He did not think anything untoward of her. She was a good girl who had fought her circumstances tooth and nail. Broken, yes, but still standing. Still sharp. Still somehow able to make him feel like both a duke and an idiot within the same breath.
The expected knock came at his door. Richard straightened at once.
"Enter—no, wait." He crossed the room himself, suddenly excited to see whether his plan would work. He pulled the door open.
And to say he was stunned was an understatement. Beaumont had taken a woman meant for nobility and dressed her for ruin.
That was the first thought that struck Richard. Beaumont had covered her in scandalous outfits meant to make men forget she had a soul. He had turned elegance into invitation, beauty into trade.
The woman standing in front of Richard now looked nothing like Diana from Pudding Lane. She looked elegant.
