Queen of my Hart - Emily Royal Page 0,20

familiar. Meggie’s husband had mentioned a Mr. Pelham as one of his business associates. No doubt, the man’s wife wished to glimpse the unsuitable woman her husband’s banker had married.

Charles gave another bow and left. Meggie set the book aside. Heartfelt poetry may stir the emotions, but it threatened to exacerbate her melancholy. A historical volume full of dry, soulless facts was to be preferred. Or maybe a copy of Dr. Johnson’s dictionary to increase her vocabulary. She slipped out of the parlor and made her way to the library.

Voices came from within. Her husband and Mr. Peyton, the kind man from the wedding breakfast.

“Hart, you work too hard,” Peyton said. “Why don’t you take a vacation with your bride? The bank would be in safe hands with me.”

“I know that,” came the response, “but it’s best if my wife is settled in Hampshire as soon as possible.”

“Much as I loathe to admit it, I agree with you,” Peyton said. “It’s your move.”

“I know.” Meggie detected irritation in her husband’s voice. “Are you so eager to conclude the game?”

“Not particularly,” Mr. Peyton replied. “Damn it! It seems as if you’ve beaten me again.”

“You concede too easily, Peyton. That’s why so few businessmen are successful. They’re too willing to accept defeat.”

“Whereas you fight until the end?”

“Perhaps.”

“Will you apply the same principle to your marriage?” Mr. Peyton asked. “Or have you conceded defeat already?”

“I’ll not concede defeat until it’s an insurmountable certainty.”

The two men paused, then Peyton spoke once more. “Do you intend to resume your liaison with the honorable Elizabeth once your wife’s tucked away in Hampshire?”

“I hardly think that’s any of your business.”

“Oh, but it is. Any man with your voracious appetite would starve if deprived of bedsport for too long. And you’ll not want for partners. Lady Cavenham was asking after your health last night.”

“Perhaps she’s concerned I’ll catch cold.”

Mr. Peyton laughed. “Hardly! An inquiry about one’s health is her calling card, saying she’s available. What I cannot understand is how, after one meeting, she believes you can service her better than I.”

“You’re welcome to her.”

“How are you so skilled in the bedroom?” Mr. Peyton asked.

“Women are easy to read.”

“I find them an enigma, myself. For example, how can you tell whether a woman will welcome your attention?”

“By her reaction, Peyton.” Meggie’s skin tightened as her husband deepened his voice. Her blood warmed at the memory of his whispered words when he’d caressed her so intimately last night.

“A woman will speak with her body if she’s ready,” he said. “Her skin will flush, a soft pink to advertise the soft pinkness elsewhere. Her lips will part, just a little as if to welcome you in. When her thighs part just as eagerly, then she’s ready.”

“And then?” Peyton’s voice came out in a strain.

“Then, you listen. Each sigh, each little mewl, will speak of her need. When her body cries for you—then, and only then—you take her.”

Meggie’s pulse throbbed deep inside with a wicked heat. She lifted her hands to her throat, where her skin was hot and flushed, just as her husband had described.

“What then?” Peyton asked.

“Then, if you have any sense, you leave. You return to your bed and leave her wanting.”

“You’re serious?”

“Perfectly. For a woman, nothing will surpass the first time you bed her. The memory of it will remain with her and become the bit and bridle with which you can control her.”

Her husband’s cold words doused Meggie’s desire, and she stepped back, ashamed at her body’s reaction, both last night and now.

“Perhaps you should teach me,” Peyton said.

“So you can conquer Lady Cavenham?” Meggie’s husband let out a laugh. “Nothing will dampen a woman’s desire more than the knowledge that her lover is a greenhorn.”

“And you’re more experienced than most.”

“Only through experience can one gain sufficient prowess. Both in business—and the art of seduction—it’s a matter of knowing what your prospective partner desires the most and giving them enough of a taste to leave them craving more. With business, the needs vary a little, but with seduction—women all want the same thing.”

“And what about the seducer?” Mr. Peyton asked. “Is he in danger of being ensnared himself?”

“A successful businessman is not hampered by emotions. To succeed at seduction, one must adopt the same principle.”

“What about love?”

“A man who falls in love is a fool.”

“On that note, I think I’ll be going,” Peyton said. Meggie heard a chair scrape, and she darted back into the parlor.

Footsteps passed by as her husband saw Mr. Peyton out. She