“All right, if you’re so independent, tell me how you’re intending to support yourself? You cannot live with that strange friend of yours forever. People will talk. And then you’ll never be able to find a man.”
“Perhaps I do not need a man.”
“Do not be an idiot, Agatha. Women have no power in this world behind that of their fathers and husbands. Where our power lies is in our ability to withstand horrible situations and make the best of them. Do you think I love your father? He was not a love match for me. Our union was an advantageous one. Nothing more, nothing less.
“You have no way to afford living in London without a husband. It is your only choice.”
“Not precisely,” Agatha ventured. “I could…” her voice faltered. She cleared her throat, then rounded her shoulders. Reminded herself that she could do this. She could stand up for herself to her mother. “I could become a mistress. Have my independence with the financial security and protection from a man of my choosing.”
Her mother gasped.
Agatha was surprised the woman didn’t strike her.
“You would whore yourself out in such a way. I did not raise you to be that kind of woman.” She stood. “I cannot speak withyou anymore this evening, you are making me far too angry.” Her mother’s gaze was heated with fury. “You would do well if you went home and counted the last of your monies whilst making peace with the fact that the Duke of Lancaster is your best and only choice.”
And for the second time that night Agatha was left in the garden alone.
7
If Sebastian was completely honest with himself pursuing Agatha had nothing to do with his sire or even her request. It was entirely and wholly about the fact that he had to have her. He didn’t quite understand it himself except he knew that he would drive himself mad if he didn’t get to touch her voluptuous body and teach it how to sing.
All of that was why he was currently standing on the front stoop of her residence waiting to be let inside. After a stodgy butler inquired for his name and purpose of visit.
Eventually he’s led into a parlor towards the back of the house. It’s surprising to find her living in such a sizable townhome. He’d assumed her meager widow’s allowance would not have afforded her such a home in this affluent neighborhood. If she can afford this house, why are her parents insisting she marry again?
“I cannot imagine that anyone is calling upon me, Violet. Certainly your butler is mistaken.”
“Let us just see,” another woman’s voice said. .
And then Agatha steps into the room with another woman inching in behind her.
He can’t take his eyes off of Agatha though. If she captured his attention wearing mourning rags and a veil, she’s mesmerized him wearing a green muslin day dress that looks soft to the touch.
Her features widened with shock as she sees him lounging on her settee.
“What are you doing here?”
The other woman’s eyes round and she hides a giggle behind her hand. “Oh my, Agatha, is this him?”
“Have you been talking about me, little dove?” he asked.
He stands and prowls towards her. The other woman suppresses a cackle, then taps Agatha on the arm. “This is simply too delicious. I’ll leave you two alone.”
“Violet,” Agatha hisses. Her dark hair is pulled up in a loose chignon and wisps of nearly black curls play by her ears.
“I told you that I would pay a call on you.” He glanced around the room and motioned to the large wall of windows overlooking a balcony with stairs leading into the gardens below. “This is a very nice house, Agatha.”
She stiffened slightly. “Yes. This is my friend Violet’s house and she kindly has allowed me to stay here with her since my husband passed away.”
“I can presume that that,” he points to the now closed parlor door, “was Violet?”
“Yes.”
“If you’re residing here and not in the residence you shared during your brief marriage, am I to assume your husband had an heir? Or did he not have any holdings or income to pass along?”
Her fingers gather at the fabric of her skirt, bunching bits of it from her waistline into her palms, then releasing it again. “A nephew.”
“This nephew insisted you leave? He did not offer to take care of you in your husband’s absence?” Sebastian asked.