What You Desire by Adele Clee

Author:Adele Clee
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2015-10-02T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

After some gentle persuasion and Dudley Spencer’s promise to help devise a plan, they all agreed that the meeting with Madame Labelle should go ahead.

The discussion lasted no more than twenty minutes, but it had been the most awkward twenty minutes of Sophie’s life. She had barely acknowledged Dane throughout the whole exchange, believing that if she appeared aloof she would be able to disguise her true feelings.

She had never stopped loving him.

The thought left her feeling exposed and vulnerable and her stomach did little flips every time she thought of it. The carriage ride home had been just as challenging. Dane had mistaken her stony silence for anxiety and so spent the rest of the journey trying to convince her he would risk his life to protect her — which only made her heart race all the more.

The opportunity to spend time upstairs with Amy had been a welcome relief.

With her arms folded firmly across her chest, Sophie stood with her back to the bedroom window as she examined Dane’s maid. “I know the coat is a little on the large side. But if you would just straighten your back, it would not look so bad.”

Amy offered a weak smile, revealing her reluctance to participate in their charade. “I don’t know how you do it, miss,” she said shrugging her shoulders as though she had an itch she couldn’t scratch. “I can hardly breathe with this thing wrapped around my neck.” She tugged at the ends of the neatly tied cravat and Sophie rushed over, patted her hands away and pushed the ends down inside the waistcoat.

“The more you think about it, the worse it will be,” Sophie replied placing her hand on Amy’s arm to offer some comfort. Sophie had worn breeches many times whilst roaming around in the countryside, but had also struggled with the feeling of being slowly suffocated by a cravat.

Amy turned her head and sniffed the shoulder of the coat. “Does this thing smell musty to you?” she asked, her nose wrinkled to the size of a button.

Sophie bowed her head and inhaled before jerking back sharply. It smelt like a wet dog. “It’s just a little damp,” she reassured, wondering where Dane had found it. “Let me find something to mask the smell.” Sophie wandered over to the dressing table, removed a few dried lavender stalks from the vase and crushed the heads in her hands. “There that should do the trick,” she said, smoothing her hands over the coat in the hope the scent would linger long enough to placate Amy. “Now, do you remember what it is you must do?”

Amy nodded. “I’m to wait in the square until Haines brings your madame.”

Sophie nodded. “You must sit with her for at least ten minutes and then —”

“But what am I supposed to say to her,” Amy blurted, forgetting it was rude to interrupt and in other houses, maids had been dismissed for far less.

Sophie’s mouth curved into a mischievous grin. “You are going to have the mistress of a brothel at your disposal.

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