Soldier of Fortune: The King's Courtesan (Rakes and Rogues of the Retoration Book 2) by Judith James Read Free Book Online

ears,” Buckingham said with grin. “’Twas but a jest, Hope. Until you grow tired of him, and then it’s not. I pray I am still your favorite swaggering fop, after his majesty of course.”
    Hope composed her features and managed a droll smile. Turning, she leaned into Charles. Her hand caressed his cheek before trailing down his chest, slipping in between his sober brown waistcoat and linen shirt to find Buckingham’s heavy purse and pluck it. She turned triumphantly, hefting it under the duke’s nose with a mocking grin. “To Charles the glory, to me the spoils. She favored him with a saucy smile as she dropped the purse between the cleavage of her dress.
    As Buckingham sputtered in surprise she turned to Charles. “Thank you. That was most entertaining. The afternoon had turned so dreadfully dull. As my Lord Buckingham will tell you, I was almost forced to read.” She curtsied to both of them as if she were exiting the stage and the king watched in admiration as she walked away.
    “Ahem!”
    “Eh? What’s that, George?”
    “Oh good. I was beginning to fear I’d faded into the paneling. You cheated me. You and she.”
    Charles chuckled and slapped him on the back. “Apparently so George. Though I fear that I’ve annoyed her. I’ll have to do something noteworthy as recompense. But you saw where she put the spoils and I advise you not to go there. It would sit very ill with me.”
    Buckingham raised his eyebrows. “Indeed? You know you can’t keep her, don’t you? She’s an unmarried commoner. In all seriousness. Why not pass her on to me?”
     
    ~
     
    An unmarried commoner. That was the bar, and in it lay the answer. It was elegant and simple. Whatever way the thing played out, the girl needed to be cared for. She needed a suitable husband. A gentleman of rank, but not too proud to take a commoner as his lady. Someone indulgent, grateful, and quick to understand he was being set to guard a treasure. A country gentleman would be ideal. Suitably rewarded to remain discrete when the lady returned to court. Her stint in the country would allow him time to settle things between Catherine and Barbara, and then like the phoenix she might return, reborn as a noble married lady. All that was needed was to find the right man.
    “Charles?”
    “What? Oh, yes. Thank you, George. I shall see you later. Perhaps tonight at cards?” Charles strode past his bewildered companion and out the door.

 
     
     
CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    Maidstone County, Kent
     
    Elizabeth de Veres spun around in a circle, faster and faster, her arms stretched wide as azure sky and spring green meadow, leafy canopy and silvery stream, joined in a riotous whirl of color around her. When she tumbled to the ground laughing, her skirts billowing about her, her husband caught her safely in his arms and settled her back against him.
    “Bedlam has many mansions, Lizzy. Have a care.”
    She chuckled and reached for his hand, finding it and clutching it tight to her chest. The sun was warm on her face and even as the sky still spun above her, she imagined she could feel the slow turning of the earth below. She closed her eyes and listened…the shiver of leaves dancing on the late afternoon breeze, the soft babble of shallow water meandering lazily over smooth stone, the insistent calls and soft warbles of unseen courting birds, and underneath it all, the steady beat of his heart and the soothing rise and fall of his breath. “It makes me feel like I’m flying.”
    He tightened an arm around her waist. “I shall have to anchor you tight then, so you don’t float away.”
    “You should really give it a try, Will. It’s great fun.”
    He leaned over to nip her ear. “I have tried it in my youth, with you as I recall, and it gave me much the same feeling as overindulgence in very bad sack. The same tottering walk. The same sense that at any moment one’s feet might leave the ground, which I assume is what you mean by flying, and an