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talking about and didn’t care. She was getting nervous again now that they were on their way to, she assumed, her new home. Too soon she would have to begin her mistressing and…She shuddered, unable to finish the thought.
    They were in a well-appointed, plush carriage that apparently belonged to Derek, and it was moving along at a brisk pace. And there were five of them now. Jeremy had returned to Lonny’s office with his arm around a young blonde girl dressed as gaudily as Kelsey was. She’d been introduced as Florence, and it became apparent within seconds that she fair worshiped Jeremy Malory. She couldn’t keep her hands off him, or her eyes, and even now, in the carriage, she was practically sitting in his lap.

    Kelsey felt complete indifference. It wasn’t as if she and Jeremy had started their relationship yet, but even if they had, she knew she had no right to demand fidelity from him. He would be paying her support. Even if their situation wasn’t highly unusual, in that he’d bought her outright, for the support alone he would expect complete faithfulness from her. But in such arrangements, the gentleman wasn’t constrained to behave likewise. Far from it. Most of them had wives, after all.
    As the men continued to banter with each other about prices and lifelong debts, Kelsey continued to do her best to ignore them. But it did occur to her to wonder, after Jeremy had spoken of debts, how a young man his age could possibly have afforded the outrageous price he’d paid for her, when most young people had to make do with quarterly allowances from their parents or from estates they were due to inherit.
    He must be independently wealthy, which she could only be grateful for. If that weren’t the case she’d be with that other lord right now, rather than with these gentlemen, going…she had no idea where.
    When the carriage did stop shortly thereafter, only Jeremy and Florence alighted from it. No explanation was given, and there was no request for Kelsey to follow along. But Jeremy was back in a few minutes, without the clinging Florence, and since neither of the other two men asked him what he’d done withthe girl, Kelsey had to assume they already knew.
    The carriage moved along again, and it was a good fifteen minutes before it stopped once more. Kelsey didn’t know London at all, had never been there before Elliott had brought her the day before, but a glance out the window showed a very fine looking neighborhood with stately mansions and carriage houses, the town houses of the upper crust.
    She shouldn’t have been surprised, not with the amount of money that had exchanged hands that night. But she was mistaken in thinking that this was where she was being taken, since it was Derek who left the carriage, not Jeremy. So it was Derek who lived there, and she could only surmise that both Derek and Percy were being let off at their respective homes first, before she and Jeremy reached their final destination.
    But she was wrong again, because Derek turned back to the carriage and reached his hand inside to help her out. And Kelsey was surprised enough to take his hand without thinking about it, and was led halfway to a pair of imposing double doors before she even thought to ask, “Why are you escorting me rather than Jeremy?”
    He looked down at her, clearly puzzled by her question. “You won’t be staying here long. Just the night. Other arrangements will be made tomorrow.”
    She nodded and flushed with color, afraid she understood now. Jeremy, as young as hewas, might well still live with his parents, so of course, he couldn’t take her home with him. Derek must have offered to put her up for the night, which was kind of him. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have someone here that he would need to explain that to.
    “You live here, then?”
    “When in London, yes,” he replied. “It’s m’father’s town house, though he’s rarely in residence. Prefers the country and Haverston.”
    The door