The Bohemian and the Banker Read online

  A night lost in Paris finds two hearts changed—forever.

  Sent to Paris on business, Nigel Warren doesn’t quite understand why his colleagues’ eyes twinkle as they tell him to meet them at a local night spot.

  When he discovers it’s a drag cabaret and his acquaintances aren’t there, he realizes he’s the butt of a joke. Yet he finds himself quite undone by a singer dressed in an elegant gown, crooning a spellbinding ballad.

  It’s not unusual for Jay, a former Londoner, to bring a new “friend” home from the cabaret, but he’s never had a guest quite like Nigel, whose straitlaced manner hides an unexpected passionate streak.

  One romantic night on a rooftop under starry skies, followed by an afternoon enjoying the excitement of the 1901 Paris Exposition, bonds these opposites in a way neither can forget—even after they part.

  Their spark reignites when Jay comes to London, but he’s not sure he can go back to hiding his true self, not even for the sake of love…unless Nigel is willing to shed his cloak of staid respectability and take a leap of faith.

  Warning: Contains a virgin who doesn’t speak French but is fluent in numbers, and a drag performer who is trilingual in English, French and Love. Not responsible for extra pounds brought on by the urge to dine on croissants au deux.

  The Bohemian and

  the Banker

  Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee

  Dedication

  Thanks to all our readers who’ve enjoyed our many book adventures, generally set in England. This time we’re taking you on a vacation to 1901 Paris. Enjoy!

  Chapter One

  Left Bank, Paris, September 1901

  Nigel Pierpont Warren was lost, monumentally, spectacularly turned around in the narrow streets which seemed to have no rhyme or reason to their planning. Of course, these things could happen in certain quarters of London too, parts of the city where he would never venture for any reason. But at least in Whitechapel or Spitalfields there might be some landmark to guide him out of the jungle again. Perhaps a friendly blue-uniformed copper to direct him back to civilization and leave him with a cheery tip of his cap. Here in this crazy quilt of streets, Nigel was surrounded by a British citizen’s worst nightmare—the French.

  He searched for street signs, but many of these alleys—one could hardly call them proper streets—were unmarked. And horrible sights lurked in the shadows: half-naked women, breasts bursting from low-cut bodices, beckoning and calling out what must have been obscene suggestions, peddlers with Lord knew what rubbish in their carts, and, of course, actual rotting piles of garbage along the dark stone walls of precariously leaning buildings. Beggars in rags reached up a beseeching hand for coin and hoards of dirty children of indeterminate sex ran with packs of equally filthy mongrels. Nigel could hardly breathe for the stench and was reduced to taking little sips of air only when absolutely necessary.

  He should never have agreed to meet Messrs. Abelin and Pascal in such a neighborhood. He could be safely in his hotel room, observing the city from the safety of a balcony.

  Even the Champs-Elysées, with all that life under the glittering lights and the spreading horse-chestnut trees, had seemed decadent to him. The people who lounged and laughed at cafés drinking wine and listening to music seemed foreign. Now that broad, clean stretch of Paris felt like home compared to these sinister, crowded streets.

  Nigel cringed as he stepped square on a pile of something foul. Not dog feces, thank God, but some almost equally smelly refuse. He hurried on. The next street he turned onto seemed a bit broader and more as if it led someplace he might actually want to go. Music drifted from the well-lit cafés, drinking establishments and music halls. He might have accidentally stumbled onto his destination. Good heavens, what had inspired him to walk rather than have a cab drop him in front of the Cabaret Michou?

  The incongruous sight of a turning windmill a ways down the street caught his attention. The infamous Moulin Rouge Theatre. M. Abelin had mentioned the smaller Cabaret Michou was located not too far from that monstrosity. In broken English, M.Pascal had assured Nigel he would find the cabaret most entertaining. Wishing to establish rapport with the French company his bank had sent him to audit, Nigel had affably agreed to come along with Abelin and Pascal on an evening’s adventure. But the thought of can-can dancers holding their skirts high and exposing all sorts of unnecessary flesh didn’t appeal to him in any way. Still, Nigel knew how to pretend to enjoy the same amusements other men did.

  At last he spotted a sign on a building with an Oriental-themed façade. Chinese dragons coiled around the columns on either side of the blood-red door, and flickering gaslights shone in flame-shaped torches.

  On the doorstep of the club, Nigel paused to reach his finger under the leather upper of his shoe to scratch an itch. How he wished he could remove the shoes from his feet and rub them all over to ease the ache of his long walk. But other customers were approaching the club. He could not delay his entry any longer. Taking a breath, Nigel opened the shocking red door.

  The décor of the club reflected the pagoda theme of the exterior. A highly carved table bearing Chinese dragon figurines stood in the foyer, a huge vase of flowers gracing its surface. Depictions of the Far East hung against red wallpaper. In the main room, Nigel scanned the tables and peered as far as he could into the silk-draped booths, but he did not spot M. Abelin or M. Pascal. He’d checked his pocket watch several dingy alleys ago and knew he was late, which meant his business associates were even later since they’d promised to be there to greet him.

  Or they weren’t coming. Perhaps the Frenchies had played a funny joke at his expense, luring him to this seamy part of town. When they met again at the Chauve-Souris, the men would pretend Nigel had misunderstood and laugh behind his back at the tres amusante Englishman.

  Well, he was too knackered to retrace his footsteps now. Nigel made his way to an open table for two, since apparently the waiters here did not seat customers. He would not hold a larger table and appear a fool if his companions never arrived. Nigel sighed as he slumped in the hard-backed seat. Underneath the scarlet-draped table, he carefully toed off his lace-up shoes and rubbed one foot against the other.

  When one of the garcons finally deigned to notice him, Nigel ordered a glass of wine and earned a sneer at his pronunciation of the French vintage. He wanted to order food too, but the menu was beyond his skill to decipher, and damned if he’d point to an item and allow the waiter another smirk.

  Gaslights on the perimeter of a stage cast an eerie glow upward. A man in the spotlight made an announcement with a lot of extravagant gestures. The band, hidden offstage, played a lively, modern tune, and five dancing girls pranced onto the stage. They kicked up their heels and flounced their skirts and even wiggled their bums at the audience. Mortified, Nigel ducked his head.

  None of the other customers watching the review seemed remotely disturbed. Many cheered and clapped along with the song. Nigel peeked at the dancing girls as they trotted up to the front of the stage, and an unlikely detail shocked him—Adam’s apples on several of the women. Other visual cues informed him these were not normal women or, indeed, women at all.

  His mouth dropped open, and he stared full-on for the rest of the dance number. Were they pretty young men painted and padded and wearing women’s clothing? He’d heard rumors of such shows but could scarcely imagine a place where such forbidden fruit was paraded right out in the open. Only in Paris.

  The faux ladies pranced offstage while the audience yelled and whistled and applauded too loudly. Nigel politely patted his hands together and waited to see what could possibly happen next.
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br />   A single spotlight cast beam from the back of the club somewhere, making a neat circle on the stage. Now a long, willowy figure wearing a trailing gold kimono moved languorously from backstage into the spotlight. Black hair brushed the man’s shoulders and white makeup painted his face. Thin arched eyebrows were drawn above a deep-set pair of eyes impossible to look away from. Luscious, full lips were painted as deep a crimson as the door of the club. Nigel’s own mouth tingled at the outrageous thought of pressing against such softness.

  This figure was a man, despite the feminine garb and painted face. Nigel wasn’t completely certain until the man began to sing. There was no doubt about his pure, vibrant tenor.

  The sweet, plaintive notes of a violin and that yearning, soulful voice filled the room. No one talked or as much as scraped a fork against a plate. For a respectful moment, all laughter stilled. Nigel could hardly breathe as he drank in the exotic figure that commanded the stage without even moving. The beautiful man looked slowly around the club, gracing first one person then another with his attention. For a phrase or an entire line of the song, he sang to that lucky listener. And although Nigel didn’t understand a word, he knew whatever this fascinating man was saying held infinite meaning. He wished he could understand. He wished the singer would look at him.

  And then those dreamy eyes focused on him, chose him, offered wisdom to him. Nigel swallowed and gazed back, willing the amazing singer to understand how the words Nigel couldn’t understand touched him.

  “Peut-être aurez vous de la peine

  Moi j’en ai eu tellement pour vous

  Je vous laisse avec votre haine

  Mais laissez-moi partir loin de vous

  Moi, je meurs d’amour

  Moi, je meurs d’amour”

  When the song ended, a moment of hushed stillness followed before the audience erupted into applause. This time Nigel joined in, clapping so hard his palms stung.

  The chanteur—or was he a chanteuse since he was dressed as a woman?—gave a sweeping bow before flowing offstage again. Such graceful movements for a man.

  A man! The absolute perversion of this club where men boldly flaunted themselves in female clothing hit Nigel. And his business contacts had sent him here knowing full well the place would shock him. Clearly a joke at the ignorant Englishman’s expense.

  Nigel should be humiliated and furious. He should leap up from his seat and leave the club, catch a cab back to his hotel room and pretend he’d never been here at all. Abelin and Pascal need never know. He’d tell them he’d completely missed the evening appointment as he’d fallen asleep in his hotel room.

  But Nigel remained pinned to his seat and listened carefully as the announcer returned to the stage and suggested another round of applause for the singer Jean Michel. Nigel wished he understood more French. He needed to learn everything he could about the ethereal young man in the gold silk kimono.

  As one act followed another, Nigel drank more glasses of wine than he was used to. He scarcely noticed. His attention was all for the stage, awaiting the remarkable singer’s return.

  Several numbers later, Jean Michel commanded the stage again. The entrancing young man wore another gown, but somehow the sight was less shocking to Nigel this time. The neckline scooped to reveal an expanse of hard, hairless chest and the elegant line of collarbones. The dress was covered with thick beaded fringe that clicked audibly as the man moved. That was how silent the club had become the moment the chanteur made his appearance.

  The pianist struck up a slow, sensual song, and this time Jean Michel adopted a sultry swagger as he roamed from one edge of the stage to the other. Again the song was in French, so Nigel couldn’t understand the words, but he understood it was a bawdy tune. Laughter rippled through the audience at the end of a line or the pause before a word, and the knowing look in the singer’s eyes transmitted the rest of the message.

  He didn’t dance as some of the other acts had done, but glided across the stage, gathering the crowd in the palm of his hand with his sinuous movement. Bending low, he addressed a line to a woman sitting at a table with her escort. At a place like this, it was impossible she was that man’s wife. The singer tipped her a wink at the end of the verse, and she laughed at the naughtiness.

  Jean Michel slunk down the steps of the stage to walk among the tables. The spotlight and every eye followed him as he prowled through the club, singing to this group or that one.

  Come near me. Sing to me. The insanity that had kept Nigel glued to his seat throughout the evening swept over him again. His rational self would have walked out the moment he realized he’d been sent here as a practical joke, but the lunatic who’d taken up residence in his brain insisted that he wouldn’t leave until he’d had some sort of contact with Jean Michel.

  As if in a fairy tale, his wish was granted.

  Jean Michel had reached a slower, sadder part of the song. Perhaps he sang of loss or maybe he’d reach the moral of the tale. He approached Nigel, and Nigel sat straighter in his chair, mentally begging the chanteur to notice him. The swish of that sumptuous jet-beaded gown that sparkled in the light drew closer and then…and then… The handsome singer stood right beside him and looked down into his face.

  The reserved part of Nigel wanted to shrivel up and disappear since all eyes in the club were turned toward him, but tonight’s mad version was too overcome by the singer’s gaze to care. From this close, Nigel could see every detail of the young man’s face, from the powder that smoothed away any imperfections to the black liner enhancing his smoky gray eyes to the rouge highlighting his cheeks and tinting his mouth. Those lips were not a bright red this time, but a luscious peach Nigel wanted to take a bite of. He swallowed and mentally shook off such wicked thoughts. But he could not so easily dismiss the hushed air of intimacy surrounding him and Jean Michel as the man sang directly to him.

  Nigel recognized enough French to understand that the bawdy song had taken that turn into a theme of loss and regret. But the damnable language was too hard to understand when it flowed so fast and when he couldn’t focus beyond those sad, liquid eyes peering into his. How could one man’s gaze hold so much sensuality and so much sorrow at the same time? Was Jean Michel merely a gifted performer conveying the message of his song, or did he truly suffer such misery? This feeling that they were the only two people in the room and some deep message passed between them—was that all part of the act?

  Nigel drew a shaky breath and clasped his hands tight together on top of the table to keep from reaching out to touch that beaded fringe. Even if the intimacy was an illusion, he didn’t care. For a few precious moments, he was connected with the stunning man singing to him, and that was all he cared about. His life in England was but a dream, and these vibrant few seconds eclipsed everything that had come before.

  Jean Michel fell silent as the piano played a solo bar of the melody. During the interlude, he held eye contact with Nigel, who nodded slightly as if in answer to an unasked question. Do you see me? See who I really am underneath the surface?

  He wanted to know this man, and not simply because he was so exotic, so full of life, but because he had the inexplicable feeling he’d been here before. Déjà vu the French called it. The small hint of a smile turning up Jean Michel’s lips was a smile Nigel already knew. And if he were given the opportunity to speak with the man away from this theatrical presentation, it would be like talking to an old friend. Nigel considered himself practical and down-to-earth, yet tonight he found himself believing in strange destiny.

  Abruptly, the moment ended along with the song. Jean Michel drew out the final sweet note, winked at Nigel and blew him a kiss before returning to the stage to take a bow. The audience applauded and cheered as the singer curtsied—one couldn’t bow in a pretty gown—and then he disappeared backstage.

  Nigel sat with his hands still welded together on the table. He was a statue that was cr
umbling inside. Everything he thought he knew about himself had suddenly exploded, and all the things he’d locked away, never to be thought of, had erupted from the wreckage. He was attracted to a man, undeniably, hopelessly engorged with feelings for a man he’d not yet spoken to. Would never speak to, for how on earth might he encounter Jean Michel when their worlds were as far apart as the earth to the stars?

  At last Nigel broke from his reverie to glance around the club. The dark atmosphere smelling of perfumes and pomade, sweat and cigars was conducive to illicit liaisons. At the tables, not only men and women leaned close in intimate conversation, but several men shared seductive glances and held hands. And a few pairs of women as well! Good Lord, what sort of place had his prankster business associates sent him to? No place such as this existed in London. He was sure of it.

  The stage show appeared to be over, or perhaps the performers were on a break. Conversation and laughter grew louder, and the hushed atmosphere popped like a bubble. Along with that bubble went any fantasy that Nigel might have some connection with the singer. The man had probably forgotten him the moment the song was over. It was time for Nigel to make his way across town, back to the safety of his hotel room. He rose, and the grating of the chair across the floor seemed to put a period of finality on the end of this impossible interlude.

  Anger flared inside him. He’d been made a fool of by Pascal and Abelin, and to add insult to injury, he’d made a fool of himself by falling under the spell of some perverted singer who wove a seductive web of lies. Nigel stalked through the club and out that sinful red door, indignation a warm cloak against the cold night. But as he started to stalk down the street, he noticed a group of people hurrying from the club entrance around the corner into the alley. He paused to watch, and then his cautious footsteps carried him along behind the group of laughing, chattering people.

  A door opened, and light fell from the building onto the waiting crowd. People applauded and shouted bravo as several young men exited the building. No more wigs or frocks. The handsome, trim-figured dancers and singers were dressed like anyone else. Yet, as they accepted adulation and flowers and other gifts or notes pressed into their palms, they wore some invisible magic mantle that set them apart. Perhaps it was the confident way they carried themselves or the gracious smiles they bestowed on their admirers, but they appeared to be peacocks strutting amongst a crowd of sparrows.