Duchess of Seduction (Hearts in Hiding 3)

’re not forced to do anything we don’t want to do at Madam Plumb’s salon, for she is not like some women who run houses of ill repute and profit from defenseless women and who are just as wicked and depraved as the men who frequent these establishments. We’ve come to this house because Mrs. Plumb protects those who have been ruined by such men and women, but we are not”—she gulped—“cyprians or jades.”

“You’ve explained that more than thoroughly enough, Minna,” Ariane said, her voice sharper than Cressida had heard it as Minna started to cry and was comforted by the two other ‘Vestal Virgins’.

Ariane tilted her head and said, conspiratorially, “Minna has been here nearly two years and is happy enough after the horrors she endured before. Tonight it’s been a great shock for her to see the young man who once courted her and to whom she lost her heart when she was a parson’s daughter in her first season out,” Ariane explained. “Unlike me, who’s only been taught how to play a lady when expedient, she grew up privileged in a fine house with a horse and carriage. Her fall from grace has been hard for her.”

Cressida pressed her hand to her throat. She’d never met women like this. ‘Ruined’ women were contagious, their sin likely to contaminate the rarified purity of well-born women like Cressida. But now she was talking to them, her own subterfuge and disguise lessening the chasm between them and blurring the lines of distinction. She was shocked to find how drawn she was to them.

“Then why is she here?” she whispered.

“Because she was ruined on her first visit to the capital to stay with her godmother in Mayfair,” said the red-haired Vestal Virgin sadly, extricating herself from Minna’s side and draping an arm around Cressida’s shoulders. “During a shopping expedition, she lost her way when she paused to look into a street window and then found her godmother gone. Being such an innocent, she had no idea of the danger she courted when she accepted the invitation of a seemingly kind and elderly woman to take refreshment while a boy was supposedly dispatched to take a message to Minna’s aunt. This woman happened to procure girls for Mrs. Saville’s brothel in Soho. Now Minna is ruined and she can never go home.”

Ariane corroborated the redhead’s story with a nod. “It’s a sad tale, Persephone, indeed it is, with no happy ending in sight, for poor Minna has ever spoken with longing of this Mr. de Courtney, her young man whom she saw tonight, three years after her ambitious mama forced her to reject his marriage offer. She thinks he may have recognized her, and she’s ashamed and fears he may tell her parents, whom she hopes simply believe her dead.”

“But it wasn’t her fault,” Cressida stammered, before realizing that it was always the woman’s fault.

“No, it wasn’t her fault, but that’s no defense, and now Minna must earn her daily bread, as must we all and, if she’s lucky, find a little love along the way before she is old and dies in the gutter.”

Shocked at the harshness of Ariane’s tone, Cressida reflected on her own good fortune. Regardless of whether Justin strayed or not, she was protected by his name and his wealth. She might die lonely and unhappy, but at least it would not be in a gutter.

“Surely this young man might rescue her?” she asked, realizing at the same time how absurd the notion was, for if Minna was no longer a virgin, she was indeed condemned to a lonely and miserable future with only the protection she could procure herself.

Ariane turned the subject, her voice sympathetic and questioning as she laid two hands upon Cressida’s shoulders. “And why, exactly, are you here? You are looking for your husband? Well, there are peepholes that will give you access to many of the rooms here, though if he does not wish to be spied upon, he has that right. Many here, however, are quite happy to flaunt themselves.”

“Spy? Goodness, no! I just want—”

Ariane’s gentle squeeze stilled her. “You don’t know what you want, I think. Or perhaps you just want to go home. This is not the place to be when you have somewhere else to go to that offers you comfort and security.” She led her to the door and pointed down the corridor. “The entrance is that way. I shall be going in a different direction, for I came here to enjoy myself”—a secretive smile curved her lips—“with my friends, since I’m rarely in a position to enjoy my husband, though he is visiting tonight. He is very handsome, you will have noticed. Come.” She started for the door and beckoned Cressida to follow. “You’re very welcome to join Minna and Persephone and Julia and me, but I think perhaps you’d prefer the safety of your own bed.”

Ariane left her then, brushing past her and into the passage, her companions following, and heading in the direction opposite to that in which she’d pointed Cressida.

Torn by indecision, Cressida watched them until they were nearly out of sight. Yes, she should go home. That’s what she’d intended. But she’d not found Justin. She’d not begun to understand what might have drawn him to such a place—if there was any grain of truth in Catherine’s words. And Ariane’s own story, and that of Minna, needled her. No, Justin would never come here, but he should know of what went on, and Cressida should make him do something...though changing the world and a judgmental society was hardly something that could be done overnight. However, Justin was in a position of power. He was a man who changed the ways of the world, and wasn’t that what her own papa had grown up lamenting was needed to his unworldly daughter? He always said it was a harsher world with a greater divide between the fortunate and the unfortunate than should be the case.

Justin need not know she’d been here, but he should know what terrible things happened to defenseless women unaided or even persecuted by the law. He should try to do his part to change the society that governed so many cruel attitudes.

Emboldened by an unexpected sense of crusade, Cressida picked up her skirts and quickly followed the young women.

She might not have much experience of the seamier side of life, but as a parson’s daughter, she had not always enjoyed the sumptuous privilege she did now.

Perhaps some good could come out of this visit. For the first time Cressida felt a streak of the crusader take root inside her.

She was not going to go home just yet. There were things she had to learn, first.

Chapter 5

Down twisting corridors and up a shallow flight of stairs Cressida went, through a large, empty space lined with huge, lurid paintings of shocking scenes that made her gasp and avert her eyes. Then finally through a pair of carved double doors and into a room filled with soft music and a strange, unidentifiable scent overlaying the hint of rosewater.

Raising her veil once more, Cressida tried to adjust to the dimness of her new environment. When she saw that the room was sparsely furnished and contained only Ariane and her three companions, she felt no fear, and even a great sense of sisterhood, for the four of them were in the midst of a gentle, swaying dance, smiling at one another as if they shared a joyful bond.

A great weightless settled on Cressida’s shoulders; as if she were somehow part of this sisterhood solidarity .

As she moved into the shadows of a huge, luxuriant potted palm to watch, an unknown, heady scent filled her nostrils making her head swim. Ariane and Minna, dressed in their flowing robes of white, did indeed look like a pair of Vestal Virgins in a trance as they swayed gently in time to their soft chanting. Their hair, held back by silver fillets, fell in loose ripples around their waists, and their smiles were warm and gentle.

Though the environment was strange, like she’d never before experienced, Cressida felt a sense of comfort and safety. Even belonging. She was amongst other women. Young and beautiful women who shared her fears, but at this elemental level, also shared a bond which united them. They looked after one another when they were all similarly vulnerable. Minna’s story and the comfort and sympathy the others had shown her demonstrated that.

How different from the relationship Cressida shared with Catherine. Not only was Catherine her cousin, she was, supposedly, Cressida’s closest female companion. Who else did Cressida share her fears and concerns with?

The few moments she’d spent in the company of these women made her realise there was no sense of shared purpose or sisterly bond between her and Catherine. No, Catherine was spiteful and jealous, never happier than when she could erode Cressida’s confidence so she could triumph over the parson’s daughter who had married so well.

The revelation was as painful as the fact that she and Justin had never been further apart than they were now, despite living side by side, united by four active children.