A Woman Made For Sin

A Woman Made for SIN

KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

London, October 6, 1816

"Millie, do not shake your head at me! I absolutely insist that you come! Of the three of us, you know the area the best. And, Jennelle, do not think because you are sitting behind me I am unaware that you are at this very moment rolling your eyes and signaling Millie to refuse," Aimee added as she glanced back, affirming her guess. "Millie fled through those alleys just a few months ago."

Millie felt her jaw tense and tried again to make her best friend see reason. "It was at night and you must remember, Charles was with me, Aimee. It was your brother who knew where to go, not me, when he managed to save me from—"

"And since then you have gone with him a dozen times or more when he has needed to visit one of his ships," Aimee interrupted. She knelt down and clutched her oldest friend's fingers in her own. "This is my one opportunity, Millie. Charles will be busy with his dinner meeting, which he made clear that none of us were invited to, and—"

"And we have already accepted the invitation to Lady Shackleton's card party," Jennelle chimed in.

Aimee continued to clutch Millie's hand but faced Jennelle, giving her an angry stare that she hoped would singe her friend's red hair. "I can recall numerous occasions where you demonstrated just how easily we can and will send our regrets." Standing back up, she said more forcefully, "I not only want but need your help, but know that if you both refuse, it will not sway me from going. Tonight is my last chance, and I am going. Even if I have to go by myself."

Aimee's voice was soft but emphatic. It was completely out of character for the tall, willowy blonde, who was typically very sweet and gentle. But today, her bright green eyes snapped with a compelling urgency that conveyed her threat was not an empty one.

Jennelle was about to offer a word of caution when Aimee cut her off. "It is a brilliant plan. Millie, tell her," Aimee said to the most adventurous of their group.

Nicknamed the Daring Three when they were just children, the three girls were best friends and nearly inseparable. Even Millie's recent marriage to Aimee's elder brother had not separated them. Aimee was positive that if she could just get Millie to agree with her plan, the ever-so-logical Jennelle would follow. She would be compelled to, from sheer friendship.

Millie, now sorry that she ever mentioned her husband's mysterious thief, laid a hand on her agitated friend's arm. "It is a bold plan, Aimee, but I am unsure why you would want to get involved. I think Chase has his own ideas about routing out the thief. Should we not just wait ...?"

"My brother may be your husband, Millie. And you may find him intriguing and his tediousness an adventure, but since you became Lady Chaselton ... well, I must finally tell you the truth. You have turned into quite a bore!" Aimee huffed and began pacing. "Four months ago, it would have been you planning this night raid, and it would have been Jennelle and I holding you back."

Millie opened and closed her mouth, unable to deny her friend's accusation. "I expect you are correct, Aimee. I have tempered my inclinations a bit, but you must understand that as the Marchioness of Chaselton, I cannot continue to act as I once did," Millie declared, adding underneath her breath, "Not to mention, Charlie would kill me if he found out." Then realizing Aimee had heard her, she looked down, tucking an escaped dark lock of consistently errant, thick, wavy hair behind her ear.

Her husband was called Charles by his sister, his mother, and Jennelle, but never by her. She normally referred to him as Chase, like most did. Only when he was particularly aggravating did she call him Charlie, a pet name she had given him when they were younger, knowing how much he detested it. But since they had married, Millie used the term more and more often in her private thoughts. It was her name for him. Hers alone.

"You are shamming it, Mildred," Aimee stated unequivocally, "and you know it. Charles would be upset, but he has caught you in many a more provocative situation, and he still fell in love with you despite your ways. I am asking you for one small favor, one small adventure, and suddenly you turn prim and proper. It is unfair, I tell you! After all the crazy exploits Jennelle and I have joined you on."

Jennelle's dark red eyebrows popped up at the mention of her name. "It is not a small favor, Aimee. Dressing up like men and leaving in the middle of the night in an attempt to stow aboard Charles's ship to catch a thief, is not a small favor." Despite her red hair and flashing blue eyes that hinted of her Irish ancestry, of the three of them, Jennelle was the one who was most able to remain calm and cool in even the direst of situations. As the years came and went, Millie and Aimee wondered what, if anything, could break that cool composure, and secretly hoped to be around if it ever did.

Aimee walked over and sat across from her two friends, deciding honesty was the only way she would get them to understand and agree. "Please, please do this. Reece has been in town for nearly a month and has refused to see me. No matter what I do, he avoids my company. Can you imagine, Millie, what it would be like if Charles suddenly no longer wanted to see you or speak to you?"

Millie bit her bottom lip. She could not imagine the pain Aimee just described, but the mere thought of not being able to talk with Chase, even when they disagreed, was horrifying. Aimee had been in love with Reece Hamilton, Charles's best friend, since she first saw him when she was six years old. Almost nine years Aimee's senior, Reece had been amused by her infatuation, but it was not until last Christmas that their relationship changed—significantly.

During the war, Reece's and Charles's visits home were infrequent. Consequently, it was customary for Reece to pay Lady Chaselton and her daughter a visit whenever he returned. He would relay any news of the war and the well-being of her son, just as it was expected that Charles would visit Reece's family. Last December, it had been three years since Reece had seen Aimee. It must have made a difference, because this time he kissed her. And according to Aimee, the kiss had been no ordinary one. She was now certain Reece was the only man for her and that her destiny was tied to his.

Millie sighed. "Tell me your plan one more time. All of it, from the beginning. And, Jennelle, pay attention for probable difficulties, for I believe we are going on an adventure tonight."

Jennelle rolled her eyes but knew all was lost. Millie had acquiesced. But what had she expected? For marriage to change her petite, excitement-seeking friend into a paragon of the gentle sex? For Aimee to suddenly stop seizing every opportunity to convince the one man she had ever pined for to love her? Jennelle held her breath and then exhaled long and soft, realizing she was the only sane one of the bunch. And a sane person really should be accompanying her two friends during this crazy escapade.

"I'm unsure as to the intelligence of this idea, Aimee, but tell it to us once again."

Aimee felt alive and excited all over. The rented hack hit a large cobblestone and her fingers fluttered to Millie's for support. "I cannot believe I am finally going to see him again, Millie. It has been so long. If I have to endure another Season of pretentious old men or even worse, loquacious, overly eager young men and their tittering marriage-focused mothers, I really shall perish. You have no idea how fortunate you are, Jennelle, that your father is not compelled to see you advantageously married. And, Millie, you are the luckiest of us all to have convinced Charles he was in love with you and to ask for your hand. If only Reece would do the same."

Millie took a deep breath and blew a wayward strand of her dark hair away from her eye. If they were caught, it was highly doubtful she would be able to convince her husband of anything again. She glanced out the window. They were just about to cross into Shadwell at Thames, the main entrance to the London Docks. "I want your promise, Aimee, that if we stumble across the thief, you will not make a single move until all three of us are sure that he is indeed Reece. Chase is still not positive this latest event is a simple prank."

"But you said the thief was only taking some papers that were of little value and of interest only to Reece and Charles. Besides we three and Mother, who else would know what Reece and my brother really value?"

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Excerpted from A Woman Made for SIN by Michele Sinclair. Copyright © 2014 C. Michele Peach. Excerpted by permission of KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP..
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