Cassie looked at her, puzzled. “What makes you believe that, contessa?”
“The pearls, of course. They have served as bride’s pearls in the earl’s family for several generations.”
Cassie looked at her stupidly, until understanding of what the earl had done made her tremble with chagrin. Bride’s pearls! Perfidious wretch that he was, the earl had convinced her to wear them. Was that why all the guests had treated her so kindly? Had they accepted her because the pearls announced his intention to wed her? She said stiffly to Giovanna, “It is merely a necklace, contessa. It has no particular meaning, I assure you.”
Giovanna looked at her, perplexed, and then felt a surge of relief. Could it be true that the earl had no intention of wedding her? What a fool the little harlot was to so openly admit it.
“But my dear signorina,” Giovanna said sweetly, “you have so many persuasive charms.” Her eyes fell to Cassie’s rounded breasts, rising above the row of lace at her bodice.
“I fear, contessa, that charms have little to do with anything, though they admittedly lead some people to outrageous deeds.”
As Cassie’s Italian did not allow Giovanna to glean the nuances her words intended, she decided that the English girl was rather stupid, and not at all to the point. The earl couldn’t abide stupid women, Giovanna thought, and with a pleased smile, she patted Cassie’s sleeve and left her.
Cassie watched the contessa approach Bianca Piasi and heard her say in a low, laughing voice, “I think the earl must feel Genoese society lacking in diversity. But look at what he has done for our amusement—thrown an English whore in our midst. The little slut told me that the bride’s pearls, dear Bianca, have no meaning at all.”
Cassie’s face flushed with anger and humiliation. How could she have been so stupid? Her fingers went to the wretched pearls. If only the earl had left well enough alone.
Cassie turned in feverishly bright conversation to Caesare. She found that she could not continue and stopped abruptly, bidding him dismissal over her shoulder. She walked quickly upstairs to the bedchamber and pulled the glass door open. The evening breeze from the Mediterranean cooled her burning cheeks. She closed the door behind her and leaned disconsolately over the railing. Her fingers closed over the necklace, and with a sudden, furious jerk, she sent them careening to the balcony floor. She heard some of them hit the marble statue in the garden below.
She stood momentarily frozen, aghast at what she had done. She sank to her knees, unmindful of her gown, and began to gather the pearls. But snatches of Giovanna’s conversation sounded in her mind, and she flung the handful of pearls she had gathered away from her. She smoothed down her gown, forced her chin up, and walked back downstairs.
The earl was at her side in an instant, his eyes questioning. She resolutely ignored him as she mouthed polite good-byes to the guests. The absence of the pearls was noted by all, she knew.
“How very appropriate
you look now, my dear signorina,” Giovanna murmured, as she took her leave.
“Bitch,” Cassie said under her breath. Still, she found herself smiling in genuine pleasure as other guests bid her good night.
When Scargill had closed the great front doors upon the last of them, the earl turned to her, his dark eyes glittering.
“I believe you owe me an explanation, cara.”
She thrust her chin up stubbornly, and regarded him in dogged silence.
“Why, Cassandra?”
Words clogged in her throat, and to her disgust, she started crying.
He pulled her into the circle of his arms and stroked her silky hair. He said gently, “Forgive me, cara. I had hoped that you had enjoyed a pleasant evening.”
“I did,” she gulped, pulling away from him. “It is just that the contessa—your amata—” she paused a moment, her eyes flashing.
“My former mistress,” he said.
She gave a watery sniff and hunched her shoulders. “She did me in. I was such a fool!”
The earl arched a sleek brow. “What is this? I would have laid a fortune on your ability to shut her down.”
“Well, you must lose, my lord. She asked me about the pearls and I told her they had no meaning whatsoever.” Cassie added, “She used it against me. I heard her whispering to several ladies about your English whore.”
“Ah. And what, may I ask, did you do with the pearls?”
She smiled up at him, reluctantly. “They must be restrung, my lord, that is, after we find them all.”
Cassie dismissed Rosina for the night and sat at her dressing table, trying not to look at the earl as he shrugged out of his dressing gown. But she always looked. He lazily stretched his large body. He was not a particularly vain man, but he knew well enough that his body was well made. Her furtive, embarrassed scrutiny always delighted him. He strolled up behind her and laid his hands lightly upon her shoulders.
“Have you no modesty?” she said, terribly aware that her body, as usual, was responding to him.