“I will never have a shop,” Babette replied tiredly. “Name me one dancer who’s earned enough to open a shop. Clare will end up sewing herself blind for some modiste, her baby farmed out to a wet nurse who’ll kill the poor thing with the black drop. When Lord Stephen holds me…”
“Babs, don’t.”
“When he holds me, I feel like the most precious, dear, cherished woman in England, Marie. His hands are warm, and he does this thing.…He squeezes my neck, not hard, but firmly, and every ache and pain from rehearsals, every worry and woe, just drains right out of me. He rubs my feet, Mare. My ugly, aching feet. Then he rubs my back, slowly, all the time in the world, like caressing me is his greatest joy. His hands are inspired, and far more than the swiving, I crave that tenderness from him.”
Thundering throne of heaven. No man should hear such a confession. Duncan, Stephen’s cousin and erstwhile tutor, had once mentioned that the ladies liked a bit of petting. Stephen liked a bit of petting, saw no harm in it, and had added a few little gestures to his amatory repertoire.
Abruptly, departing the premises became an urgent necessity. Departing London itself had gained appeal as well, if not England, but then, there was Miss Abbott, tucked up in Stephen’s blue guest suite.
In the next room, a chair scraped. “Betty, we are friends, as much as anybody in this idiot business can be friends. Get free of Lord Stephen before he destroys you. He won’t mean to, you won’t blame him, but he’ll ruin you all the same. He’ll ruin your ability to be happy even if he doesn’t put a babe in your belly. Don’t argue with me, for I must be off to bed if I’m to dance before noon. Thanks for the tea and biscuits. Don’t be late for rehearsal, especially not because you fell back into bed with the likes of him.”
A door closed, none too softly.
Stephen remained stretched on the mattress, eyes shut, when what he wanted was to bolt for the door right behind Marie. Eavesdroppers supposedly heard no good of themselves, though Babette had had only positive things to say about her lover.
Stephen wished she’d complained instead. He stole all the covers, he never sent smarmy epistles, he had a vile temper, and he insisted on keeping his canes within reach even when making love. Surely those were noteworthy shortcomings?
A weight settled on the bed a few minutes later. Dancers could move silently, but Stephen had sensed Babette’s approach. She was fastidious, and the aroma of the rose soap he’d purchased for her preceded her under the covers.
“There you are,” he muttered, when she tucked up against his side. “Wondered where you disappeared to. I should be getting dressed.”
Her hand drifted down the midline of his belly. “One more before you leave?”
He’d make her oversleep and be late for rehearsal if he lingered, which he was in no mood to do in any case, despite the ever-willing attitude of his male flesh.
“Alas for me, I must away,” he said, trapping her hand in his and kissing her fingers. “You’ve worn me out.”
“You wear yourself out.” Babette stroked his chest. “Did Marie wake you?”
“I thought I smelled her perfume. Was she here?”
Babette withdrew her hand. “How is it you know her perfume?”
“She’s keeping company with the Hormsby pup. He buys cheap Hungary water and pours it into pretty bottles, then claims he has it blended just for his current chère amie.”
“That is awful. Must you rush away?”
“As if I could rush anywhere.” Stephen dredged up a sigh. “Hand me a cane, if you please?”
Babette obliged and helped him dress, all the while chatting about the latest drama among the corps de ballet. She was restful company, and Stephen would miss her. He missed them all, the restful ones and the tempestuous ones, and he hoped they missed him too—but only a little and for only a short while.
“The sky is nowhere near light enough to ride in the park,” Babette said, smoothing her fingers over his cravat. “Do you truly have to leave? I could show you what I know about riding crops.”
She was a Yorkshire shopkeeper’s daughter whose father had lost his military contracts when peace had been declared on the Continent. As far as her parents knew, she was toiling away for a tea-and-tobacconist in a decent London neighborhood, and happy to send most of her pay home.
“You have no business knowing anything about riding crops,” Stephen said, assessing his appearance in the cheval mirror. “And I outgrew my curiosity about the English vice before I gained my majority.” A person in constant pain wasn’t distracted, much less aroused, by applications of a birch rod to his backside, but Stephen had experimented with erotic pain for a time nonetheless.
One wanted to be thorough in one’s investigations.
“You look splendid,” Babette said. “I’m not just saying that.”
“I look splendid, until I’m required to saunter along, all lordly nonchalance. The second cane rather destroys the fiction.” On good days, he could make do with one cane. Good days were rare when he bided in London.
“You look splendid to me when you’re not wearing anything at all,” Babette said. “Shall I wait for you after Friday’s performance?”
Now came the hard part, the part Stephen hated and was so adept at, but had already put off for too long. “Did I mention I’ll be leaving Town shortly? Hand me my hat, would you?”
Babette passed over a high-crowned beaver. “Leaving when?”
“Possibly by the end of the week. You can catch up on your rest.” He tapped the hat onto his head, then gave it a tilt. Not quite rakish, but a nod toward style.
“How long will you be gone?”
Stephen started for the door, his progress slow. Upon rising, he often overestimated his mobility because his knee hurt less. Pain, by contrast, kept him careful.
“I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone. I’m heading north to avoid the Little Season, and the ordeal of making my way to my country dwelling is sufficiently taxing that I dread the return journey. I might not come back to London until next spring.”
That had been his plan before Miss Abbott had arrived, looking haunted and weary.
He made it to the door, then paused, waiting for Babette’s response to his announcement. He preferred a rousing farewell argument, complete with recriminations and curses, and maybe even a stout blow to his cheek. The lady was entitled to make such a display, and the verbal beating assuaged his conscience.
“This is good-bye, then,” Babette said. “I will miss you.”
She was so young and so dignified, Stephen nearly did bolt out the door.
“You will not miss me,” he said. “You will consider yourself well rid of me, but I did buy you a small token of my esteem in the hope that you will recall me fondly.”
He withdrew a folded paper from the pocket of his coat. He’d been carrying this particular paper for several weeks. Preparation was critical to victory in any battle, especially the battle to maintain his reputation for savoir faire.
“What’s this?” Babette said, eyeing the paper.
“It’s not a bank draft,” Stephen said. “If you need blunt, I am happy to pass some along, and if you should find yourself in an interesting condition, you will most assuredly apply to me before you pursue any rash measures, Babette. Promise me that.”