Drawing Temptation by Mikala Ash

Author:Mikala Ash
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BIN 010588-03441
Publisher: Changeling Press LLC
Published: 2022-11-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

The Comeuppance of a Blackguard

Mrs. Graves shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she studied the images which no doubt recalled to mind what she -- we -- had done with the men they depicted the night before. I admit to similar feelings. My quim had pulsed, and my nipples hardened when I added the odd detail to the sketches before coming down to breakfast.

“These are exact likenesses,” she said.

After loading my tray with toast and scrambled eggs I joined her at the table and poured myself a cup of tea. “I’ve been thinking about our meeting with Mr. Luxton.”

She sighed deeply and looked up at me. “As have I.”

“I’ve not done anything like this,” I confessed. “Confronted a blackmailer. I believe we should make it clear to him that we are resolute, that we mean what we say, and will not be cowed by whatever threats or bluster he may throw at us.”

She gazed at me, a twinkle in her eye. I blushed at my impertinence. Mrs. Graves had negotiated business contracts worth thousands of pounds and dealt with contractors all trying to inflate the price of their services. She knew more about dealing with truculent self-serving men than I ever would. “I apologise for my presumption.”

“Nonsense. The approach you suggest is what I intend to do.” She smiled and buttered her toast. “What’s most important is that we must be careful not to let slip that we gained our knowledge firsthand.” She cleared her throat. “If he thought we had been at the Marquis Club ourselves, and… and had indulged ourselves in debauchery, it would open up the door to other problems for me.”

I nodded in agreement.

“He must think we have paid for the information,” she continued. “We’ll need to convince him that we have witnesses who will testify if his blackmail becomes public knowledge. Such a development would shame his friends as well as himself. He could expect retribution from them, but the threatened shame alone should be intolerable to him.”

“Mutual destruction,” I said. “If he destroys you, then you’ll destroy him.”

“Agreed.”

We finished our breakfast in silence. I had no idea what to say about what we had done. I supposed Mrs. Graves was in the same state. After all, what could we possibly say about it?

Mr. Luxton arrived punctually, no doubt eager for his money. Henry the footman showed him in. He strode into the library with a self-assured smirk on his face. I disliked him intensely. He looked well-rested, with no sign of his exertions of the night before. To our mutual relief he showed no sign of knowing that we had been at the Marquis Club. If that had been the case, I had no doubt he would have let us know he’d seen us.

I busied myself finishing a sketch of his face.

He watched me for a moment. “Ladies.” He gave a perfunctory bow, then stood imperiously in front of the fire, hands behind his back, rocking backward and forward on his heels.

Mrs. Graves’s silence provoked a quizzical raise of his left eyebrow.

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