‘You took advantage of me while I was unconscious!’ she gasped as the knowledge of what he had done hit her full force.

He shrugged. ‘You are far too beautiful to keep to myself, and believe me, there is a huge market for pictures like these. But to prevent them being seen by the wider public, all you have to do is be nice to some of my acquaintances from time to time. Believe me, it’s perfectly normal, you little goose. All the models do it – it’s where they earn most of their money.’

Kitty’s hand flew to her mouth as her eyes filled with tears but they had no impact on Richard whatsoever.

‘You can begin this evening by being nice to Mr Travers,’ he rasped callously. ‘Myself and the other gentlemen here will leave you both in peace. But now why don’t you have a sip of that excellent champagne I poured you? It will relax you, just wait and see.’

‘You – you put something in my drinks!’ Light dawned. That was the reason why she had been so ill on previous occasions. The wine, the tea – they had been drugged so that she was helpless, giving him the opportunity to take these obscene photographs!

On Richard’s handsome features a grin appeared, a cold, hard grin that didn’t reach his eyes. ‘Perhaps just a little something to make you feel more in the mood,’ he leered. And then he was gathering the pictures together as she looked on numbly. Should any of these become public she would never be able to hold her head up again and she knew that she would die of shame.

‘And now, my dear, I believe our Mr Travers is becoming rather impatient so the other gentlemen and I will take our leave of you for now.’ In actual fact, they would be watching from a secret panel, and the two men with Richard had paid heavily for this opportunity.

He held the glass out to her again and this time she took it and drank the contents back in one go. Had he offered it, Kitty would have taken poison to dull the loathsome shame of what she was about to endure.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

‘Why, Kitty, whatever is the matter?’ Maggie asked as she eyed the girl’s swollen eyes the next morning.

‘Nothing! I’ve just got a bit of a headache,’ Kitty said as she tugged her robe more tightly about her. Maggie had brought her breakfast up, expecting her to be still in bed, but Kitty had clearly been up for some time. In fact, the bed looked as if it hadn’t even been slept in.

‘What time did you get in?’ Maggie asked then. ‘I tried to stay awake till one o’clock this morning but I must have dozed off.’

Kitty shrugged. ‘What does it matter? I’m still perfectly capable of getting myself undressed.’ She knew that she was being churlish and that Maggie didn’t deserve it, but how could she tell her that she had just spent most of the night in the bathtub trying to scrub away the feel of Edward Travers’s hands all over her. It had been a pointless exercise. She still felt dirty; would always feel dirty now. Fresh tears pricked at her eyes and she turned her head away from Maggie. Maggie must never know what she had allowed the man to do. No one could ever know, otherwise she would never be able to hold her head up again.