“If so, you would have done it in the last five years. Indeed, I’d hoped your friendship with Baron Easterly would help you come out of your shell some.”
Baron Easterly had helped her. Three years ago, she’d tired of being the mystery woman every gentleman wanted to seduce. It was her friend Amber Gohar, now Countess Morthan, who had suggested the arrangement. The baron needed people to believe in his “sexual prowess,” and she had needed a protector to keep everyone away. So she and Bessie had spun a lively tale, and he kept everyone away from her. Including himself.
They’d spent several lovely evenings playing cards, and she had learned that not all men were beasts. But now with the baron’s gout paining him, he no longer came to London and had released her as his “mistress.” The gentlemen once again tried to prey upon her, which had forced her to become more reclusive than before. Which is why she had run in terror when that man had tried to talk to her in Hyde Park.
But Bessie was right. Life was becoming too restrictive. She sometimes felt like she spent every day in a cage of her own making. Perhaps it was time to escape the tight confines of London. She could do it for a week. Perhaps. But the idea still made her tighten with fear.
“Now don’t look so glum,” Bessie pressed. “You can come back as soon as Lord Daniel is satisfied with your work.”
“Perhaps he will be satisfied with Evie’s work,” she offered. Evie was a strong woman with a sharp mind. She also excelled in fisticuffs learned from the bouncers at the den. “I will go somewhere for a holiday. Perhaps down to Dover for a week.”
Bessie reached forward enough to wrap her fingers around Li-Na’s clenched hands. “This will be good for you. You’ll get out of London for the summer while it’s so beastly hot.”
“The whole summer?” she gasped.
Bessie nodded. “Do you really want to molder away here for the rest of your life? Before long you will be old and wrinkled having never seen more than this place and Hyde Park.”
“I like it here.”
“You arestuckhere. Like a frozen woman inside a picture frame. It’s time you broke free. Now don’t fret. You’ll be perfectly safe with Lord Daniel. He’s…well, he’s eccentric, but he won’t hurt you. Plus, I’ve negotiated with him on your behalf. You’ll only work mornings then have the rest of the day to do whatever you want. Think of it like a holiday. You can paint or wander. You’ll be perfectly safe there. You have my word and Lord Daniel’s promise on that.”
A promise? That was likefree.It meant nothing if circumstances changed. She’d learned to live inside a few square miles of London, and now she was being sent to where? Cornwall? She knew nothing of that place. How would they react to a Chinese woman? Would Lord Daniel protect her like Bessie had? Doubtful. Would she be expected to do more than just the account books? She wouldn’t.
“Unless…” Bessie said, stretching out the word to pique Li-Na’s interest.
“Yes?”
“Sell some of your paintings. Give them to me and I will see that they—”
“No.”
“Why not? You trust me, don’t you?”
She did. The woman had proved herself honorable many times over. But selling her paintings was like trying to sell her thoughts. And the one time she shared herself that way, her entire life had ended. She had been sold to a slaver the very next day, all because she’d put her love on paper and given it away.
But those thoughts she kept close. Instead, she chose a convenient truth. “In England, women do not usually sell their paintings.”
Bessie nodded. “True, true. But what if you could?”
Li-Na’s hand tightened on her cup and her breath froze in her chest. It wasn’t a small reaction. She literally couldn’t breathe. And though she tried to hide it, Bessie saw it nonetheless. Her eyes widened and she immediately rose from her chair. She gripped Li-Na’s hands in hers and said slowly, “You are safe. No one is here to hurt you. No one will take your paintings.”
Eventually, her breath eased. In time, she could look away from Bessie’s concerned expression. And once she could do that, she could admit the total irrationality of her reaction. There was no reason for her response, and yet, this is what happened whenever she thought of giving away or selling her art.
“Why does this happen to you, Li-Na?” Bessie pressed. “What is it?”
“It was how I came to be here,” she whispered. “It was why I was sold to the slaver.” Because she had given a painting to the man she loved. And in return, her entire life had been forfeit.
“That won’t happen again.”
Probably not. But she had no control over her body’s reaction and so her paintings would remain her own. Meanwhile, Bessie sat back down and regarded her with troubled eyes.
“You need a change, Li-Na. Something—anything—that will break you from being trapped here.”
No, no, no! But she could see that Bessie’s mind was already made up.
“It’s time for you to stretch your wings, and Cornwall has plenty of room for that. I’ll still be here when it’s time to come back.” She paused as she studied Li-Na’s face. “He’s paying you handsomely for the work.”
“I don’t need more money. You give me plenty.”