No Place for a Lady by Jade Lee

Author:Jade Lee
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Fiction, Historical, General
ISBN: 9781468115666
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2003-04-30T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Fantine sprang lightly up to the carriage, gave Jacob directions, then settled onto the squabs with a giddy sense of freedom. She knew it was dangerous for her to go to the rookeries, but she needed this last evening. Lottie had already warned her that everything would change the moment she made her debut tomorrow night. She would become immersed in the social whirl, and who knew when her next free night would be?

That she had made no progress on her investigations bothered her. But not as much as she expected. She could do no more until Hurdy met with Teggie or she entered the social world. And Marcus—through Lottie—had kept her apprised of his measures to protect Wilberforce. Everything was proceeding as planned, and yet she often felt a pang of longing for her familiar world in the rookeries.

So even if she had not needed to deliver food to the boys, she would have escaped anyway. That Marcus had suddenly appeared to be her companion was merely a happy accident.

She looked across the carriage at him. He stared at her grumpily. He was plotting something. Revenge, no doubt. She wondered briefly if she had pushed him too far. A man could only take so much frustration.

Then she pushed the thought aside. He had promised to take only what she offered and no more. That included accepting her as she was. Besides, whether he realized it or not, she had to come along. It would take all her persuasive powers to convince the boys to trust Marcus.

Lord, she had missed him. She still felt like she wanted to throw herself into his arms, even knowing where it might lead and that she would be throwing away what tiny bit of independence she had. But when he had appeared out of the darkness to kiss her like that, it had been like a dream come true.

Everything she did these days was with him in mind. Every time she practiced eating with a fork, she wondered if Marcus would appreciate her dainty bites. Every time she executed some intricate dance step, she pretended she was dancing with Marcus. Sweet heaven, she even went to bed with a smile on her face because she knew she would dream about him.

Her whole attitude was inexcusable, and yet she could not stop herself. She was finally with him again, and she felt happy. She did not care that he glared at her or that it would be a long time until he released his anger enough to kiss her. Nothing mattered for now, because she was going back into the rookeries. Finally, she would not have to think about how she walked or talked or moved.

And she was with Marcus.

"Tell me about your mother."

Fantine blinked and stared at Marcus. "What?"

"I said, tell me about your mother. Do you look like her? Was she a dancer? Did she sing?"

Fantine frowned, her happiness fading. "Why?"

He shrugged. "No reason. You are meeting my family. I thought it would be nice to know about yours.

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