Free Scandal of the Season by Christie Kelley Page B

pockets when the mood strikes you,” he added.
    “No, only when money is short,” she retorted.
    “So what will you do with the money you get from this little job?”
    She glanced out the window with a wistful look on her face. “Give the children a proper Christmas with gifts and a large meal and nice clothes to wear for church.”
    The woman was nothing but contradictions. She stole from people but apparently only to help the children in her care. Now when given the chance to walk away from her responsibilities, she only wanted to give more to the children.
    Anthony turned his attention to the window and the passing scenery. Something about this nagged at his brain. How did a woman with no means keep a home for orphans based solely on her pickpocket abilities? She was good. Nonetheless, the odds of being caught were always high, and pawned goods never paid near what they were worth.
    So where did the money come from? The only way he knew for a woman to make the amount of money she would need to keep that house was prostitution. Not just prostitution but being some wealthy man’s mistress. Was that possible? Could Victoria have a man who supported her?
    He couldn’t very well ask her that question. And who was he to judge her? His life had hardly been perfect. Women had a much harder lot in life especially if they didn’t have a man to support them. Career options were rather limited.
    Still, the idea that she let any man with the blunt have her made his stomach roil. She deserved far better than that. Perhaps the money he paid her would help her become free of her latest protector. If she even wanted that freedom, his mind countered.
    She appeared to be a mass of contradictions. He couldn’t help his curiosity about her. If she truly had a protector, they must be very secretive; otherwise, her friends might discover the matter. Perhaps her friends assisted her with money for the orphans.
    “Victoria, how did you come to be associated with your friends?”
    She glanced over at him coldly, and for a moment, he thought she would refuse to answer. Looking down her hands, a small smile lifted her lips and creased small dimples in her cheeks.
    “I met Avis at the lending library.”
    “You can read, then.”
    “Yes, I learned when I was eighteen,” she replied in a proud tone.
    He stored that information away for later. While she seemed happy to know how to read, the fact that she was that age meant something.
    “Avis and I wanted to read the same book.” She turned her head toward him. “We ended up talking and then she invited me to her home for a literary salon to discuss the book.”
    “Indeed?”
    She laughed softly. “I never felt so out of place in my life. But Avis, Jennette, and Elizabeth engaged me in the conversation and invited me back the next month. When they discovered I ran the home for orphans and, like them, had no desire for marriage, they started to invite me for tea. Before long, we all became fast friends.”
    “But the three of them are married now,” he reminded her.
    “True, but only after they found their perfect match.”
    Or the person Sophie thought was their perfect match, he thought. “I am glad you found such good friends.”
    She smiled at him fully, causing his heart to increase its beat.
    “Thank you,” she said in a shy tone.
    The carriage slowed to a stop and Victoria looked at him with a frown. “Why are we stopping now? It’s far too soon to be at Farleigh’s home.”
    A groomsman knocked on the carriage door. “My lord, a moment if you please?”
    “Of course,” Anthony answered.
    The groomsman opened the door and snow swirled about him. “The driver says the weather is getting worse. He recommends we stop a few miles up the road at an inn.”
    “No,” Victoria whispered. “We must get to Farleigh’s home.”
    “The party does not really begin until tomorrow night. I would much prefer we make it in one piece.” Anthony turned to the groomsman. “Tell