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One woman stepped forward. “Yes, Your Grace?”

She was older than her companions. Silver threaded the dark hair at her temples, and a gold chain rested against the warm brown skin of her throat.

“I apologize for my reaction earlier,” I said. “I was not informed that Lord Severin had invited you here.”

The women shared a look. One of the younger women attempted to hide a smile. “We gathered as much, Your Grace,” Madame Sabine said.

I nodded as I removed my jacket, draping it over the back of a chair. My cravat followed. “Have you already been compensated for tonight?”

“Yes, Your Grace,” they all replied at once.

Madame Sabine set her wine on the table. “Do you know what you would like from us?”

“No.” I pressed my lips together in a hard line. “I’m afraid I haven’t had much time to think about it.”

Madame Sabine made a throaty sound. “Would it be easier if you did not have to decide, Your Grace?”

I looked from her to the other women. “Perhaps.”

Madame Sabine strolled across the room, placed her hand against my chest and walked me back until the backs of my knees met a settee, then pressed me down into it.

The younger woman in blue set her hands on my knees and spread them, coming to stand in the small space between my legs. I tipped my head back to look up at her. She was pretty, but…

“May I?” she asked.

I hesitated before nodding.

She gathered her dressing gown around her thighs and settled herself on my lap. Her warmth pressed against me through the thin layers of our clothing. She rested one hand on my shoulder and used the other to loosen my shirt buttons.

Behind me, the third woman drew my hair away from my neck. Her fingertips traveled beneath my open collar. Madame Sabine lifted the wineglass to my lips and tipped a measure of wine into my mouth.

I was surrounded by three beautiful women, all more than willing to take care of me. And I couldn’t have gotten hard if I tried.

The woman on my lap leaned in to kiss me, and at the last moment, I turned my head. She stopped immediately and searched my face, apparently unsurprised by what she found. There was only one person I wanted to kiss. And it wasn’t her.

“Perhaps your companions should leave, Madame Sabine,” I said.

Madame Sabine glanced at the other women, and they gathered their belongings without complaint. Once the door closed behind them, Madame Sabine handed me a glass of wine.

“May I sit, Your Grace?”

The question caught me off guard. I cleared my throat. “Yes. Yes, I suppose so.”

Madame Sabine took a seat beside me.

She was beautiful. There was no disputing that. Her dressing gown fell off her shoulder, revealing smooth skin and the upper curve of one breast. Beneath the perfume at her wrists, I could smell her blood. But I felt nothing. Nothing.

“You are thinking about another woman,” she said.

“No,” I answered quickly. Then, with a resigned sigh, I asked, “How could you tell?”

Madame Sabine offered me a sad smile—the kind I’d received in abundance over the past eight years. “Your Grace, I have been a consort for twenty-three years. I know when a man is thinking about someone else.”

I leaned back against the settee and stared at the ceiling. “It’s difficult not to think about her. Almost impossible.”

It was quiet for a moment, then Madame Sabine said, “I knew Lady Emmaline. She was a fierce woman, but also a kind one. She loved you very much, but I’m certain your wife would want you to be happy, Your Grace.”

My attention snapped back to her, and I realized she’d assumed I was thinking about Emmaline, when I hadn’t been picturing her at all. I’d been thinking of Cora. I told myself I hadn’t wanted to piss on my mate’s memory, and that was still true.