The Courtesan's Daughter Read Free

seductive skills on him. The fact that he was, she strongly suspected, her mother’s current lover was just the least bit inconvienent. Still, one had to work with whatever, or whomever, was available.
    Viscount Richborough was just available enough.
     
 
LORD Richborough was pacing the yellow salon as Caroline softly entered the room. Softly, because she didn’t intend to startle him. Softly, because she had just managed to shush Anne and leave her in the foyer, where she suspected Anne was listening avidly at the door. Caroline did not enter softly because she was afraid. Far from it. She was going to find out if she had any skill at seduction at all before commencing a life of profitable seduction. A perfectly logical plan, as anyone would attest. Anyone except Anne. Anne was ridiculously conservative about things of this nature, which Caro considered quite odd since Anne had been married and certainly had a working knowledge of such things, such things being those acts that occurred between men and women.
    Richborough was a man and she was a woman. Things ought to proceed nicely from there, oughten they?
    As men went, Richborough was above average in appearance; quite above average. Her mother wouldn’t have tolerated him otherwise. He was tall, slim without being fragile, possessed of remarkably even features capped by a luxuriant cap of tousled dark brown hair that was a complete match to his dark brown eyes. Naturally, as he had been coming round to see her mother, she’d had a fair chance to study him. If he wore his jackets a bit snug across the shoulder and if his wit was a bit thin, she didn’t suppose anyone would notice those small deficiencies. But she did.
    She knew her mother did as well. Nothing escaped Sophia’s notice, though perhaps quite a lot escaped her comment. There was likely some proverb about age and the wisdom of discretion, but as Caro was seventeen, she didn’t suppose she should be expected to know it. Or practice it.
    Attempting to seduce her mother’s lover was hardly discreet, but she did need to know if a man could find her appealing, and this man would just have to do. It was almost a scientific experiment. In fact, if her mother found out about her attempted seduction of Lord Richborough, she would claim exactly that. A scientific experiment, nothing at all personal about it.
    She didn’t suppose Lord Richborough needed to be told that, however. What she knew of men indicated that they were rather humorless about things of that sort. Dour things, really, but strangely compelling in spite of it.
    Lord Richborough stopped pacing and turned upon hearing the door close, and her heart did a little flutter. He was such a tall man and not a little imposing in that particular way men had of imposing themselves upon absolutely everyone, no matter the occasion. All in all, she rather liked that about men.
    “Lady Caroline,” he said, bowing gracefully. “How good to see you again.”
    “Thank you, Lord Richborough,” she said, curtseying quickly. “You’re calling early today. My mother is not yet receiving. I’m afraid you must make do with me.”
    That had not come out at all as she had hoped. She hardly wanted to be thought of in terms of yesterday’s toast. She was almost certain that successful courtesans did not go about announcing that they must be made do with.
    “Delighted,” Richborough said with a somewhat stiff smile.
    He looked disappointed. Not at all the response she’d been hoping for. Caro sat down upon the silk damask sofa and arranged herself as beautifully as possible. Richborough sat as well, though not beautifully. He did not appear to care if she thought him nicely arranged or not.
    It was difficult not to begin to think that Richborough might be a bit stupid. Without being vulgarly obvious, how far did he expect her to go in her invitation for his attentions? Apparently farther still.
    “And how have you been entertaining yourself lately, Lord