or out for a lark that went desperately
wrong?” Adam inserted cynically.

Connor considered that for a split second
before firmly shaking his head. “I think some investigation into
her family is called for, Adam. Her actions are too extreme. Even
for a woman of her stubborn hardheadedness.”

Agreeing reluctantly, Adam added, “If they
discover I’m back before I learn anything, I will have to return
her. I can’t legally hold her. She is underage, Con.”

The subject seemed closed for the moment. The
friends ate steadily for a while before Connor cleared his throat
and said, “I have to go back to Denbigh soon.”

Adam’s fork paused
en route
to his
mouth. He set it down on his plate and pushed the plate away. “How
soon?”

“I wanted to leave tomorrow.”

“You can’t,” Prestwich returned bluntly.

“I can’t?” His tone was disbelieving.

“No, you can’t. What if something happens to
Bri? I can’t take care of a feverish countess who hates the very
sight of me. What if she dies, Con?”

“That’s your own fault,” Con retorted. “Her
hating you, I mean. As for the rest, I can wait only a few days. I
will leave as soon as her fever breaks. After that, you will have
no problem.”

“She was starving.”

“I know. It wasn’t hard to tell.”

“She can’t keep anything down. What if she
still dies even after the fever breaks?”

By now, Adam could hear the worry and
desperation in his own voice. And he hated it.

“After the play tonight,” Con replied in a
seeming
non sequitur
, “we will go to the green room and
visit your friend the Swan.”

“Why do you—”

“Trust me,” Con interrupted forcefully.
“Don’t worry.” He rose to his feet and prepared to take his leave.
“Come around for me at half past seven if you will. Until
then.”

The Theatre Royal in Drury Lane that evening
was crowded despite the lack of Society in Town. Hundreds of
candles blazed in large chandeliers poised above the full pit
below. Even the boxes were crowded with those members of the
ton
who either stayed in London all year or were there on
some business or other.

Adam and Connor were of the latter group.
Connor preferred to spend his time in the country with his wife and
children and Adam had never found London very interesting when
Parliament was not in session.

The play started and Adam marveled anew at
the beauty and grace of the lead actress. She
was
the play.
Everyone else were little more than props to accentuate how very
perfect she was. He watched her closely, a look of pride on his
face.

The actor playing the role of Romeo was a
young man almost too beautiful to be a man but he played his part
well. Adam was nearly convinced that he was in love with his
companion. And Raven…well, she was everything a young girl in
love should be. Radiant, joyous, and yet despairing that she would
ever be able to declare her feelings to all and sundry.

The play duly ended and Adam found himself in
the green room bowing in front of Raven. She gave him a welcoming
smile and offered him her hand.

When Connor approached, her smile grew. “Lord
Connor! I was not expecting you. How is your wife?”