Whisper To Me of Love by Shirlee Busbee Read Free Book Online Page B

virginity—nearly as much as he would have when she was five. I tell you that you’re daft to say no.”
    â€œMy God, Rufus! She is a child!” Jane had answered. “Let her be! You don’t need another whore—you have a whole stable full of them. Please, if you bear me any affection at all, leave her alone.”
    â€œA child?” Rufus had repeated scornfully. “I have several experienced little darlings in my string now who are younger than she is! And if she’s a child, whose fault is that? I told you when I brought her to you not to get any ideas. She’s mine, and by God, I’ll do with her what I want!”
    Until that moment, Pip had never known that the dimber-damber had a real name, but even that knowledge was pushed aside by the horror that coursed through her as she realized precisely what the dimber-damber had in store for her. She didn’t understand all of the ramifications of the conversation, but what she had heard was enough to wring a small moan of distress from her.
    Jane must have heard the tiny sound she made, because a moment later, Pip heard Jane say, “Hush! She has awakened. We’ll talk about it later—but my mind is made up, and it was no idle threat that I made. Unless you want to see me on the streets again, forget about her!”
    The dimber-damber and Jane must have discussed the situation further, but though Pip was constantly on the alert, she never again gained any clue from their actions. She was able to surmise, simply by the fact that she had not been forced into prostitution, that Jane must have won the argument—and without having to resort to becoming a streetwalker again.
    From that day onward, Pip was more conscious of the sordid ugliness around her than she ever had been before, more aware of the appalling youth of some of the whores and harlots she had formerly ignored, more aware of what a despicable fate lay just in wait for her. But Jane had been there. And now the one person who could protect her from the dimber-damber’s monstrous plans was dead!
    The future certainly looked bleak to Pip this bright, sunny morning. Instinctively she knew that it would not be much longer before the dimber-damber made his intentions for her clear, and whether he wanted her as his mistress or merely as a new addition to his stable remained to be seen. The end result, however, would be the same—she would be forced to become a whore. Everything inside of her recoiled at that thought. And yet, if she could save Jacko’s life ...
    Her fine mouth thinned, and a determined glint entered the heavily lashed gray eyes. She was going to find a way out of their dilemma. She would not become any man’s mistress and suffer her mother’s grim fate! Precisely how she was going to accomplish this feat escaped her at the moment, but it was not her nature to meekly accept a fate she found abhorrent.
    Jacko came out of the other room just then and grumbled, “Are you two still lying abed? I thought you would have been up by now.”
    Rubbing his eyes, Ben sat up and retorted, “I don’t know why you’re so grumpy about it—you just got up yourself!”
    Jacko mumbled some reply, and Pip smiled slightly. Neither one of her brothers was particularly amiable first thing in the morning. Jumping lithely to her feet, she ran a hand through her mass of tumbled black curls, and momentarily putting aside her gloomy thoughts, she asked brightly, “Are you through with the washstand? I’d like to use it if you don’t mind.”
    Jacko waved his hand, indicating his permission, and Pip scampered through the doorway into what had been Jane’s room. It was almost like entering a different world. The delicately carved mahogany bed was a massive thing, nearly filling the entire little room, the bed curtains a billowy mass of expensive green silk—Jane’s favorite color. Upon the floor lay an Oriental