Lessons in Seduction (Greentree Sisters 1)

“I am sure Marietta did not mean to criticize you, Mama,” Vivianna said quietly, with a glance at her sister. “We know how hard you tried to find out the truth about us.”

Marietta gave her sister a cross look. “Of course I was not criticizing Mama! I was merely wondering out loud.”

“Perhaps it would be better for you not to know,” Vivianna retorted. “Not everyone is ready to hear the truth, and sometimes knowing it can be more dangerous than ignorance.”

She should not have spoken; she knew it as soon as the words spilled from her lips. But she had had a diffi

cult day and her head was not as clear as it should have been. Marietta tossed her fair curls and sulked, while Mr. Jardine gave her a little smile. Helen sipped from her glass. It was Lady Greentree who seemed most struck with Vivianna’s words. She was watching her eldest daughter with a clear, pale look that Vivianna knew well.

Amy Greentree sensed that something was amiss.

And Vivianna knew that Amy Greentree would not rest until she had winkled the truth out of her.

Lady Greentree’s visit to her bedchamber was no surprise to Vivianna. She smiled at her mother in the mirror as Lil busied herself brushing out her hair.

“I wanted to speak with you,” Lady Greentree said, and sat down on the chair by the window. Outside, the street was quiet, only the occasional rattle of a coach or the clip of a horse’s hooves.

Vivianna caught Lil’s eye, and the maid gave a little bob and left them alone. Vivianna began to tidy her dressing table, moving the few pots and jars about. She had never been much for lotions and potions—for devices women used to hide behind. Perhaps that was why Oliver had found it so easy to hurt her—she was honest and true, while he was devious.

“Vivianna?”

“Yes, Mama.” The word came naturally and Vivianna knew it always would. Lady Greentree was her mother and nothing could change that. Aphrodite was…well, she was Aphrodite. It was too late now for Aphrodite to assume that place in Vivianna’s life, but she could be a friend. A special friend.

“Something has happened,” Lady Greentree said, watching her daughter from the shadows. “You are sad, my dear. Is it Lord Montegomery? Has he done something to—”

Perhaps it was to prevent her mother probing any further with her questions about Oliver, perhaps it was just that she wanted to tell her. Needed to tell her. Or perhaps it was the right thing to do. She had promised Aphrodite that she would not tell her sisters, but she had said nothing of Lady Greentree. Vivianna ached from holding this secret in, and if anyone had a right to know, then it was this woman who had shaped her life.

“I have found my mother,” she said evenly, and thought how strange it sounded.

Lady Greentree started forward, her lips open, her face chalky white. “You have found your…mother?” she whispered. “How…?”

“It was purely accidental. I was following Oliver and I…I met a woman. She asked to know a little of my past and I…we realized that I was her daughter. Lost all these years. Mama, she looked for us, she searched, but we had been taken from her. After we met again, she did not even want to tell me the truth. She knew I was happy with my life as it is now, and she thought she would spoil it. In the end it slipped out.”

Lady Greentree was listening, but Vivianna could see she was growing more and more concerned. Worried for her own relationship with Vivianna? Perhaps. But Vivianna thought it more likely she was worried that Vivianna would be hurt.

“Are you certain she is your mother?” she asked. “There are unscrupulous people in this world, and—”

“Oh yes, I am certain. I know you are thinking that she may have duped me, but Mama, she has Francesca’s looks, and…there is me in her face, too, and Marietta, sometimes. She is our mother. I know it, in my mind and my heart.” Vivianna smiled wanly. “Mama, you will not like this, but her name is Aphrodite and she is a…was a courtesan.”

Lady Greentree blinked. “Good Lord,” she said faintly.

Vivianna pulled a face. “Wait, there is more. The three of us are the children of her lovers, three different lovers. She will not tell me their names. She means to protect them, and us, I think. When we were taken from her she thinks it was by someone connected to her, and she fears that person will harm us again. I must wait. I must be patient while she contacts my father.”

Lady Greentree searched for words. “Will I be able to meet her, this Aphrodite?”

“Do you wish to?” Vivianna asked, hardly daring to hope.

Lady Greentree smiled, and now there was genuine amusement in her eyes. “Am I so straitlaced, my dear? I admit it is not the ideal situation, but if it is what you wish, then I am more than happy to meet with Aphrodite.”

Vivianna went to her mother and knelt by her, resting her head upon her lap. Lady Greentree stroked her hair, much as Aphrodite had done earlier, each touch of her fingers filled with love.

“You are my daughter, Vivianna. You know that, don’t you? I do not think of you in any other way. Greentree Manor is your home. I would hate to think that you might feel you had to live with Aphrodite, and yet I would also hate to think you felt obliged to stay with me because you owed me some debt or other.”

Vivianna shook her head. “You are my mama,” she said, “and nothing will change that. Aphrodite was lost to me many years ago, and although I am glad to have been reunited with her, I do not think either of us wants to suddenly set up house together. She has her own life and I have mine. But I would like you to meet her, Mama, and I would like to know the name of my father. I have never felt entirely whole, you see. And I think, if I can know these things, then I may.”

“Of course I understand that, Vivianna. And of course I will meet her.”

Vivianna smiled through her tears. “Thank you,” she whispered, and they both knew it was not just the willingness to meet Aphrodite she was thanking her for. “I…I would suggest tomorrow, but I promised I would help Greta and Susan. There is much to be done if we are to move the children to Bethnal Green.”