Devil's Daughter (Devil 2)

Impatient with Rayna’s prim tone, Arabella said, “Likely the marchese doesn’t care for girls who are too timid or too proper to stand up for themselves.”

Rayna sucked in her breath. “I am not too timid. And of

course I am proper. I am a lady.”

“I would imagine,” Arabella said thoughtfully, “that the marchese would not particularly want a lady in his bed.”

“Oh.” Color flooded Rayna’s cheeks.

“But,” Arabella continued, “it seems to me you forgot everything when he kissed you.”

A sudden smile lit up Rayna’s face. “I think I did. Bella,” she said after a moment, “have you ever been in love?”

“No.”

“But you’re twenty, Bella.”

“I am content to wait. Perhaps there isn’t a gentleman who will kiss me and make me want to forget I’m a proper lady.”

“You are English, yet you speak Italian like a native.”

Arabella said with her open smile, “I was blessed in my parentage.”

“Your accent, if I am not mistaken, is Genoese?”

The older woman seemed genuinely interested, and Arabella, overly heated from too much dancing, was ready to relax.

“You are very perceptive, signora. We have a home in Genoa,” she said, sitting back in her chair. “My father is the Earl of Clare, and my grandmother was Antonia Parese.”

The Contessa Luciana di Rolando drew her dark brows together as if in thought. “I believe I have heard of your illustrious father. Is he not one of the few English aristocrats who indulge in business? Shipping and banking?”

“Yes, he does,” Arabella said. “And he is successful at whatever he undertakes.”

The contessa smiled. “He is your father, so I suppose that makes him something of a paragon to you, his daughter. My father, on the other hand, was a failure at anything he attempted.”

“A paragon? No, I do not think I am such a fool as to believe him that. But I do love him very much, and find him ever so splendid.”

“And your mother? Is she still living?”

“Indeed. I am told that I resemble her greatly, save for my eyes and eyebrows.”

“Are you their only child?”

“No. I have an older brother. Our other brother, Charles, died when he was very young.”

“Ah, so very sad.”

“Enough about me and my family, signora. I have been trying to place your accent, but I confess that I cannot.”

“I have traveled a great deal.”

“Do you live in Naples?”

“For the time being, yes. The world is so very unsettled. I really do not know where I will be in, say, three months.”

“That is what my father says. He is concerned that Napoleon will soon make Genoa part of his empire. I should hate that, for we would have to return to England, and likely remain there until Napoleon is defeated.”

The contessa reached over and lightly patted Arabella’s hand. “It is a pity that you, so young a girl, must worry about leaving her Italian home.”