The duchess laughed, and it was a musical, light sound that warmed Aurora’s heart despite the circumstances and her continued confusion. “I’m sorry, I’m a little nervous,” she said.
Aurora blinked. “You are? You don’t show it.”
“I’m surprised,” the duchess said. “My heart is beating out of my chest right now. Let me start over. You and I were once part of a rather awful little club. Women in loveless marriages.”
Aurora nodded slowly. “I’m surprised you even recall it. If rumor is true, you are not in that club anymore.”
The duchess’s face lit up. “Indeed, I am not. I could not be happier. But I remember those terrible days, that feeling that life would never be bright again. And then my husband died and things got even worse.” She shifted. “I don’t mean to be indelicate, my dear, but I believe you know what I am saying better than most.”
Aurora set her jaw. The kindness in this woman felt true, but her words still put Aurora on edge. She folded her arms. “Are you speaking of my financial fall from grace or the rumors that have burned through Society the past few days and destroyed all hope of a future? Have you come to gawk at one or both?”
“Not gawk,” the duchess said, reaching out to cover her hand. Aurora gasped at the touch. Since Imogen had disappeared into the underground, Aurora hadn’t had a kind or friendly touch. This one felt like sinking into a warm blanket.
But she had to keep her head. She pulled away. “Then what?”
Katherine pursed her lips. “I’m going to be blunt. It’s the best way. When my first husband died, it was in bed, with me astride him. And everyone knew it. Everyone talked about it. When I returned to Society, there was even a dreadful wager going around of who would take as a mistress the woman who could kill a man with her body. I came here not to crow over your misfortune, but to offer support during what I know is a difficult time. I’m here to help you, Aurora, if you would like it.”
Aurora blinked. “Help me?” she repeated, wishing her eyes weren’t swelling with tears. Wishing her voice didn’t sound so broken.
The duchess nodded as she dug into her pocket and drew out a handkerchief. Aurora took it and dabbed her eyes. “How could you help me…Katherine?”
Katherine smiled at the capitulation and then leaned forward. This time she took both of Aurora’s hands. “Any way I can. So why don’t you start by telling me what the real truth is of how you ended up in one of the worst brothels in London?”
Aurora blushed. “How do you know it’s one of the worst?”
Katherine laughed. “I’m married to the Duke of Roseford, my dear. Before me, the worst brothels in any city were a bit of his specialty. But they can’t possibly be yours. So tell me.”
Aurora hesitated. She hardly knew this woman. They’d barely been passing acquaintances a lifetime ago. But Aurora didn’t have many friends and the closest of those was the reason she had ruined herself. Telling someone else, especially someone she immediately felt she could trust like Katherine…
Well, it was tempting, indeed.
“I-I wasn’t there for me,” she whispered.
Katherine’s eyes widened, and Aurora took a deep breath and then told her everything. From the bad marriages she and Imogen had both been in, to the ruin that had come after the death of both their husbands. To the moment where Imogen’s desperation had led her down a dark path.
When it was over, Aurora realized tears were streaming down her face. She wiped them away with Katherine’s handkerchief and sighed. “And that is the whole story. I am ruined, Imogen is still missing and I have no idea what to do next. I have no resources, no connections unless I want to drag my poor brother and mother into this, and they have their own problems at present. I have no way to save her or myself.”
Katherine shook her head slowly. “The way of this world is infuriating,” she muttered, Aurora thought more to herself than to her. Then she met Aurora’s eyes. “You are wrong, though. You aren’t unconnected. You and I might have lost contact over the years, never fully developed our friendship, but I’d like to remedy that. You have me. And I’m going to help you.”
Aurora wrinkled her brow. “How? Why?”
“Because I know the cruelty of misunderstanding, and I