What You Desire (Anything for Love 1)
Despite all her flagrant breaches of etiquette, she was still the country girl at heart and she would never be enough for him.
Perhaps he believed her protestations against conformity meant she condoned such libidinous conduct. Yes, she wanted to be free from the constraints forced upon ladies of her station. Yes, she wanted a liaison with him; she wanted to feel desire and pleasure at his hands.
“Are you so licentious that you could not wait?” she asked, her voice revealing disappointment and a hint of sadness.
He grasped her upper arms and drew her closer. “Sophie, I pay Antoinette for information,” he sighed, “nothing more.”
It took a moment for her to absorb his words. All her mind could assemble was how sweet her name sounded when spoken so softly from his lips.
“Information?”
“It is all a ruse. I do not have time to talk now, but I will explain later.” His gaze fell to her lips. “Perhaps when you have heard what I have to say, you may still have an appetite for dessert.” His eyes locked with hers as his hands moved to cup her face. He bent his head and took her mouth in a gentle kiss that held a wealth of promise.
The sound of someone tutting in mild reproof captured her attention and she turned to see a woman standing at the door.
“You could not wait for Antoinette, no?”
Wearing nothing more than a thin chemise, long corset, and a scandalously short petticoat, Antoinette strolled into the room as though walking down the boulevard on a sunny Parisian day. She closed the door and turned to face them, her red curls spilling over her shoulders and bouncing on the rather voluminous display of pale-white bosom.
“Oh, it’s you, me lord,” Antoinette said, her dialect now characteristic of a wench from Whitechapel. “Well, I’d never have taken you for a Molly,” she continued, her eyes wide.
“Give us a moment, Antoinette.” Dane pulled Sophie to the corner of the room and took her hands in his. “You need to leave us,” he whispered. “She’ll tell me nothing while you’re here. You must trust me.”
“Do you think she knows what happened on the night James came here?”
He nodded over Sophie’s shoulder towards Antoinette. “At the very least, she will be able to tell us about the girl. Wait for me downstairs. I’ll be along shortly.”
“I can’t,” Sophie whispered. “Madame Labelle wishes a private audience. I think she has taken a liking to me.”
“I would expect nothing less, Mr. Shandy,” Dane mocked. “After all, you do have the face of an angel.”
No doubt tired of waiting, Antoinette walked over to the bed, sat down and smoothed her hands over her white stockings.
“That is the point,” Sophie continued. “I suspect she has seen through my disguise.”
“I do not want to cause any trouble for Antoinette. If you wish to be independent minded, then you must find a way to extricate yourself from this situation.” He leaned down and brushed his mouth against hers. “I trust you will be able to find an explanation to satisfy Madam Labelle.”
He obviously thought her capable, and knowing he trusted her gave her confidence in her abilities.
Besides, tonight she was Mr. Shandy.
And Mr. Shandy knew how to let a lady down gently.
Chapter 14
“Pay me no heed, Mr. Shandy,” Madame Labelle said, patting Sophie’s knee as they sat next to one another on the plush red sofa. “And forgive me if I was a little presumptuous. Visitors expect a certain coarseness of character and I often get carried away playing the role.”
“Your honesty is refreshing, madame,” Sophie replied.
Having spent the last twenty minutes conversing about the weather, poetry, and Madame Labelle’s love of Greek-inspired furniture, Sophie had finally plucked up the courage to respond to her more pertinent questions.
“However,” Sophie continued, “I believe I acted impulsively in coming here tonight.” Sophie stood and began pacing the room, her hands clasped behind her back in a gentlemanly fashion. “You see, I decided to accompany Dane purely as a matter of inquiry, you understand.” Sophie thought it best to remain as vague as possible whilst trying to add a modicum of honesty. All in the hope it would sound sincere.
“Please, say no more.” Madame Labelle held her hand up in a gesture of reassurance. “I only sought to offer guidance regarding your … well, what I believed was your preference for a certain type of lady. I did not mean I would be the one providing such enlightenment.”
A little embarrassed, Sophie nodded. “No, of course.”
“May I tell you something, Mr. Shandy?” She did not wait for a reply. “I have met with many people over the years, too many,” she continued gazing at an imagined scene in the distance, her sorrowful expression made all the more solemn by the dim candlelight. “I’m sure it would not surprise you to hear they have not always been pleasant. Indeed, many were insolent, often debasing, and on occasion utterly vicious.” She rubbed her wrist as though alleviating an imagined pain, as though she still bore the scar. “Yet tonight is the first time, in such a long time, I have been made to feel like a lady.”