Playing The Duke's Mistress. Eliza Redgold

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СКАЧАТЬ She was thin, too thin for his taste, although her collarbones, he noted, were particularly delicate.

      His eyes returned to her face. To his surprise she met his gaze with deep-blue eyes fringed with dark lashes. Her expression held a hint of humour, as though she was aware of his rapid assessment.

      Unexpectedly he experienced a flare of physical attraction. He suppressed it instantly.

      ‘I’m Miss Fairmont,’ she said after a moment, when it appeared Herbert was unable to wrest his attention from the charms of Miss Coop for long enough to perform introductions. Her voice was low and husky, with no discernible accent.

      ‘Eh, what?’ Herbert stammered. ‘So sorry, allow me to introduce you properly, Miss Fairmont, to my cousin, the Duke of Albury.’

      Darius inclined his head. ‘Delighted.’

      In reply she made a sketch of a curtsy.

      He frowned again. The young woman appeared to be well schooled in manners. Her curtsy held unexpected dignity. There was no flash of cleavage from her, but a dip with a straight back that would present well even at court. Yet the gesture held a challenge. It was not insolent, but showed a certain self-possession that spoke of independence.

      He watched as she removed her cloak and laid it on a chest by the door. Yes, much too thin, he thought, as she moved towards the table in the middle of the room, but her walk was elegant, almost mesmerising. She was nowhere near as obviously pretty as Miss Coop, yet it was she who held his attention.

      ‘Do sit,’ Herbert urged. ‘Supper will be brought momentarily.’

      Like a butler, he pulled out a chair for Miss Coop, who rewarded him with another flash of cleavage.

      Darius returned to his place at the head of the table, already set with a white cloth, plates and cutlery. Miss Fairmont sat at his right, Miss Coop at his left. From the left he smelled a floral fragrance, so strong it could spoil the bouquet of a good wine. From the right, to his relief, it was clear that Miss Fairmont seemed not to have doused herself in cheap scent. She sat with her back straight, her hands in her lap.

      ‘Would you care for some champagne, ladies?’ Herbert asked. He brandished a bottle from a melting bucket of ice.

      ‘Ooh, yes,’ said Miss Coop.

      Miss Fairmont shook her head. Darius also declined. Instead he poured a little more whisky into his glass from the bottle he’d ordered up earlier. He’d need it tonight, even if drinking whisky at dinner wasn’t the done thing. In such company he supposed it barely mattered, although he noticed Miss Fairmont gave his glass a perceptive glance.

      ‘I’ve ordered lobster,’ Herbert told Miss Coop as he shook out his napkin.

      She clapped her hands. ‘Oh, that’s my favourite, Herbie!’

      Pet name terms already, Darius thought grimly. Mentally he’d already estimated an amount to offer Miss Coop. He nudged the price up a few hundred pounds.

      ‘Do you care for lobster, too, Miss Fairmont?’ he asked the young woman seated to his right.

      ‘Yes, thank you,’ she replied.

      ‘We’re always starving when we come off stage, aren’t we, Cally?’ Miss Coop giggled.

      ‘Well, it is hard work,’ Herbert said admiringly. ‘I say, you were very good tonight.’

      ‘I spoke two lines,’ Miss Coop said proudly.

      ‘You were marvellous. And so were you, Miss Fairmont,’ Herbert added hastily.

      Miss Fairmont smiled. It was an unaffected smile with no vanity in it, which was unexpected from an actress. ‘Thank you.’

      Darius gave her a sideways glance. Again she coolly met his gaze.

      ‘Did you have a speaking part, too?’ he enquired.

      Miss Coop squealed. ‘A speaking part? Calista has the main part!’

      Darius raised an eyebrow. ‘You do?’

      She nodded.

      ‘Miss Fairmont is quite famous,’ Herbert explained. ‘I thought you knew.’

      ‘My apologies,’ said Darius.

      ‘It’s quite all right.’ The corners of her mouth curved. ‘I wasn’t familiar with your name either.’

      He drew back.

      ‘I take it you’re not a theatregoer.’ She seemed unconcerned that he hadn’t heard of her. She didn’t pout or exclaim at his ignorance. Instead she reached for her glass of water and sipped. Her lips were pink and full.

      Darius shook his head. ‘I don’t care for play-acting, Miss Fairmont.’

      He became aware of her studying him as she replaced her glass on the table. Her head was lowered, but he sensed the acuteness of her dark-blue stare.

      ‘Miss Fairmont has played many roles of note,’ Herbert went on. ‘Juliet, Rosalind, Ophelia...’

      ‘And the fair penitent?’ Darius asked.

      Her head jerked up. ‘You recognise the source of my name. I thought you said you disliked the theatre.’

      ‘Not the theatre, Miss Fairmont.’ He glanced towards Miss Coop. ‘Play-acting is what I despise.’

      When she spoke, Miss Fairmont’s voice held a sharpness that brought him back to look at her. Her lips had tightened. ‘I understand.’

      Now he could sense her fragrance as heat reached her cheeks, making them even redder. The scent of her warm body reached him, too, along with the faintest waft of lavender from her hair.

      ‘I don’t understand!’ Miss Coop exclaimed. ‘What on earth are you two talking about?’

      ‘My name, Mabel,’ Miss Fairmont replied swiftly. ‘It comes from a play by Rowe, called The Fair Penitent.’

      ‘The main male part is Lothario, I believe,’ Darius drawled.

      ‘The seducer of women, yes,’ she flashed back in reply. ‘The kind of man who sees all women in one light.’

      ‘I told you my cousin was clever,’ Herbert said proudly to Mabel.

      ‘You did, Herbie.’ She beamed at him.

      ‘Perhaps he isn’t as clever as he thinks,’ said Miss Fairmont.

      Her head was held high, revealing the bird-like shape of her collarbones and her long neck. Darius was reminded, suddenly, of a swan that glided on the lake at his country home. It had bitten him, once.

      Herbert looked from one to the other. ‘I say, what’s the matter?’

      ‘Is something wrong, Cally?’ Miss Coop asked.

      ‘We’re here СКАЧАТЬ