and blatant fascination with my body. I’d never had anyone study me so thoroughly. Her hands curled on her lap as her gaze slowly scanned my form, from my chest, lower…down, down to my boots.
“Better?”
“Or perhaps worse,” she muttered.
I hid my grin. For someone who had grown up in the slums, she was rather innocent. Or mayhap it was all a ruse. Who was the real Ginny? It was never my intention to get personal, but the longer we sat there, the more I wanted to know about her, when I’d never cared to understand any woman before.
“How old were you when your aunt Helen died?”
Her brows drew together. “Thirteen…no, twelve.”
I couldn’t help but imagine a child-like Ginny, full of optimism and curiosity and bravado…suddenly alone in this world. Alone in the slums. I shoved aside the picture. I didn’t want to think of her that way. It made me feel guilty, for some reason. I drew my hands up her calves, massaging the muscle. She shivered, her lips parting. She wasn’t weak, delicate. She was curvy and strong. “How did you survive?”
She shrugged, her cheeks flushed as she stared at my hands in bemusement, as if she didn’t understand the emotions my touch stirred. “The neighborhood protected me for a couple years. I took turns sleeping on the floors of homes. Helping around the houses for food and a roof.”
My hands reached her knees. She sucked in a sharp breath. “And then?”
“And then…I became an adult.”
At fourteen? Hardly.
She smiled, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “And the women didn’t want me near their husbands. Fortunately, I was able to find a position in a factory.”
My anger flared. She was barely a child. “You’re saying the husbands took advantage, and the wives were angry at you?”
“Tried to take advantage, and the women could hardly throw their husbands out of their home. So, I had to leave.”
My jaw clenched. I wanted to know their names. Every single man who had attempted to touch her. Have them thrown in Newgate…
“Years later, I found Violet roaming the streets, being pickpocketed. I got her a position at the factory and we’ve been together ever since.”
I took in a deep trembling breath, trying to ease the tension building within. It was in the past. I had no right to defend her honor, especially when I wanted to destroy it myself. Hell, what was wrong with me? “Do you miss it?”
It was a silly question, but there had to be a reason why she wouldn’t agree to a life of ease as my mistress. Especially when it was so obvious she was attracted to me.
She drew away, tucking her knees to her chest, her nightgown like a tent over her body, hiding her lovely curves from view. “At times I do. I miss the freedom. Miss talking to Violet. I do not miss choking on the smog at the factory, always being cold in winter, or never filling my belly.”
“You don’t have to ever be cold again, you know. You could always have enough to eat.”
She frowned. “You asked too many questions. Cheat.”
I grinned.
She tilted her head, her hair falling in a dark, shimmering curtain down her back. “What do you do?”
It was my turn to frown. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…what do you do all day? You don’t work. Do you have something you enjoy, such as reading?”
I quirked a brow. “Such as astronomy?”
She flushed. “Stop teasing.”
But it was so very much fun to tease her. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d merely talked with a woman and truly enjoyed the conversation. Perhaps it was because her life was so different from mine, or because she was rather intelligent. Or maybe it was because she didn’t tell me what I wanted to hear, but the truth. “I do nothing. I’m a lazy lord.”
“Nothing at all?”
The flames popped and sizzled as the wind whipped down the chimney. It was a bitter and dreary night. But not here. Not in this room. The entire house seemed different since she’d arrived. When out, I was actually eager to return home. When before the house had felt cold, empty, it now felt alive, full. “Do you find it hard to believe? You, with your many interests.”
“Well, what do you do when you’re alone?”
“Read the paper.”
“That’s it?” She narrowed her eyes. “You have money and privilege to do whatever you want, yet you merely read the paper?”
“I box, I fence, I ride, and I’m trying to unmuddle