Darker Than Love by Kristina Lloyd Read Free Book Online

corset, stepped out of her shoes, and rubbed at her reddened wrists. ‘Is there no end to your lecherous curiosity?’ she asked, standing on tiptoe to press a kiss to his lips.
    ‘You should know better than to ask,’ he said, smiling fondly and tangling his fingers in her dishevelled curls.
    Lucy sighed and padded across the room to sit on the edge of the bed. ‘The strength of it is this,’ she said, rolling down her stockings. ‘I’m to find her a beau, and quickly, before Marldon arrives. I thought perhaps Gabriel would be suitable.’ She looked at Julian provocatively and said deliberately, ‘After all, there are few women able to resist his dark good-looks. And he is a most skilful lover.’
    Julian raised his eyebrows, affecting surprise. ‘I didn’t realise that you were willing to share your bedfellows. I’d be more than happy to assist.’
    ‘ You are a married man,’ said Lucy, with only half-feigned severity. ‘I already share you.’
    ‘Such a pity,’ he teased, joining her and playfully biting her neck.
    ‘And besides,’ continued Lucy, ‘I’ve been prevailed upon to take merely the edge off her innocence, not corrupt her completely. That prerogative belongs strictly to Lord Marldon.’

Chapter Three
    CLARISSA, STEELING HERSELF for disappointment, pushed tentatively at the door of the breakfast room. Please, Aunt Hester, she willed, don’t be sitting there.
    Since Charles and Alicia’s departure, Aunt Hester, with her pinched, sour face, had presided over the household with a fearsome impassivity. She’d insisted on taking Clarissa to some dull afternoon teas and some even duller soirées, and summer had seemed to hold all the promise of a wet Wednesday. But yesterday Aunt Hester had taken to her bed, complaining of a dreadful fatigue. This morning she’d failed to appear for breakfast and Clarissa’s hopes were rising.
    In the breakfast room, Kitty was leaning across the table, sweeping a cloth over its oak surface.
    ‘What on earth are you wearing?’ exclaimed Clarissa, catching a flash of red beneath Kitty’s crisp black uniform.
    The housemaid grinned and hitched up her skirts, proudly displaying a pair of scarlet stockings.
    ‘Dandy, aren’t they?’ She beamed. ‘Real silk. Missis gave them me afore she went away. To say sorry for the saucing I got. Didn’t you get anything?’
    ‘I got Aunt Hester,’ replied Clarissa grimly. Then she hissed, ‘Has she been seen yet?’
    ‘Lor, has she!’ cried Kitty. ‘Came down to breakfast in her nightgown and wrapper, she did. And she was all of a moony flutter. I’ve never seen the like.’
    Kitty pulled up a chair and sat before the table, her chin resting on steepled fingertips. Cocking her head to one side, she batted her eyelashes at Clarissa and smiled.
    ‘Could I harf another hegg, please, Hellis,’ she mimicked. Then she shrieked with glee and slammed her hands on the polished surface.
    Clarissa laughed, protesting it was untrue.
    ‘On my mother’s grave,’ insisted Kitty, crossing herself. ‘And you have to say he’s a bit of a looker, isn’t he? Bit oily for my tastes, mind, but all the same he’s a looker.’
    Sebastian Ellis was their new footman, another of Alicia’s appointments. Undoubtedly he was handsome, as a footman ought to be, but the idea of Aunt Hester falling for his charms was absurd. Still, if he kept her occupied then Clarissa wasn’t going to complain.
    ‘So where is she now?’ she enquired.
    Kitty, her lips pursed, shook her head in sardonic pity. ‘Dreadful fatigued, miss,’ she replied. ‘Dreadful fatigued.’
    Clarissa’s thoughts raced. There were new gowns to collect from the dressmakers, gowns that Aunt Hester would be sure to frown upon. Then perhaps later she could pay a call on cousin Lucy. Without Lord Marldon there was no one to introduce her to London society. And Alicia had said Lucy knew everyone there was to know and went to all the very best parties.
    ‘If she gets