Amanda Quick: Mistress

Marcus was beyond amazement now. "You hoped to find him by pretending to be my mistress?"

"Exactly." Iphiginia gave him another bright, approving smile. "At the time, I believed that I was hunting not only a blackmailer but a great villain who was capable of murder. You can imagine my concern."

"I am not dead, Mrs. Bright." "Yes, I can see that," she said patiently. "It does confuse the issue, does it not?"

"Not unduly, I trust." "I became your mistress in the eyes of the world so that I could mingle with your associates and acquaintances. My plan was to make discreet inquiries of them in an effort to decide who might have murdered you."

"Very thoughtful of you to try to hunt down the villain who had murdered me."

"I must admit that I did not undertake the deception in order to avenge you, my lord."

"I'm crushed." Iphiginia's eyes widened with dismay. "I do not mean to sound uncharitable or unfeeling, sir, but you must recall that when I first learned of this villainy, I did not even know you. I had not yet had a chance to study your nature."

"That would explain your lack of feeling, I suppose." "But I didn't lack feeling, sir," she said quickly. "On the contrary. I assure you, I was exceedingly sorry that you had come to such a dreadful end." She hesitated and then added in a small burst of honesty, "In a rather general way, if you see what I mean."

He restrained a smile with effort. "I'm grateful for whatever compassion you were able to spare. There are those who would not have been the least bit sorry to learn of my demise, not even in a rather general way."

"Nonsense. I'm quite certain that once Society had learned that you had been murdered, everyone would have been properly horrified."

"I'd advise you not to place any large wagers on that. What the devil did you think you'd learn as my mistress?"

Iphiginia leaned forward. She was bubbling over with enthusiasm now. "I reasoned that the blackmailer had to be someone close to you, my lord. Someone who knew a secret so dreadful that he expected you to pay blackmail rather than allow it to he revealed."

Marcus raised one brow. "And that same person would also have to he privy to some grave secret of your aunt's. Is that what you thought?"

"How very perceptive of you, sir. That is precisely what I concluded. But I went one step further. I realized that whoever knew such intimate secrets about both your past and my aunt's also had to know of your plans to he out of Town this month." Iphiginia paused meaningfully. "The last blackmail note arrived the very day you disappeared, you see."

Marcus felt the old, familiar twist of curiosity. It temporarily swamped common sense in a way that he would never have allowed physical passion to do. "You reasoned that there could not be too many people who would have links to both me and your aunt, is that it?"

"Precisely." Iphiginia gave him an unabashed look of admiration. "You are, indeed, very quick, my lord, just as I had suspected."

This time Marcus flatly refused to he seduced by her glowing respect for his brain. He stuck to the issue at hand. "So you posed as my mistress in order to gain entree to my circle of acquaintances."

"It seemed the only thing to do under the circumstances, although I admit that I was somewhat daunted by the task I had set myself."

"I find that hard to believe, Mrs. Bright,". Marcus said dryly. "I cannot conceive of you being daunted by anything or anyone."

"In most cases, you would he correct," she agreed without a trace of humility. — "But in this instance, I knew that I could not possibly hope to live up to the expectations people would have of me."

"Expectations?" "You know very well what I mean, sir. From what I could gather, your previous mistresses have been remarkably lovely widows who possessed a certain, shall we say, flair?" A wistful expression appeared in Iphiginia's eyes. "They were all very dashing, everyone said."

"Everyone?" "My Aunt Zoe is up on all the latest gossip. It was not difficult to unearth a considerable number of details concerning your previous paramours."

"That is the sort of news that could keep a man awake nights."

Iphiginia gave him an embarrassed look. "I was not certain that I could compete, if you see what I mean."

He surveyed her pristine white attire. There was no need to inform her that gossip had — always exaggerated both the number of his affairs and the exotic qualities of his mistresses. "So you set out to create an illusion that would take Society by surprise and thereby create an entirely new set of expectations."

"I wanted to create an image that was so outrageous it would cause your friends and acquaintances to use their imagination to turn me into a far more mysterious and dashing creature than I actually am."

"My compliments, Mrs. Bright. It appears you were successful."

"Thus far, my little deception has worked rather well," Iphiginia admitted with obvious pride.

If she was exerting any effort at all to appear modest, she was failing spectacularly, Marcus decided. "I'm certainly impressed. Even awestruck."

Iphiginia must have beard the cool amusement in his tone. Her brief flash of pride dissolved at once into a disgruntled look. "I realize that, in your eyes, I am a complete failure in my role as your new paramour."

"I wouldn't say that." She glanced down at her demure white silk gown. Red stained her elegantly sculpted cheekbones. "I know that I do not appear to he at all the sort of woman with whom you usually consort."

"My dear Mrs. Bright, as anyone will tell you, I have never favored the usual. I much prefer the unusual."

"You're certain that you should be taking me home like, this?" Iphiginia asked with another uneasy glance out into the night.

"You know very well that it is quite the thing for a gentleman to escort his paramour home after an evening's round of social affairs. In our particular situation, it would he considered strange if I did not."

"I suppose so." "Now, if you were an unmarried young lady in the market for a husband, it would be quite a different matter, of course." He watched her face closely. "But you are an unattached widow, are you not?"

"Don't be ridiculous, sir." She concentrated on the view of the night-darkened streets. "What else would I be?"

"Exactly." No innocent or respectable spinster intent on guarding her reputation would have dared undertake such an astounding masquerade, Marcus thought. "Even if you were not already posing as my mistress, there would be nothing to stop me from escorting you home tonight."

"No, but-" "The widows of the ton are the most privileged of ladies, are they not? Financially independent, free of the encumbrance of a jealous husband, they may form whatever liaisons they wish, so long as they are reasonably discreet."

"I realize that a widow has a great deal more freedom than an unmarried female, sir. Indeed, I am not arguing that point. But the thing is-" "Yes? What is the thing?" She turned to face him once more with a resolute expression. "The thing is, I have put a great deal of effort into creating an image, if you will. Part of the illusion consists of a certain air of elusiveness."

"So I have been told." "My lord, until tonight I have not allowed any gentleman to see me home."

"Ah." He wondered why he was so pleased to learn that small fact. "A nice touch."

"I have kept to that habit during the entire time that I have been posing as your mistress."

"Lady Starlight." She scowled. "I beg your pardon?" "I am told that they call you the untouchable and unobtainable Lady Starlight. You are seen as a glittering midnight star who lures and entices but remains just out of reach while she searches for a replacement for me in her bed."

Iphiginia opened her mouth, closed it again, and then opened it once more. Her voice, when she finally spoke, sounded breathless, as though she had been running a great distance. "You know how Society is when it comes to sticking labels on people, sir. Calling me Lady Starlight was a bit much, I'll grant you. Nevertheless-"