The Paid Companion by Amanda Quick Read Free Book Online

then, my lord, your scheme just might work.”
    “Miss Lodge, for your information, my schemes always work. That is because I am very good at making plans and executing them.”
    He said that without any trace of arrogance, she realized. It was a simple statement of fact as far as he was concerned.
    “Nevertheless, this particular scheme seems somewhat complicated,” she murmured.
    “Trust me, Miss Lodge. It will work. And at the end of it, I will pay you not only triple your fees, but a bonus.”
    She went very still, hardly daring to breathe. “Do you mean that, sir?”
    “I need you, Miss Lodge. Something tells me you are perfect for the part I want you to play, and I am quite willing to pay you handsomely for your talents.”
    She cleared her throat. “As it happens, I have been saving every penny I can afford to put aside in order to invest in a certain business venture.”
    “Indeed? What sort of venture would that be?”
    She pondered briefly and then decided that there was no reason not to tell him the truth. “I hope you will not be too terribly shocked, sir, but my goal is to go into trade.”
    “You are going to become a shopkeeper?” he asked in an astonishingly neutral manner.
    Braced for strong disapproval, she felt almost light-headed with relief when he did not condemn her scheme out of hand. In the view of well-bred people, going into trade was a dreadful move to be avoided at all costs. In the eyes of Society it was preferable by far to scrape by in genteel poverty rather than become the proprietor of a business.
    “I realize that my plans must strike you as beyond the pale,” she said. “But as soon as I have obtained enough money, I intend to open a bookshop and a circulating library.”
    “You do not shock me, Miss Lodge. As it happens, I have made my fortune through various investments. I have some skill when it comes to business.”
    “Indeed, sir.” She gave him another polite smile.
    He was being very gracious, she thought. But they both knew that the gulf between a gentleman’s business investments and the notion of going into trade was vast and deep in the eyes of Society. It was all very well for a person of quality to purchase shares in a shipping venture or a housing construction project. It was another matter altogether for a well-bred individual to become the proprietor of a shop.
    Nevertheless, the important thing was that St. Merryn did not seem the least bit put off by her plans. Then again, she thought, he had made it clear that he was not in a position to be choosy.
    He inclined his head in somber acknowledgment of her intentions. “Very well, then, do we have a bargain, Miss Lodge?”
    The generosity of his terms completely dazzled her, as he had no doubt intended. She had one remaining qualm about the post she was accepting, but she crushed it down quite ruthlessly. This was the first turn of good fortune that had come her way since that dreadful day when her stepfather’s creditors had arrived on her doorstep. She would not risk losing a golden opportunity simply because of a petty uncertainty.
    Scarcely able to contain her delight, she smiled again.
    “We do indeed, my lord.”
    St. Merryn stared at her mouth for several seconds, as though riveted. Then he gave his head a slight shake and frowned slightly. She got the impression that for some reason he was annoyed, not with her but with himself
    “If we are to achieve our objective of projecting an air of intimacy about our association,” he said dryly, “I think you must learn to call me Arthur.”
    That would not be easy, she thought. There was a forbidding quality about him that would make such easy familiarity difficult.
    ***
    It was not until she was outside in the street, hurrying back to Mrs. Egan’s townhouse to give her the good news, that the qualm she had squelched earlier rose up once more to plague her.
    It was not the earl’s formidable temperament or his bizarre plan to parade her in front of