To Tame a Dangerous Lord (Courtship Wars 5)

“Yes.” She normally coiled her hair into a knot at her nape or plaited it up neatly.

Fanny shook her head in disapproval as she pulled the pins from Madeline’s tresses. “Men usually relish long hair, so we shan’t shorten the length, but we must do something to soften your face … some curled tendrils over your forehead and at your temples.”

Since it was similar advice to what Rayne had given her, Madeline didn’t dissent.

“I will have my hairdresser cut and style your hair later, but meanwhile … I expect the most immediate impact we can have will be to pluck your eyebrows somewhat. They are far too heavy for your face and make you appear more masculine than you should. Can you see what I mean?”

“Yes,” Madeline answered again, observing her dark, slashing eyebrows in the mirror while Fanny’s inspection continued.

“Your complexion is fine enough, but the hue is too sallow. You would benefit from the judicious use of cosmetics. A little rouge on your cheeks and kohl about the eyes will allow you to make the most of your features. And I can teach you several other tricks to whiten your skin … barley water, lemon juice, milk baths. Even so….”

Fanny resumed frowning. “You can take more pains with your appearance and enhance your physical attributes to increase your husband’s attraction for you, but when it comes to winning his devotion for the long term, it is your manner and actions that will serve you best.”

Madeline stared at her in surprise. It seemed strange to hear a woman as strikingly beautiful as Fanny suggest that demeanor was more important than beauty. “What exactly do you mean by manners and actions?”

“Wait here, my lady….”

Behind her, Fanny turned away and left the dressing room. When she returned, she was carrying a slim leather-bound volume that she handed to Madeline.

The book was entitled Advice to Young Ladies on Capturing a Husband by an Anonymous Lady. Looking up, Madeline saw that Fanny wore a secretive smile rather than a frown.

“Very few people know that I penned this,” Fanny commented.

“You are the anonymous lady author?”

“Yes. This was actually my first attempt at earning an income outside my current profession, and it has sold quite well. But I have since tried my hand at writing a Gothic novel, since that genre can be much more lucrative. I would like to leave the demimonde, you see, so that I might marry a respectable gentleman I have my sights on, and I calculate that my best chance is to develop a successful career as a novelist.”

Madeline surveyed the courtesan with genuine admiration and relief. It was not only flattering that Fanny would trust her enough to reveal her secret hopes, her confession put Madeline at ease for the first time since arriving.

“I should dearly love to hear that story, Miss Irwin,” she said with a hint of amusement. “Without a doubt, you are one of the most fascinating people I have ever met.”

Fanny laughed. “I will gladly tell you my tale, my lady, but for now, we should focus our efforts on you. Why don’t you read my book later and then we can discuss it in depth next time we meet?”

“I certainly will,” Madeline said, thumbing through the pages.

“It contains a great deal of general information about relationships between the sexes, but I suspect I will need to be much more explicit with you. You are fairly inexperienced in the arts of seduction, aren’t you?”

Madeline sent her a rueful smile. “I am afraid so.”

“Well, we will change that very shortly. Perhaps you should tell me how you and Lord Haviland came to be married.”

And so it was that Madeline found herself confessing some of her own most private secrets—how she and Rayne had met, how he felt obligated to protect her because of her late father, how Rayne had proposed to her and then pursued her until she agreed, how he had left her bed abruptly on their wedding night.

“I admit it was mortifying,” Madeline finished in a small voice, “and painfully disappointing.”

Fanny nodded in understanding. “Clearly you surrendered too easily by accepting his offer of marriage so soon. Trust me, men like your husband want a challenge, which leads me to another point. You cannot let him discover that you have fallen in love with him. Wearing your heart on your sleeve is almost certain to frighten off a man.”

Madeline’s smile was wry. “You mean I shouldn’t let on that I think my husband the most wonderful man I have ever known?”

“Not quite,” Fanny said with surprising seriousness. “Overtly admiring a man is an excellent way to increase his ardor. I meant that you shouldn’t appear so enamored of him that he knows he has the upper hand. You must keep him guessing. He should be striving to win you. Since Haviland obviously considers his courtship of you over, you will have to court him instead.”

“Court him?”

“Yes, but very subtly, of course. You cannot let him know you are pursuing him. You must become a seductress without him divining your real intentions.”

“A seductress?” Madeline repeated, her voice rising even higher.

“Don’t worry, I will teach you how.” Fanny’s brow furrowed thoughtfully. “What do you know about your husband’s personal affairs? I have not heard of Haviland engaging in any amorous liaisons here in London. If he keeps a mistress here in town, he has been very discreet about it.”