Page 44 of The Study of Seduction

Edwin stood aside to let a clown pass, and Clarissa said, “Do you really know where we’re going?”

He smiled indulgently at her. “I always know where I’m going.” Then he took her hand and drew her down another hall.

There were fewer people here, and as she and Edwin traversed it, those remaining players vanished into the other passageway. When she and Edwin passed an open door to an empty room, she stopped him. “We need to talk, and this is as good a place as any.”

Glancing either way down the hall, he nodded and drew her inside, then pulled the door mostly closed, to give them some privacy. Through the walls, they could hear muted voices and the sounds of music starting up, but here they were alone.

“So,” she began. “Now that Durand has called our bluff, what do we do next?”

Ten

Edwin didn’t know how to answer her. Between that damned Frenchman’s baiting of them and Clarissa’s surprising reaction to Lucia, he was at a loss. But Clarissa was looking at him expectantly, and he had to say something.

“We behave as if we’re engaged.”

She huffed out a breath. “I figured that out myself. But for how long? The whole world is sure to hear of it before the night is over, and we’ll be bombarded with questions. I merely need to know what to answer. Have we set a date for the wedding, for example?”

“Of course not.” He scrubbed his hand over his face and added acerbically, “Forgive me, but I haven’t thought through the details of our pretend wedding, only the ones for our secret pretend engagement. I didn’t expect Durand to press the issue. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Yes, I recall your saying that it wouldn’t suit his plans.” She halted to stare at him. “Perhaps you should have mentioned that tohim.Because apparently he thinks it suits his plans quite well.”

“Clearly his purpose was to catch us off guard and have us admit that the whole thing was a lie.”

“I realize that. And while I’m glad that we didn’t perform to his expectations, it doesn’t change the fact that we are now publicly engaged.” Her gaze grew shuttered. “Which neither of us wants.”

“No.” It was very nearly true. But part of him couldn’t help imagining Clarissa naked in his bed, with her sensuous lips smiling coyly and her arms reaching up to pull him down beside her. Her breasts would be there for sucking, and her lovely thighs—

“Edwin?”

Blast. He’d missed whatever she’d said. “Sorry. Could you repeat that?”

“You’re not even listening to me!”

“I’m thinking through the problem.”

She eyed him askance. “You didn’tlookas if you were thinking through anything. You looked like you were thinking of something far more enticing. Or evensomeone.Your friendLucia, perhaps?”

Now,thatwas jealousy. He might not previously have been on the receiving end of it, but he could tell it when he heard it. And it had the most peculiar effect on him, heating his blood until he felt on fire.

He wasn’t the only one igniting. As he circled her, he noted the sudden flush in her cheeks. “You seem very interested in my association with Lucia.”

“You seem verycomfortablewith her. And she is quite beautiful, after all.”

“She is indeed,” he said, just to see her reaction. “Despite being nearly my age, she has a youthful quality about her that never seems to fade.”

Her mouth formed a mutinous line. “You’re not that old, you know.”

“You’re the one who said I wasn’t getting any younger.”

“Well, you’re not. But that doesn’t mean you’re about to keel over.” She stared ahead, not meeting his eyes. “And she’s only a bit older than your former fiancée. No wonder she has a youthful quality.” She tipped up her chin. “Whether she will keep it is another matter entirely.”

Biting back a smile, he said, “I thought you admired her.”

“I did. I do. It’s just that . . . well, I don’t think—”

“That she’s right for me?” he said, echoing her remarks the other night about Miss Trevor.

“Don’t be silly. Of course she’s not right for you. She’s an actress.”