them from destitution, violence, and starvation on the streets—but Anya was sure many of them would prefer an alternative means of earning a living if it were offered to them. One afternoon, over tea and cakes with Charlotte, Anya had suggested that the girls might benefit from learning skills that would aid them in leaving a life of prostitution if they wished. Charlotte had agreed, and that was how, on the evenings Anya wasn’t with the dowager duchess, she’d begun to teach them to read, write, and solve basic arithmetic.
“You’ll have to use the front parlor this evening.” Charlotte’s distinctive, throaty voice was entirely unfeigned. “I’m having the study repapered. I’ll tell Winslow to direct any visitors to the red salon. You shouldn’t be disturbed.”
Anya nodded and made her way to the front of the house to find her charges. She stepped into the room in time to hear Tess say, “Well, that’s a right load of old bollocks, Jen.”
“It is more polite to say, ‘I’m afraid I disagree with your assessment, Jenny,’” Anya said dryly.
Tess’s sweet, freckled face turned pink in embarrassment, and the two girls dropped into hasty curtseys, talking all the while. “Oh, Miss Anna, I’m so sorry. I ’ad no idea you was there.”
“It’s quite all right, Tess. I’ve heard far worse. But still, do consider modifying your language. As a milliner’s assistant, you’ll need to be polite to the customers.”
Anya had to hide a smile at the irony of chiding anyone on their vocabulary. Elizaveta still frowned at her in private for “profanities unbecoming a princess.” Her English had certainly expanded to include an impressive number of curse words during their months in Covent Garden.
Jenny went over to the desk in one corner, and Anya gestured to Tess to open the book of fairy tales from which she’d been learning to read. “Tess, you read, and Jenny, you write down what she says.”
Both girls nodded obediently.
“Little … Red … Ri—ding … Hood,” Tess said slowly, her finger following the words as she went along. Anya sent her an encouraging smile.
“Excellent, Tess! Keep going.”
“Once … up—on … a … time—”
The door opened. Anya glanced up, expecting to see Charlotte with a tea tray, but instead, a man she’d never seen before appeared in the doorway, and for one ridiculous moment, she thought Tess had summoned the wolf from the storybook.
He was tall and lean, with a lithe vitality that made the very air vibrate. His skin was tanned, his hair a black windblown mass around his face. His dark eyes swept the room and settled on Anya, and for the first time in her entire life, she lost her train of thought on account of a man.
He stilled, his hand resting on the doorknob, and his mouth curved into a smile that made her flash hot and cold at once.
“Good evening, ladies. I’m sorry to interrupt. I was looking for Mrs. Haye.”
Something odd fluttered in Anya’s stomach. His voice was like sandpaper and velvet.
Jenny and Tess jumped to their feet, rushed forward, and stopped a few inches away from him, both of them talking at once.
“Mrs. ’Aye is in the back parlor, my lord,” Jenny said breathlessly.
Tess sent him a shamelessly provocative glance. “It’s a pleasure to see you ’ere, my lord. Is there something I can ’elp you with?”
Jenny batted her eyelashes. “Or me?”
But the man’s gaze was still fixed on Anya. Heat rose in her cheeks at his boldly appraising scrutiny. She pressed her lips into a disapproving line.
His features had a Mediterranean look, all dark sophistication, a corsair masquerading as a gentleman. She’d never seen anyone so uncompromisingly handsome. What was a man like this doing in a brothel? Surely he could get any woman he wanted with the crook of his finger?
A nervous sensation coiled in her belly. The thought of him doing things—the kind of things a man did with a woman in a brothel—made her feel quite hot and bothered. Still, she certainly wasn’t going to be the one who provided whatever service he’d come here for. No matter how ridiculously good looking he was.
She cleared her throat, intending to excuse herself, but the gentleman spoke first, sending a charming smile that somehow conveyed sincere regret to the two women in front of him.
“Would you two ladies mind going to fetch her for me?”
Tess and Jenny both sagged in disappointment at the subtle dismissal. Tess shot a wide-eyed glance over her shoulder at Anya. “We’ll all go,” she said, clearly