One Night of Sin (Mansforth Chronicles Book 1)
One Night of Sin: Chapter 1

Mansforth

1887

Like a majestic goddess dropped from the heavens, Miss Lilliana Tremayne—or Miss Vivienne Price, as she was referred to on stage—was a sight to behold as each of her octaves filled the air in the theater. Not even the highest notes deterred her in the slightest, and though Braxton Cuthbert had never considered himself a man of faith, he considered Vivienne the stunning pinnacle of of any actress he’d ever laid eyes upon before, pointing to the fact that only the hand of God himself could create such stunning beauty. Everyone in the village was captivated by her. And though he never usually fell victim to such womanly charms, Vivienne had captivated him, making him long to have her upon his stage.

Like spun silk, her fiery waves were piled high upon her head, adorned with gems and floral garnish alike, each piece hidden away so that at every angle little bits of light glimmered in her hair. Everything about her was radiant from her head to her toes, as though she’d just emerged from the garden of Eden itself.

And that gown.

Braxton’s mouth nearly watered as he gazed upon her, his eyes trailing down to her overly embellished breasts. Her bodice left little to the imagination—much to the chagrin of every woman in attendance—yet behind the bolstered facade of it all, a carefully laid out veil of mystery surrounded her, making it all but impossible to truly know the woman beneath.

And Braxton simply had to learn who she really was.

Truly, he was not a well-bred man by any capacity, and he’d had little opportunity to enjoy the finer things in life. Most of his life had consisted of scraping by, barely making a decent living. But he’d immersed himself in this world long enough to know tremendous acting talent when he saw it. And he did have one other ace up his sleeve…

He knew a fine woman when he saw one.

And Vivienne was a very fine, magnificent woman.

“She’s far too rich for your blood.”

Braxton’s thoughts drifted back to the present, though his gaze still remained locked on the stage. It wasn’t quite the view he would’ve normally preferred—namely due to his desire to see lovely spectacles in great detail. But for once, he was thankful to be seated in the theater box. At least then, the lovely vixen onstage would not know he had been eying her like one admired a delectable meal.

Braxton took a swig from his glass of brandy, smiling ruefully at his friend, Alfred. “Ah, yes, well, I would beg to differ. She’s still quite new to the spotlight. I’d dare say she won’t have lofty expectations as of yet.’

‘Lofty expectations!’ Alfred scoffed. ‘She’s a woman! What woman does not possess such a quality?’

Braxton narrowed his eyes at his friend. ‘You, my friend, are entirely far too jaded for society. You forget that not everyone is cut from the same cloth.’

‘I don’t forget,’ Alfred said, swirling the remaining brandy in his glass, ‘but she’s a spitfire if I ever saw one. I doubt she would have the least bit of interest in you or our theater company. Not one single bit.”

‘I’m not looking to secure her affections,’ Braxton said dryly. ‘I don’t mix business with pleasure.’ Which was an absolute lie, if he’d ever told one. He’d done it before, more times than he cared to recall. And he’d wanted Vivienne from the moment he’d first laid eyes on her, pretty little thing that she was. But she was simply untouchable.

And he damn well knew that.

‘Well, I for one would hope you would agree it would be wise to bring her on,’ Braxton continued. ‘The purse has damn well run dry this year.”

“It’s simply not a matter of me wishing to be disagreeable with you, but you and I both know such beauty does not come cheaply. Not in this industry.”

Braxton’s jaw tensed as the sudden image of his former lover came to mind. That damned woman had almost bled him dry, costing him to lose nearly everything that he’d owned, including the theater, all because he had tried his level best to appease her at every turn. He had tried excruciatingly hard to look past her indiscretions, but when she realized he knew, the entire charade had been over.

And in exchange, she ran off, unable to face what she had done. She could not live the lie any longer.

Especially knowing another man’s child was growing inside her.

Yes, Braxton had sworn up and down that he would not make that foolish mistake again.

Yet here he was, on the verge of doing the very same thing again.

“You don’t know that,” he scoffed. “For all you know, she’s down to her last penny, and she wishes for a change of scenery. We could offer her so much more than this someday.”

Alfred drained the rest of the glass, placing it on the table with a perfunctory clunk. “Yes, well, someday would be the operative word there. Not at present. And, even if she were to wish for such a dramatic change, are you really that foolish to think she wouldn’t have some sort of… well, I don’t know. Ulterior motive, perhaps? I mean, surely, you know a woman with the sort of beauty she possesses will play any card to attain what she wants.”

Braxton lifted a dark brow. “You are quite presumptive of the lady, don’t you think?”

“And you, my friend, are a fool. A fool with lust in his eyes, I’d dare say.”

A fool? No.

But a lustful fool? He wouldn’t dare admit it, but he supposed he did, in fact, find the woman absolutely pleasing to the eye. He would’ve wagered she was the entire reason this theater had still managed to keep its doors open, considering the rumors swirling about it.

But this decision was purely business.

He had no intentions otherwise.

“I would dare say if I approached her, she would accept my offer without question,” Braxton said smugly.

“And you had the nerve to call me presumptive!” Alfred mocked.

Braxton lifted his finger to his lips. “Keep quiet,” he whispered. “I don’t wish to be thrown out before even having a chance to have a word with her!”

“Oh, good heavens, no one can hear us up here! And don’t tell me you intend to go harass the poor woman after the performance?”

“I wouldn’t call it harassment,” Braxton said dryly. “Merely a conversation of persuasion, is all.”

“And what, pray tell, will you do if the chit refuses?”

Braxton shook his head with such confidence, Alfred nearly burst into a fit of laughter. “She will not refuse,” Braxton stated boldly. “There would be no reason for her to refuse.”

“No reason? I do say, Braxton, you sound as though you’ve gone absolutely mad over this damned woman.”

“I would not say I have gone mad. But, she would bring such life to our theater! She has every quality you would want for a lead role.

“If by every quality you mean an ample bosom, yes, but as far as her vocal capabilities are concerned, I’m afraid that—”

Braxton waved his hand through the air, interrupting Alfred’s speech. “Oh, that is absolute nonsense. She has it all, Alfred! And I simply have to make her mine!”

Alfred said nothing as he sat watching the tempting vixen on stage. He supposed had he been half a score younger, she would’ve appealed to him, but the simple fact was that she was far too much of a wanton creature to capture his interest any longer. He’d heard the stories. Whether they possessed a grain of truth was neither here nor there, but there were far too many of them for his liking to ever conceive of spending any length of time in her bedchamber at all. And though it did cross his mind that Braxton might be on the hunt for another mistress, he’d been far too candid about his desire to reinvigorate the theater.

And by God, he had no doubt Vivienne Price would do just that. Her performances were spellbinding, even to the coldest of creatures.

But that charm came at a price.

A woman with her charm and figure would be swallowed up in no time by most of the theater companies out there if she dared to seek employment elsewhere. And though Braxton may have been a man of many nuances, the man always possessed a certain modicum of respect when it came to business.

It was, of course, a business transaction after all.

Even it did involve a beautiful starlet that had captured his attention in more ways than one.

Sᴇarch the FindNovel.net website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.