A Regency era courtesan gives up her empire for love and discovers how binding her connections truly are to the noblemen she used to serve.
*****
In the sequel to Courte...
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In the lobby of the Palace of Westminster, while businessmen and noblemen hurried about, I stared at the Earl of Perth and he stared back at me. The sitting area could have been a wardrobe as my world narrowed to one single man. A man I quite possibly shared a close kinship with. I never dared to hope for something so unreachable before.
"Tell me about your meeting with General Hayes," he said, tackling the hard task of bringing us back to our senses.
I swallowed and wet my lips, willing my body to cooperate so I would not come off looking foolish. "We met at the Sea Dog Pub and Scrub. I only did it because the rumors had gotten too much. The innkeeper where I stayed swore I looked just like the general's daughter. And before long, I was the topic of speculation.
"As for the general himself, he was not pleased with the meeting. He treated me disparagingly and left the pub quite upset. I felt compelled to deliver an apology to the man, which I did before I left Chatham. A few days passed before I received a missive from him telling me that I might find some answers about my parentage through you."
The earl sat with his mouth tight and his fingers tapping the arm of the wingback. I could not tell if he was becoming angry with me or with the story I had just relayed. "It sounds to me like the old buzzard is still making everyone's lives miserable. It was a wonder Laurel bloomed at all under his command." He looked straight at me, and the muscles of his face relaxed. "The innkeeper was not lyin'. You are the image of Laurel. I noticed it straight off when I saw your eyes. I thought I was lookin' at her."
His Scottish accent had grown thicker, if I wasn't mistaken, and, once again, we took to staring at each other. I allowed myself to hope. "When was the last time you saw her?"
He took a breath, although it sounded more like a gasp, as if he had been holding the air inside his lungs. "It was thirty years ago...almost to the day. We met secretly. She told me she was leaving to get away from the hateful comments coming from the townsfolk. But mostly it was to escape the daily battles with her father. I would not be surprised if he'd been the one to throw her out. She would've been nearing her fifth month of pregnancy by then. Do you know the day you were born?"
"Yes. September twenty-second, seventeen eighty-three. I was born in a foundling hospital here in London."
The earl's demeanor turned thoughtful again, and his lips moved silently. "The timing does work out. And so does the name."
"What name?"
"Your name. Before she left, Laurel promised that if the child was a girl, she would name her after my sister who died when she was nary six years old. Her name was Rose."
I stifled a gasp. "That is something of a coincidence, isn't it? I am sorry for your loss."
"It has been long enough now. But it was still painful back then. I wonder, did the general say anything about his daughter? Did he ever hear from her after she left?"
