Annalise by Carrie Lomax

Author:Carrie Lomax [Lomax, Carrie]
Language: eng
Format: epub

12

Belladonna

“What’s this?” Bella asked, eyeing the small cylinder Hawke offered her.

“A cigarette.” He took one for himself. “This one is machine-made. An American, Bonsack, is the inventor. His machines just arrived here in England.” He struck a match and held it out. “Thought you might like to try one.”

She tried not to be touched by this peculiar gesture, yet she was. No stranger to cigarillos and cigars, she inhaled, then coughed in a cloud of smoke.

“These are awful.”

Hawke chuckled. “Cheap, though.”

The smoke cleared her lungs, leaving behind a buzz in her brain. Alertness and jitters. She could see the appeal, though she generally did not care for tobacco herself.

“I ought to invest in these hideous things,” she said, holding it between pinched thumb and forefinger, examining it.

“You’ll make a mint.”

“And kill half of London in the process.” Bella waved her hand and took a second, daintier puff. “The reformers will be all over these things as fast as the lower classes are.”

Hawke acknowledged her assessment with a vague gesture. He puffed his own and held it out, letting it burn down between his scissored fingertips.

Bella had to drag her gaze away, imagining that hand on places of her body where it did not belong. Not since she was seventeen had a man pulled her in this hopeless, helpless fashion. She was more than twice that old now. Her resistance was stronger.

Yet her loneliness was greater, too.

Her idea to surround herself with women like her had worked beautifully, but the House of Virtue only partially assuaged the loneliness plaguing her ever since her husband died.

It started to creep in when Rose left. Entranced by a prince. Who could blame her, really? Even whores wanted fairy tale endings. Especially whores.

Lord, how Bella missed her.

“What have you learned of Erskine?” Hawke asked, his voice low and steely.

“He’s an intolerable arsehole, but he seems genuine in his desire to redeem us soiled doves,” she said, cringing at the note of bitterness that crept into her tone. No. She had the pleasure of her garden, her Flowers, a healthy, wise, gentle son on the cusp of adulthood, and enough money not to worry ever again.

She had no reason whatsoever to feel lonely or bitter. They rotted the soul. It was best not to let them take root in her heart.

“I expect he is sincere. Makes him influential within his party.” Hawke leaned back on the thick stone railing overlooking her beloved garden and inhaled his cigarette. The smoke floated between his mouth and his nose. Bella found her gaze locked upon his face and had to tear away.

“He doesn’t like women,” she stated bluntly.

“You mean, sexually?”

“Yes. In other ways, as well. He’s polite. He’s careful to observe the proprieties. Yet there’s a lurking menace to the way he interacts with us.”

Hawke nodded and took another drag. “Her Majesty said something similar. Only the queen was more concerned with his conduct toward her, personally.”

Bella rolled her eyes. She didn’t care if he reported this back to Victoria.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.