by Vella, Wendy
Fairfax smiled. “Well, there are cherry tarts, Mr. Deville.”
“There you go, then. Have at them and let us worry about ourselves. We will all be here when you rise in the morning. Good night, Fairfax.”
“Good night, Mr. Deville. Stay safe.”
“Always.”
Fairfax was an astute man and knew that notes arrived and the brothers did things and sometimes came home bloodied and bruised. He never said a word, but he had to wonder.
Nathan rode through the darkened streets vowing to once again put Beth out of his head. She’d made her decision, and he had to live with it. Besides, she meant nothing to him now. A total and utter lie, but one he was determined to turn into truth.
Why was she back? Why had he found her bent at the waist breathless in her town house? It had caused a burning sensation inside his chest to see her distressed, which told him no matter how much he wished whatever he’d felt was done with, it wasn’t.
He needed to avoid that woman going forward.
“Enough, Nathan.” He had to find a way to put her out of his head. Not easy when she was again in London. But he was strong and could do it. He’d changed in many ways since she’d left him. Learned to control his temper, learned to hide what he felt. He could learn to stop wanting her too.
Spitalfields wasn’t a place many of his standing liked to frequent. It was lived in by those who had little choice but to do so. As he could look after himself, he had no issue with visiting it.
Chessen Lane was in the once prosperous area known as Weaver Town. Once occupied by Huguenots during the previous century, it was now a shadow of its former self. The light was not great, but his eyes had adjusted by the time he saw the man who stepped out in front of him.
Dismounting, he acknowledged the group of lads huddled around a small fire. “Hello, can I have your assistance, please.”
They got to their feet and strolled to where he stood, looking him over.
“Hold out your hands.” Nathan placed money in the three grubby palms. “If you walk my horse and care for it until I return, there will be more of that.” Digging in his pocket, he found the bag of peppermint sticks he always carried and handed those out too.
They seemed a great deal happier with the sugary treat than the money, which made him sad, but as he could do little about that, he simply patted his horse’s mane and left knowing that it would be protected like a king in his absence.
“You’ve come alone. Not sure that’s wise, Mr. Deville,” Nix, one of the Deville brothers’ informants, said as Nathan reached him.
“I’m a big boy, Nix. I’m sure I will be fine.”
“Not many nobles I’d say could look after themselves, but you and your bothers are some of them.” He shrugged. “There is a meeting. I sent word as there are rumblings about the men holding it. Russian, and nasty blighters. They’re saying they want information and will do whatever it takes to get it.”
“Information about what or whom?”
“Well now, that’s the interesting part. Seems there is a group of men who parade as nobles. Part of an elite group who protect our king and country. A group no one knows the names of. It’s these men they want.”
“Really?” Nathan said softly. It seemed Geraint was correct.
“Now, I don’t ask what you and your brothers get about doing, Mr. Deville. Not my business.”
“Good to hear.”
“But I’ve wondered.”
“And yet with six children, I’m sure the money we pay would stop you from enquiring further, Nix.”
“That it does. But there’s something brewing, Mr. Deville. I’m just not sure what. There’s whispers but nothing solid.”
“Whispers?”
“Murmurs about a spy lifting things from powerful people. Riots are being planned supposedly, but those may be smoke screens.” Nix’s face twisted in frustration. “I’m trying to get the truth, but it’s not easy with so much swirling in the air. But I know there are Russians involved.” He spat on the ground as if the word tasted foul.
“Keep searching and listening, Nix,” Nathan said.
“There’s a meeting due to take place outside the rear of Madam Bolade’s. A rally of some sort. I thought you’d like to attend.”
“I have no idea how you come by this information, Nix, but it’s impressive what you learn.”
“My eldest wants to learn the piano, Mr. Deville, and the youngest needs new shoes. I’ll do what I need to.” He smiled and showed a row of missing teeth.
“Well then, you better take this.” Nathan handed over the money, shocked—and ashamed that he was shocked—that Nix had a child wanting to learn the piano. “I am grateful, as always.”
“Stay safe, Mr. Deville.”
“You also, Nix.”
The informant vanished into the dark, and he knew Nix would be at the meeting, just as Nathan would attend.
Someone knew about Alexius, which was not surprising really, as money bought most things, and information was no different. But it was dangerous to those of them working for the group. Their identities remaining secret was what made them efficient.
Pulling the hood of his cloak to cover his face, Nathan made his way to Madam Bolade’s. The building housed a well-known brothel run by the notorious madam and her lover. Supposedly her family had come with the Huguenots and stayed.
Reaching the brothel, he slipped down the side toward the rear, wondering at the activities going on inside the four walls. He hoped Zach was not there but wouldn’t put a large amount of money on that.
All the Devilles had, in their day, been wild and reckless. They still had that in them, but Zach seemed to take it to an entirely different level. The elder three kept a close eye on him.
He knew the place was frequented by noblemen, businessmen, and those that had enough money to pay the price for a night with a woman. Especially if that woman was willing to enact whatever fantasy said man wanted. Madam Bolade’s was not a place for those of a refined sexual palate. It was for the more adventurous gentleman.
Reaching the end of the building, he moved into a large area that was grassed and fenced on two sides. Pulling his hood forward, he made for the rear of the group that had formed ahead and waited. They talked, a low rumble. Working men who rose with the sun and got about earning decent money. Others, he knew, were not quite so scrupulous. And it was those men who often preyed on the honest.
He would watch and learn and see if he could find who was behind this. He’d then slip away and tell his brothers and listen as they ranted at him for his reckless behavior.
Nathan smiled. It felt good to be reckless again.
Chapter Nine
“You cannot seriously think I will let you go inside that building alone?”
“I must go inside, Lucas.”
“This is no area for a lady!”
She had attempted to slip out of the house undetected. Her intention had been to call a hackney and travel to Spitalfields alone. Lucas had found her on the road. He’d been roaring at her since she’d convinced him that she must go and he’d reluctantly agreed to accompany her.
“Your father called me to his room before we left. He told me that I must watch over you and your mother. He said there would be some odd, unexplainable things going on with you. He also made me promise that wherever you went, I would also… armed.”
“Oh, Father,” Beth sighed. His guilt over what they must do because of his actions, she believed, had been the reason for his seizure. The stress of his wife’s abduction and what he’d been forced to do over the last few years had finally taken its toll.
“I have not asked what is going on, Miss Bethany, but I know it’s a smokey game being played and that Logan, who suddenly appeared three years ago, is part of it.”
“It’s best you do not know, Lucas.”
She stood looking up at the brothel battling nerves. She had to get in there, steal some papers from a man’s jacket, and get out without bein
g noticed.
The prospect was daunting. Especially as before returning to London she’d done nothing remotely dangerous. In fact, Beth had lived the life of a cosseted nobleman’s daughter. She’d stayed out of trouble and been dutiful, and yet here she was. About to commit her second crime.
“I should have done more to rebel earlier,” she muttered.
“Pardon?”
“Nothing.”
“You are not walking into danger without me, Miss Bethany.”
He looked as moveable as the building she stood before.
“You can stand outside, Lucas, but you cannot enter. They will see you, as you are overly large.”
“What is this place?”
“Ah, I’m not entirely sure.” There would be hell to play if he realized it was a brothel.
She started walking down the side of the building. As they approached the rear, she heard the rumble of voices. There appeared to be some kind of gathering taking place.
“Stay here and try to blend with those men. I shall not be long.”
“Miss—”
She hurried away from Lucas before he could stop her and started up the stairs at the rear of Madam Bolade’s. At the top, she opened a door and entered before she lost the courage to do so, closing it softly behind her. Pressing a fist to her heart, she struggled to breathe easily.
“Are you Lena?”
A woman approached. Tall, slender, she wore a dress that seemed to expose a vast amount of flesh. Her breasts were literally spilling from the bodice. Beth raised her eyes to the woman’s face when she caught sight of a nipple.
“Pardon?” Beth made her voice sound raspy and heavily accented like the actress she’d once met after a performance at the local theatre near her father’s estate.
“The new girl. Are you her? Not sure why you wouldn’t be, considering you’re standing right there.”
“Ja!” Beth said when nothing else came to mind.
“What are you wearing under that?” The woman hurried closer, gripped the sides of Beth’s cloak, and opened it.
“Oh no no no, that will never do. If madam sees you, she’ll chuck you out on your ass!”
Beth looked down at her dress. It was white with small blue bows stitched into the bodice and around the sleeves.
“You look like a bloody virgin.” The woman cackled. “This is not the place for that sort of thing. If you want to play that part, go to Madam Dorian’s.”
“Ja,” Beth said again.
“Come on.” She took her hand and towed her along. “I’ll sort you before my next client, then you go downstairs and meet your first one.”
She found herself in a room. Clutter was everywhere. Dresses, scarves, shoes, and any number of things were scattered around the small space.
“My name’s Bess.” The woman came at Beth with scissors, and she made herself stay very still. “Take off that cloak.”
She did, lowering it to the floor. The bodice of her dress was then snipped down the front, and her chemise unlaced. The hood was pushed off her head and her hair released.
“You’re pretty.”
“Ja.”
“It’s all right that you don’t speak well. They don’t want your mouth for talking.” This caused Bess to laugh hysterically. “Now, you just do what they says and make the right noises. Madam won’t give you to anyone for the rough stuff on your first night.”
Beth made a sound that Bess took as a question.
“The cuffs, and smacking.”
She couldn’t swallow, as all the spit had dried in her throat.
Something was painted on her lips, then a mask pulled over her eyes.
“We always wear masks. It’s what this place is known for, and it excites the men.”
Beth nodded.
“Now remember, if they don’t appear ready to get things moving, just run your hands down his chest and then stroke him through his breeches. It always gets a rise, if you know what I mean.”
Beth managed to nod, oblivious to what she meant. She knew what happened in the bedroom, but her mother had said the wife simply lay there until the man was finished. She’d never mentioned running a hand down his… ah, breeches.
“It’s good to undress them. Open the trousers and get your hand inside. It makes them crazy with wanting. Running your nails down their chest too. And men love breasts. Make sure you let them play with those.” She waved a hand at Beth’s chest. “It’s nice, the licking.”
Beth looked down at her breasts. Men liked to lick them?
“You’ve got a nice set, so you’ll do well. Be forceful, some men like that too. Run your tongue around your lips, that’s enticing.”
She did that when they were dry. Have I been enticing men all this time?
“Now get on with you, my man will arrive soon.” The door was opened, and Beth scooped up her cloak and hurried out before the door was slammed shut behind her.
Looking about her, she wondered what had just happened. Her breasts were spilling out of her dress, she wore a mask, and something had been painted on her lips, all in a matter of a few minutes. Plus, she now knew that cuffs and smacking were used in brothels, and that grabbing a man’s, ah… she didn’t even know what to call it in her thoughts. She was pathetic. But she knew that grabbing it through his trousers excited him.
She was innocent of all knowledge as to what happened between a man and a woman. Would Nathan have wanted her to touch him? Would he have licked her breasts?
This was, of course, information she would never put into practice, but she was at least a little wiser about the goings-on in the bedroom.
Breasts, it seemed, were especially important to a man. She’d noticed that some men looked at hers.
Of course, her thoughts went to Nathan again. He’d been a true gentleman and not ogled her.
Don’t think about him. She couldn’t explain what had happened, so there was no point in trying. Beth was just pleased she had not given herself away.
Putting her cloak back on, she raised the hood, tucking her hair away. At least if someone noticed her again, she’d have the mask in place.
Walking along the hall to the second door on the left, she ignored a loud squeal followed by a grunt coming from the first door she passed. She was soon standing outside her target.
Just do it Beth.
Turning the handle, she dropped to her knees and pushed it open, then crawled inside. Her hope was that they were busy on the bed and wouldn’t see her.
Soft light filled the room, and she found the screen to her right, so she scurried behind it.
“Miss Chartreuse, your beauty never wanes,” a man said. “This will be my masterpiece.”
“Oh, Lord Lithgow!” a husky voice sighed. “You are the only light in my week. I long for our time together.”
Beth wanted to push her fingers into her ears to stop hearing the words. Dear Lord, she could only imagine what was happening behind that screen. A chair had clothes piled on it.
“I think I will try another hue for your breasts my dear, Miss Chartreuse.”
Hue?
Beth started rifling through the clothes until she located a man’s jacket. A cough rose in her throat, so she forced herself to breathe slowly and swallow several times until it passed.
“My nipples should be rose, I think? Last time they were darker.”
“Yes, I was not happy with their color. Especially considering they deserve to be worshipped by everyone who sees this.”
Dear Lord, what were they doing? She was fumbling through the pockets searching for papers now. Surely someone would know she was here soon? She’d be found and locked in Newgate to rot where rats would nibble her toes.
Slipping her fingers inside yet another pocket—how many pockets did men need in their jackets?—she felt the edge of something. Pulling it slowly out, she saw that it was a sheaf of papers. Pushing them inside her bodice, Beth replaced the coat.
“Lift your left leg, dear. Yes, perfect. An
d perhaps that hand to the back?”
“Like this?”
“Perfect.” Lord Lithgow sighed. “I wish my wife was so compliant.”
“She does not understand you as I do, my Lord.”
“No, indeed. She is a brutish woman who controls us all.” Another sigh.
Beth turned in the small space and slowly crawled toward the door once more. She had to do it, peek a glance at the couple. She then hurried out the door and closed it behind her. Regaining her feet, she ran to the door she’d not long ago entered, and left the building.
There was absolutely nothing to laugh about, but a giggle erupted from her anyway. Lord Lithgow had been painting a naked Miss Chartreuse. She felt almost lightheaded with relief that she had not witnessed a coupling of some sort.
On legs that were not entirely steady she retraced her steps down. Pulling the cloak close, she met Lucas at the bottom glowering.
“Why are you wearing a mask?”
“I found it and thought it would hide my identity.”
“At least you are unhurt,” he grunted, not willing to concede that may work. “Hurry now, we need to leave here before whatever is going on erupts. Stay at my back.”
They’d taken no more than four steps when a group of men appeared.
“It’s that way.”
“Aye,” Lucas muttered.
“Well then, go that way,” someone snapped at him.
Lucas turned and nudged her ahead of him. Beth walked to where a group of men stood.
They had to get out of here before someone noticed there was a woman in their presence. What if Lord Lithgow found his papers missing and came looking for them? The dangers were many. They had to get away from here at once.
“Stay still and close to me,” Lucas whispered in her ear.
Beth nodded, tugging her hood closer.
Chapter Ten
“We need to make a stand.”
Moving a few steps to the right Nathan listened in to the conversation between the two men before him.
