The King's Courtesan (25 page)

Your joy and spontaneity were so genuine. You seem to me il -suited to your role. Lacking the detachment and cold-bloodedness required to keep from being hurt. That’s not wise for a courtesan, I would think.”

“No, Robert. You’re right. It isn’t.” She wasn’t sure why she was crying. So many hurts, so many disappointments. And it didn’t escape her that he hadn’t real y answered her question.

He pul ed a coverlet around them both, and used his discarded shirt to dry her tears.

“Tel me of your life, Hope. I’ve ofttimes wondered who you

“Tel me of your life, Hope. I’ve ofttimes wondered who you are.”

Did she real y want to remind him of who and what she was? But if she didn’t share her past with him, how could she expect him to share his with her?

“IF I TELL YOU OF MY GHOSTS,
Robert, wil you tel me of yours?”

“My memories, my dreams, are ugly things. It’s only with you I forget them. That bothered me at first. It seemed somehow…neglectful. But I’ve grown to like it. Despite…” He waved his hand as if waving something away. “It’s been a long time since I’ve woken in the morning looking forward to the day. Can we leave it be for now? Tonight I’d like to hear about you.”

“I’m sure you have already. There’s many a story or lampoon about me. I’ve been cal ed Cinder wench and Cinder whore because of my humble beginnings.”

“Hush!” He pressed a finger against her lips. “I want to hear
your
story. Not the words of jealous rivals and spiteful courtiers.”

“I was raised in a brothel, Robert. Cal ed the Merry Strumpet. No one made that up. It belonged to my mother, so I was a princess of sorts. I had a pretty kitten and a room of my own. I’m told my father was a captain like you, though he died in debtor’s prison, and before my mother became a bawd she was a whore.”

“Your father was a military man? That helps explain your combative spirit.”

“I am very good-natured when…when my good nature is not being abused!”

“I am but teasing, Hope. Though you rather prove my point.

Could it be your mother was once a lady of good circumstance, and misfortune and poverty, rather than depravity, brought her so low? Many were reduced to dire circumstances before and after the war.”

“Reduced to being a brandy-soaked bawd who auctioned her daughter’s virginity and drowned in a ditch after a drunken ramble about town?”

“Ah… Yes…wel …”

“It’s no matter to me. I arranged a lovely service for her and placed a monument at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. I’m not ashamed of who I am, Robert.”

“How is it you are so accomplished and speak so wel , with such humble beginnings? Even a poor accent would have ruined you at court. How have you converted your demons to graces?”

She blushed. She had never been cal ed wel -spoken and accomplished before. Nor possessed of graces. “Be careful, Captain, or you wil soon be talking like a courtier.

It’s because I am a good mimic. I try to take al the good I can from the bad, and whenever I’ve the chance I watch and learn. When my mother sold me, I was stil a virgin, but her more lecherous clients sniffed around me from the time I was ten years old. Many were wealthy, aristocratic and traveled. They sent me on errands and told me stories from al over the world. I learned to be comfortable and confident with conversation, and with handling gentlemen from al stations of life.”

“You make it sound almost easy.”

“I was fourteen when she sold me. He—Sir Charles Edgemont—didn’t believe I was untried. He thought my mother cheated him and was very rough and angry at first. It wasn’t easy.”

“It must have seemed a great betrayal. You must have been frightened and felt very much alone.” He thought back to Caroline, and to himself, and his heart felt a sudden stab of pain. “You were so young. I’m sorry, elf.” He was at a loss as to what further to say other than offering to kil the man, and he was fairly certain that wasn’t the thing to say at this time. But the idea of anyone hurting her angered him.

Hope reached for a flagon of wine from a side table and fil ed a goblet and tossed most of it back in one swal ow. “I hated him at first, though I didn’t let it show. I had wanted to escape my life for some time, and I knew he was an opportunity. I used him as much as he used me, but it was her I real y hated. I never saw or spoke to her again. The service…when she died. It was a strike at those who mocked me through her. I am glad I did it now, for other reasons. I have come to see her differently since.” Her voice, usual y expressive, was a dul monotone. Wel used to the art of denial and concealment, he knew by her air of studied indifference it had hurt her far more than she let on. He reached down to scoop up Daisy and deposit her on the bed. Then he scooped up Hope again and gave her a warm hug. She twisted and elbowed him but quickly subsided, leaning back against his chest with a tired sigh.

“It was my lot in life, I suppose, and there was no escaping it. Better to be the plaything of one man then many. I was alone in the world after leaving my mother, and I vowed in the future I’d trust no one but myself. I’ve not always managed that as wel as I might, and whenever I’ve forgotten I have paid.” She thought of Charles and how he’d used her trust to trick her, and she wondered what new hurts trusting Robert might bring. She gave him an assessing look through the mirror but he didn’t see.

“I also vowed to take whatever life sent me and use it to my advantage. In the end I had a business relationship of sorts with Edgemont. One that we both honored. It was with him I truly became a courtesan. I learned to manage him, tolerate him, using my charms and his guilt, and in the end he taught me many useful things.”

Robert was surprised and a little threatened by her candor.

It seemed a chal enge of sorts.
Will she expect the same
from me?

“He felt bad for his initial behavior, of course, and sought to make reparation with gowns and jewelry, some of which I was able to convert to coin and turned into savings. I stayed with him for several years, during which time he introduced me to good manners, good company and good living, and at my insistence hired me a dance master and a tutor who taught me to read and write. We parted when he married.

By then the king had returned to London and the theaters had reopened and he left me an entrée though Orange Mol .”

“Ow!” Robert snarled as Daisy pounced on his shoulder, digging her claws into his bare chest for purchase, leaving bloody scratch marks as she reached for a loose strand of hair. Wincing, he pried her off him and dropped her in Hope’s lap. “Damn it, woman. If Cressly harbors some monstrous being it is this bloodthirsty little thing!” Hope smiled as the maligned and offended kitten crawled into her arms and bumped her chin with a furry head, then settled down to wash herself in dignified reproach. She hugged her and kissed the top of her head, and Robert did the same to her. She felt a tremendous sense of comfort.

She’d never told anyone her story, though people told stories of her. Robert’s reaction was reassuring. If he was going to get stiff and judgmental he’d surely have done so by now. It felt good to talk of it with someone else. Like being relieved of a burden, or finding that one was mistaken in thinking themselves alone.

He interrupted her musings by stealing her goblet and downing the rest of her wine. “So you seized the day and launched a career as a great adventuress, by going to work for that famed theater maven and fruit sel er, Orange Mol .

The one you flattened with your fist.”

“Yes! She was freakishly tal , you know.” He smoothed a stray tendril of hair back behind her ear.

“I’m sure she seemed so to you.”

She looked up, glaring at him in the mirror, and he smiled back smugly, pleased with his joke.

“And so? How did you go from orange girl to hosting parties with His Majesty in Pal Mal ?”

Despite her feigned displeasure, her voice grew more animated as she continued her tale. “Mol had a license to sel oranges and sweetmeats and other fruit and candy at the new King’s Theater, and I was hired as one of her girls.

It paid for rooms at the Cock and Pie tavern just a stone’s throw away. It was cramped, but it had a window over the street. I worked six days a week and kept a sixth of my takings, sel ing oranges in the front row of the pit.

“We also carried messages, paid for by generous tips, between the gal ants and actresses backstage. I met many an actor or playwright, and grand lords and ladies, that way.

I watched how they dressed. I listened to their talk and I learned their accent. I discovered that but for their clothes and fancy speech, they were no better than me, and I teased and joked and sparred with them that way. It offended some of the ladies, hiding behind their masks, but it didn’t seem to bother the men. I enjoyed make-believe since I was a child, and working the pit was an excel ent apprenticeship for the stage.”

“It sounds as though you loved it there.”

“Oh, yes! I did. I’d never been anyplace so grand. It was richly appointed and bril iantly lit by chandeliers, yet very intimate and cozy. Have you been?”

“I have not.”

“The pit is taken up with leather benches, and three gal eries rise to the rear. The lowest is for royalty and dignitaries and such, and Charles came there often. We would stand between the pit and the stage, with the orchestra behind us, in the center of it al . It was magical, and of course I saw al the plays. I imagined taking to the stage as a famous actress. Buying a fine home, traveling England. It was a wonderful dream.”

Robert combed his fingers through her hair as she talked. It surprised him how easily he slipped into a comfortable intimacy with this woman. She seemed to think he judged her, but that was only when he’d thought her a party to Charles’s scheme. The truth was that he envied her. She could honestly say she was not ashamed of who she was and he could not.

“And did your realize it? Did you make it to the stage?”

“I did. And the opportunity came sooner than I thought. One of the new actresses failed to appear. It seemed she had caught a lover. And I took her part.”

“Did you?” He chuckled and gave her a slight squeeze. “I’m sure you were wonderful.”

“I thought so, too,” she said with a cocky grin. “Though I had no lines and al I did was hold a torch.”

“With great panache, no doubt.”

“Of course!” If possible her grin had grown wider. “Enough to secure me another try at it, and then a speaking role. I played a maid who helped her mistress escape an unwanted marriage. We disguised ourselves as two young sparks and I had to wear a waistcoat and breeches. The king started coming more often after that. He’s very fond of girls in breeches.”

“I can’t imagine why.”

She shifted position, getting more comfortable, and elbowed him again. “They say he is the first monarch to patronize a public theater. Whenever he came, you could hear the cheers in the streets as his coach rol ed up to the door. Everyone in the theater would stand until he took his seat.”

“Doubtless he was smitten with your…ah…acting.”

“That’s kind of you to say but somehow I don’t think so. He always had Castlemaine sticking to him like a burr. I had an admirer in another Charles, though. Charles Hartley, Lord Malcolm.” And she had certainly not been prepared for his inflamed and passionate proposition after the curtain came down.

“Lord Malcolm?”

“Yes. He is a court wit and was very charming and—”

“There’s no need. I’ve met the man. He towers close to six feet in his five-inch red heels, writes obnoxious verse and moves from woman to woman like a bee moves from flower to flower. I general y credit women with as much intel igence as a man, except when it comes to languishing, self-important fops with pretty faces and delusions of talent. I swear he’s never even learned to use his sword. Please don’t tel me you decided to forgo your dream for him.” For several moments the only sound was Daisy’s steady purr.

“Hope, I didn’t mean—”

“Yes, you did and no, I didn’t. I gave up my dream because it soon became apparent that I was not wel -suited for dramatic roles. There was an over-abundance of comedic actresses, al of them senior to me. It was
then
I decided to take Malcolm’s offer. You are right about his character, though. The whole thing lasted less than two months. He did teach me a little about handling my accounts. He found it amusing I had an interest in my own affairs.”

“So you picked what he had of a brain in under two months, and then bored with him, you took your leave.”

“No!” She laughed in protest. “I went to spend the summer in Epsom with him. He was nice enough, quite charming at first, but though he imagined himself a rake he tried to rule me as a husband, tel ing me where I might and might not go and what I could and could not do. It led to many arguments and was beginning to wear on my nerves. When he brought home two of his drunken friends and made it clear what they al expected, I packed my bags and left on the morning stage.”

“I shal make note not to ‘rule you as a husband’ and try and ration my store of interesting things for you to learn.

Swordplay can take years. Then there is unarmed combat and battle tactics. I know a bit about road building and crop rotation you might find titil ating, and can tantalize you for at least a six month with more stories about Sherwood Forest and that foul vil ain Robin Hood. Once that is exhausted I can teach you to use a pistol.”

Hope sighed happily and squeezed his hand. “I think you are neglecting another field of study ful of many fruitful lessons I’d like to learn.” This was a Robert she was just getting to know, who smiled and joked and comforted. She liked him very much.

He tugged her hair aside and grazed the back of her neck with his teeth. “That could take years. Now tel me the rest of your story.”

She shivered, as if approaching something dangerous, wishing her story began and ended here, lying next to him.

“We remained friends, Malcolm and I. He can be very entertaining when he makes the effort, and pleasant when he doesn’t think he owns you. He took me to the theater one night to watch from his box, and Charles was in the next one over. He and his brother invited us to dinner at a nearby tavern after the play. When the bil came, neither of them had money to settle it. It seems that royal persons seldom think of such things, so it was I who paid. I told them they were the poorest company I had ever kept, which he seemed to find amusing. He cal ed me to the palace the next day to repay me. From then until the night I met you, we had been together for nearly a year. So…now you know al about me. I am a common whore, but not a common shore.”