Free Two Sinful Secrets by Laurel McKee Page A

draped over a crate.
     “Well, perhaps this new lady love can’t read English very well.”
    “Did he meet someone at Madame Martine’s establishment, do you think?” Brendan asked.
    Madame Martine’s? Dominic suddenly remembered James dancing with Sophia, that smitten
     smile on his face—until he found out who she really was. “Why would you think that
     was where he found her?”
    “It could have been somewhere else, of course, but he was chattering on about the
     party at breakfast. How elegant it was, how Paris was so much finer than London…”
    “There were many beautiful women last night,” Dominic said abruptly. He didn’t want
     to think about James being infatuated with Mrs. Westman—or his own reaction to her.
    Brendan shrugged. “As you say. I’m sure it will all blow over soon, whatever it is.
     What are you doing the rest of the day?”
    “I told Isabel I would take her to the Tuileries for a walk before she has to rehearse.
     Then we can try a new café tonight if you like.”
    “I may go to Madame Brancusi’s later,” Brendan said, mentioning the famous brothel.
     “Are you sure there is nothing else you want to talk about?”
    Dominic shook his head. His family was the last place he wanted to talk about Mrs.
     Westman. He just had to forget about her, and make sure James did, too. “Nothing.
     What did you think about the rehearsal?”
    It was much later by the time Dominic left the theater. There were script issues to
     resolve with some of the other actors and blocking to be done on the unfamiliar stage.
     He was alone when he left the stage door and stepped out onto the sidewalk.
    But if the theater had become quieter as the hours went on, Paris was coming alive
     with the night. Well-dressed crowds hurried past him, their laughter ringing out like
     music. The cafés were opening their doors for dinner and dancing, and light spilled
     from their large windows onto the street.
    Dominic studied them all as he turned toward the hotel, wondering wryly if he should
     have gone with Brendan after all. But he felt strangely removed from the merry scene
     around him, as if he watched a play he wasn’t really a part of. His mind kept going
     back to Sophia Huntington, as it had far too often lately.
    Suddenly a woman who was part of a large, rowdy group bumped into him, bringing him
     back to the busy street.
    “Oh, pardon, monsieur!” she gasped, laughing as she caught his arm. “I did not see
     you there.”
    “Entirely my fault, madame,” Dominic said, steadying her. When she looked up at him
     from under the feathers of her headdress, he saw it was Sophia’s friend, the redheaded
     Madame Martine.
    “Monsieur St. Claire!” she said with a smile. “How lovely to see you again.”
    “And you. We enjoyed our evening at your establishment very much,” Dominic answered.
     He looked aheadto her group, wondering if Sophia was with them. He felt ridiculously disappointed
     that she wasn’t there.
    He looked back to Madame Martine to find that she was giving him a knowing smile,
     as if she could tell what he was thinking.
    “I fear I am on my own tonight,” she said. “My friend Madame Westman was tired and
     did not care to go out.”
    “I am sorry to hear that,” he answered carefully.
    “I told her she must enjoy Paris as much as she can while she is here! But all she
     talks of is venturing to England, to her family if they will take her back. So dull.”
    “Her family?” Dominic asked sharply. He had thought Sophia had left the Huntingtons
     to marry Westman. She was here, after all, living a life the Huntingtons surely could
     not approve of. “Is she not estranged from them?”
    Madame Martine’s smile widened. “Ah, so you know my friend’s sad tale? I told her
     she does not need a family who treats her as they do, but she says she is tired of
     roaming. She wants stability, respectability, and she thinks to have that she must
     return to her family.”
    Dominic