Pleasuring the Prince by Patricia Grasso

have met my son George,” the baroness said.
    Stepan inclined his head to George and then looked at Charles. “I assumed the baron was the eldest son.”
    “George is my half-brother,” Charles explained. “I am the baron’s only son.”
    “I see.” Stepan thought that fact did not sit well with George, who appeared unhappy with the circumstances. His younger brother wore the piddling title and controlled the purse strings. What else could a cripple do, though?
    “I had no idea you knew where I lived.” Charles Wingate smiled at him. “To what do we owe this honor?”
    Stepan let the faintest of smiles flirt with his lips while he decided if the baron’s words held a note of sarcasm. If so, he would pauperize the fool before summer’s end.
    “As you may know, I have been courting Miss Fancy Flambeau,” Stepan began.
    “Courting the opera singer for matrimony?” the baroness exclaimed. “You can’t be serious?”
    “I have never been more serious in my life.” Stepan fixed his dark gaze on the baroness and let her see his displeasure. “The Flambeau sisters are highly connected .”
    “I have heard wild rumors,” the baroness said. “Who is her father?”
    “Your curiosity will soon be satisfied,” Stepan lied, and turned to Charles. “Belle was attacked after you brought her home yesterday.”
    “What?” Charles Wingate rose from his chair in surprise. “I delivered Belle to her door.”
    “Sit down,” the baroness ordered.
    He did as ordered. Which told Stepan a great deal about the baron. If Fancy had been attacked, he would not be sitting here now.
    “What happened to the sweet child?” the baroness asked.
    “Someone waiting inside the house slashed her face.”
    “Oh, the poor dear.”
    “Her beautiful face,” Charles lamented, clearly upset.
    Stepan glanced at George, who had remained silent. He was ignoring their conversation, unaffected and uninterested in the misfortune of a lower-class woman.
    Charles looked toward his mother for guidance. “Shall I go to her?”
    “I doubt the child will feel well enough for visitors, my boy.”
    “I disagree.” Stepan rose from his chair. “A visit from Charles will lift her spirits.”
    The baron stood when he did. “Right, Your Highness, I’ll come along then.”
    “Did you receive Inverary’s invitation for his ball this week?” Stepan watched the baroness redden with embarrassed anger. Apparently, she had not received an invitation. “Yours must have been in the pile dropped in a puddle of water. I will tell His Grace to send another along when I meet with him this afternoon.” He glanced at the baron. “Shall we leave, Charles?”
    Baron Wingate followed him out of the dining room. Together, the two men walked down the corridor to the foyer.
    “Riding in my coach will save time,” Stepan said.
    Baron Wingate touched his arm to stop him. “Your Highness, was Belle violated?”
    “Thankfully, no.” Stepan decided that, although the baron lived beneath his mother’s thumb, the man genuinely cared for Fancy’s sister.
    “That relieves me,” Charles said. “I could never forgive Belle if she had been raped.”
    Stepan almost tripped down the front stairs at the other man’s words. He knew three things for sure. Charles Wingate was an obnoxious arse who deserved to be pauperized and beaten, bringing him to visit Belle was one of the worst ideas he’d ever had, and the baroness’s receiving an invitation to Inverary’s ball was in doubt.
     
    Alexander Blake and Constable Amadeus Black waited to speak with Lord and Lady Parkhurst. “The Parkhursts are a strange couple,” Amadeus said. “The lady is several years older than her husband.”
    “Is she the one with the money?”
    Amadeus cast him an amused glance. “Your thoughts match mine.”
    “Where is Lowing?” Alexander asked.
    “Unfortunately, Lowing was required to appear in court this morning.”
    “What auspicious timing.”
    “I thought