Star Crossed Seduction by Jenny Brown

dreams of finding liberty! It was disgusting to see how easily her gang could be bought off.
    Lady Bountiful smiled and opened the door of the carriage. “Climb in then, girls. There’s room for all.”
    The younger girls scrambled in, leaving Temperance with no choice but to follow. She’d have to stick with them to keep them safe from whatever it was Her Ladyship really intended. She clambered in after Clary, regretting for once the efforts she’d made to keep her clothing clean. It would have been so gratifying had her gown been dirty enough to soil Her Ladyship’s pristine upholstery.
    Once they were settled in the carriage, the benefactor called out to Jemmy to fetch the sacks in which their few belongings had been collected, and when they were safely stowed in the boot, they set off. As they did, Her Ladyship smiled that annoying smile of hers again, and, speaking softly, as if to herself, she murmured, “I knew it would be a perfect morning for a carriage ride. It’s always so when the Moon opposes Mercury.”

Chapter 4
     
    W hen his head had finally stopped pounding, Trev went to call on Major Stanley. As he lifted the knocker at the New Street lodging, he steeled himself for the ribbing he knew the older man would administer when he learned of the sorry outcome of his encounter with the beautiful pickpocket. But Stanley was his friend, and it was worth putting up with any amount of ribbing to keep so valuable a friendship.
    In the event, when he had issued his report, the major was gentle with him. “That’s the nature of the hunt, my boy. It’s a fair fight, and the prey may get away. I must admit, I envied you.”
    “Ah, but you had the solace of Mother Bristwick’s incomparables.”
    His friend gave a happy half smile. “I did indeed. But at a cost, my boy. At a cost. Unless I get lucky at the tables, it will be a lonely bachelor existence for me until payday. Of course”—his friend’s voice rose—“there’s always the masquerade.”
    “Surely you don’t incline toward fancy dress.”
    “Ah, but it is not the dress that draws me there but the prospect of undress. The women you’ll find there, Trev.” Stanley sketched an hourglass figure in the air with his hands. “Trollops on the make rubbing elbows with young gentlewomen married to rich old men, all of them bent on finding illicit connections. If you can’t find a woman to suit you there, there’s no hope for you. It’s a Bartholomew fair wherein are displayed our fairest temptresses.”
    “How can you judge if they’re fair or not when their faces are obscured by masks?”
    “It isn’t their faces you go there for.” The major laughed. “Their bodies are displayed clear enough, and best of all, if you play your cards right, you won’t have to pay for your pleasure. Did I tell you about that Italian woman I met at that masquerade in Calcutta?” He launched into a long and scurrilous tale Trev had indeed heard—several times. But he allowed his friend to tell it again as it gave the major pleasure to do so. And because his words had given him an intoxicating idea.
    T he girls had meat for their dinner, tender lamb chops, fresh from the butcher, and meat for their breakfast, too. The fat dripped down their chins as they stuffed themselves to the point of bursting, eating as fast as they could lest the food be snatched from them. Temperance would have preferred not to give Her Ladyship this evidence of how welcome her succor had been, but she couldn’t stop herself. The pleasure of filling her belly was irresistible.
    Besides, it was only prudent to take advantage of this windfall. She’d be back on the street as soon as she figured out Her Ladyship’s dodge, and after that it would be a long time until she’d see this kind of fare again. Regret shot through her at that thought, swiftly followed by shame.
    The poor lived on weevily bread and rancid sausage all their lives. Only the rich ate fat, streaky bacon like this.