Two Sinful Secrets by Laurel McKee Read Free Book Online Page A

of dozens of conversations through the closed double doors.
    “Is everyone here, Makepeace?” Sophia asked the butler as Camille checked her hair
     in the mirror. Over the last few days, while Camille went out to find new patrons
     and put the finishing touches on the decor, Sophia had organized the servants. Her
     mother’s calm, efficient example had served her well for once.
    “Almost everyone, Madame Westman,” Makepeace answered as he showed her the list. “And
     they all brought guests as well.”
    “I hope our supplies of champagne hold out!” Camille said.
    “Me, too,” Sophia said as she examined herself in the mirror behind Camille. Unlike
     Camille, who wore a fashionable creation of sea-green silk and tulle with diamonds
     at her throat and in her hair, Sophia had no choice but to wear one of her black gowns
     again, and she smoothed her hair back into a simple chignon. But even though the dress
     was unadorned, with none of the poufs and ruffles so stylish that year, the satin
     fabric was rich and glossy, and the low neckline showed off her white shoulders. In
     her ears, she wore her grandmother’s pearl earrings, the one piece of jewelry she
     had managed to hold on to, and she had bought paste hair-combs with an advance on
     her salary.
    Not too bad
, she thought. If only she didn’t look so pale and thin, so anxious after the last
     few months. The patrons wouldn’t have any fun if the hostess looked so desperate.
     Sophia pinched her cheeks to bring some pink to them and gave a bright smile. She
     had to enjoy all this while she could.
    She spun around as Camille threw open the doors and swept into the salon to welcome
     her guests.
    “
Bon soir, mes amis!
Welcome to La Reine d’Argent. A place where there is decidedly
no
gaming,” Camille said as everyone laughed. “I hope that you will all find something
     to enjoy here. There is dancing, dining, conversation—anything you might fancy. Please,
     if there is anything you require, let me or Madame Westman know. And now go, go, have
     fun! The night is young.”
    Camille gestured to the small orchestra in the corner to begin playing a lively tune,
     and the crowd surged back into talk and laughter again as the footmen circulated with
     more wine. Camille disappeared into the crowd and Sophia followed. As she swept through
     the crowd, she could hear whispers about the “
femme mystère
” and they made her smile. That was what she wanted to be—the mysterious woman, the
     one nobody knew anything about.
    As Sophia turned to go through the salon, the doors opened again to admit yet more
     latecomers. Behind the laughing group, standing alone, was a tall man dressed in a
     fashionably tailored dark blue evening coat and cream-colored satin waistcoat and
     cravat. The gaslight gleamed on his pale golden hair, which was brushed back in sleek
     waves from a face too handsome to be real. It surely belonged on a fallen angel rather
     than a mere mortal man.
    It was a face she remembered very well. A face she had seen in her mind ever since
     that night she crept into the Devil’s Fancy and challenged him to a card game—and
     more. And now he was standing right across the room from her.
    For so long, Dominic St. Claire had been a fantasy figure, a perfectly handsome, perfectly
     charming dream she could think about when she needed an escape from real life. She
     had come to think no real person could possiblybe as beautiful as her memories. Probably he was older than she remembered, or was
     clumsy and smelled bad.
    But she saw now there were no flaws. In fact, he was even more handsome than in her
     memories. The real life was more vivid, more striking, than she could have remembered.
     And everyone else seemed to agree, as they all turned to stare at him as if they were
     not sophisticated Parisians at all.
    Sophia felt her cheeks turn hot even as she shivered. Everything suddenly felt strange
     and unreal, as if the time had fallen away,