Free Quick, Amanda by The Paid Companion Page A

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    young boy, he’d understood that people regarded him in a way that was markedly different than the
    manner in which they viewed his brothers and sisters and the other children in his village.
    His face had made it easy for him to obtain that first, fateful post in the household of the fat, aging baron
    who had lived just outside of the village. The old man had recently married a lady several decades
    younger than himself It transpired that his lordship’s new bride was very pretty and very bored. She had
    been delighted with Ibbitts; dressing him in handsome livery and insisting that he wait upon her at every
    meal.
    The first night that she had invited him into her bed he had quickly understood that he possessed another
    great asset in addition to his face. In that moment when he had knelt behind her plump, soft buttocks,
    burrowing deep into her snug heat, he had glimpsed a vision of the bright, successful future that awaited
    him.
    It had dawned on him that fateful evening that the world was likely well-populated with rich, attractive
    young wives who, for reasons of money and social connections, had been married off to fat, old men. He
    had concluded that London would afford him the best career opportunities.
    He had been correct. When the aged baron had died in his sleep a few months later, his widow had
    wasted no time moving her entire household to town. She had taken Ibbitts with her, promoting him to
    the rank of butler. He had remained in her employ for more than a year before growing weary of her
    unceasing demands.
    He had eventually left her service and sought another post. It had not taken him long to find an even
    more lucrative position in another wealthy household. Once again he had found himself called upon to
    satisfy a young wife whose bald, middle-aged husband spent most of his nights with his mistress.
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    Like his first employer, the lady had been very generous, not just with her favors and his quarterly
    wages, but also, more important, with expensive gifts.
    For a few years he had pursued his career with great diligence. In addition to a number of posts in which
    he was obliged to meet the demands of several astonishingly lusty ladies, he had obtained one or two
    positions in the service of wealthy gentlemen. The men had been just as appreciative of his two great
    assets as the women.
    But a year ago, disaster had struck. True, he had long since grown weary of the tiresome demands of his
    employers. Work that nature had intended to be pleasurable had become, well, work. Nevertheless, he
    had told himself that the pay and the gifts were worth the labor.
    Then one night, to his great horror, a problem arose. Rather, to be more precise, his second great asset
    had failed to arise.
    His face might have been his fortune, but it was not much good on its own. His excellent career
    depended just as much, if not more, upon his reliability and endurance in bed.
    To his dismay, he had been ignominiously let go from his post. But once again luck had been with him.
    Seven months ago he had found his present position here in the mansion in Rain Street. The elderly
    man-of-business who had hired him had given him a few simple instructions. Ibbitts was to supervise a
    small staff suitable for maintaining the large house and ensure that the earl’s London residence would be
    ready for its owner on the rare occasions that St. Merryn elected to come to town for one of his brief
    stays.
    Ibbitts had found his new post to be ideal in every respect. Not only was there no employer to be kept
    satisfied in the bedchamber, but St. Merryn had not even bothered to put in an appearance.
    Until now Ibbitts had been free to do as he liked in the big house. He had used the opportunity to set
    about making arrangements for an early and comfortable retirement.
    Things had been going well until St. Merryn had arrived a few days before, unannounced,