Compromising Prudence Read Free Page B

elaborate furnishings — although the sheets felt rather nice. The furniture was dull, heavy wood draped with lace adornments, entirely respectable. She searched for a clock.
    Beady eyes stared down at her above a sharp beak and fierce talons. She let out a little shriek.
    “Are you all right, miss?”
    A plain woman in a maid’s uniform sat across the room from Pru in a tall-backed armchair.
    “That.” Prudence pointed at the terrifying vision and immediately felt foolish. The monster was merely a stuffed bird. “Sorry. It looked fierce.”
    “S’all right, miss.” The maid grinned. She was much younger than Prudence had thought, just a girl really. “The master has them all over the house. Gives you a fair start if you’re not expecting them.”
    The master? Prudence shrank back, drawing up the covers. Her mind raced for possible answers. Mrs. Tuppence had given her to someone. Had she agreed to go? She could only remember the night through an alcoholic veil. Had she really agreed to become some man’s mistress?
    Or worse.
    What if she were a prisoner? Perhaps the maid was here to guard her.
    Prudence flung the covers aside and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Her head swam in protest. She subsided with a groan and a shiver. “Whose gown is this? Who undressed me?”
    “It’s Miss Hatterly’s gown. This is her room when she’s in London. I helped you last night, miss. You weren’t in any shape to undress yourself.” Prudence relaxed. The strange place hardly seemed like a seraglio. “Can I fetch you something, miss? Tea? Something for breakfast?”
    The thought of food made her stomach heave. “Tea would be lovely.”
    “Right then.” The maid headed for the door. “I’ll be back in snap, miss, but if you think of anything else, there’s the pull.” She gestured at a silken cord hanging over the bed. With a little curtsey, the maid was gone.
    After slipping on a dressing robe left helpfully draped on the foot of the bed, Prudence hurried to the door and peeked out. There were no guards and nothing suspicious, simply a hallway with a plush rug and an ornate mirror across the way. She gasped when she saw her reflection. The owner of the gown and robe must be very small indeed. Her legs stuck out several inches from the fabric. Her hands went to her wild snarl of hair. She had gone to bed with a head full of pins and the result made her look like that woman who turned men to stone.
    “I’m Medusa in an ill-fitting gown.”
    “My thoughts exactly.” A man was leaning against the hallway wall, arms crossed, looking exactly as he had the first time she had seen him.
    “You!”
    Here was her handsome charmer from Mrs. Tuppence’s house. He looked fresh and cheerful in a blue morning coat and buff trousers with his dark hair impeccably coiffed. His neckcloth was simple, but as elegant as the man himself. His features were even more attractive in the light of day and he was taller than she had realized the night before.
    “I was beginning to worry you would sleep all day. Care for a bit of breakfast?” he asked with a mischievous grin.
    She shuddered. “I sent the maid for tea.”
    “I have a better idea.” He came to her rapidly. She recoiled in alarm and went to close the door, but he blocked her with his boot. “Relax, my dear. I don’t mean to molest you. If I had, I would hardly have stationed a maid to watch over you in the night, now would I?” He pressed past her and crossed to the wardrobe with the leering hawk on its top. “Frances keeps it in here. She thinks I don’t know.”
    “Frances?”
    “My sister. Here.” He took out a small flask, pouring a finger’s width of amber liquid into a glass. “Drink this.”
    “I’ll wait for my tea.”
    “This will help. A hair of the dog and all that. Trust me on this.”
    She reluctantly allowed the door to close and took a healthy swig from the glass, choking as the liquid burned a trail down her throat.