by Emma Brady
Once Rachel was satisfied with her appearance, she went down to the club's office on the main floor. There were barely any servants around this early in the morning. A few were cleaning up the gaming rooms, but they didn't even look at her. Gerald never locked the office door because he knew everyone was too frightened of him to go in without permission. Except for her.
Rachel had been in the office enough to be familiar with it. She had come to live at the club when she was only ten, and the years after that had gone by quickly. To other people, this was just a place of entertainment, but for her, it was home. Rachel knew there was a good hiding place behind the floor-length curtains near the windows. Slipping in behind the heavy velvet fabric, Rachel made sure her skirts were safely tucked away. The dust floated across her vision as she heard footsteps entering the room.
"I'm glad you didn't keep me waiting. Our business is quite urgent.” Gerald sounded impatient.
"I wouldn’t dare be late." Lord Andrews sounded as sarcastic as always. If being summoned here had rattled him, she couldn’t hear it in his voice. "This is earlier than I like to be up, but not too early for an old friend."
"Are we friends, then?"
Rachel held her breath in the silence. Gerald was good at getting people caught in their own words, giving them just enough rope to hang themselves.
"We aren't enemies." Lord Andrews sounded calm and charming. He didn't sound like he was intimidated by Gerald.
Rachel couldn't resist the temptation and pulled the curtain aside just enough to peek out. Lord Andrews was dressed in fresh clothes and showed no signs that he had been up at a gaming hell all night. Even that thick, unruly dark hair of his behaved properly, and the shadow of a beard from the night before was gone. Only the deep circles under his emerald green eyes gave away the late hours he kept. She remembered how those eyes twinkled with mischief when he played. He was as tall as Gerald but not nearly as wide, having a lean and athletic build. If the confrontation became violent, she wasn’t sure who might win.
"Not yet, at least." Gerald countered. "You were taking liberties with one of my staff last night."
"Mistakes were made. I do apologize for my behavior."
"It wasn't your fault alone. I'm afraid the Raven has gotten her way too many times and now she thinks she can get away with anything."
This opinion of her was a shock. Rachel pressed her lips together to keep from saying something that would give her away.
"She needs someone to take responsibility for her and I think you might be that man." said Gerald.
"You want me to become her protector?"
"No, I want you to become her husband."
The silence in the room was suffocating. Rachel felt her heart beating hard inside her chest. Lord Andrews appeared as shocked as she was.
"That's a flattering suggestion, but I'm going to have to decline. I'm afraid I have other matrimonial plans."
Gerald laughed. "You are in need of a rich wife, and there are very few worth as much as the Raven. Not when I'm paying for her dowry."
"You make it sound as though you are buying her a husband."
"I am. Lucky for me, you are for sale."
Lord Andrew's expression darkened. A shiver ran through her. Even in the daylight, he looked dangerous.
"That is a bold statement."
"No less true. I know you invested all your money with that Deckland fellow and he ran off with it. Now you can't maintain your obligations or take care of your sister properly."
"I can take care of Daphne."
"Why is she in Scotland, acting as a companion to your surly aunt instead of her making her debut?"
"She's too young."
"Eighteen is old enough."
"My accounts and my family are none of your concern," Alex growled.
Gerald just continued the conversation calmly.
"You have been staying ahead of the bills by winning at my tables. If I refused you entrance, what would you do?"
"Find another club."
"No one would let you play once I put the word out that you are not welcome."
Rachel knew that was no idle threat. Gerald was a formidable enemy when he wanted to be, and he could get someone shut out. If that was his only source of income, it would devastate Lord Andrews to lose it.
"You would do that as punishment for kissing one of your girls?”
"The Raven is not just one of my girls, but that's not why I would do that to you."
"What the bloody hell would make you threaten me?"
"I want you to marry my daughter."
That response was so startling that Rachel lost her balance and tumbled out of her hiding space. Landing on her hands and knees, she looked up to see both men staring at her. Gerald looked annoyed but Lord Andrews was amused. With as much dignity as she could manage, Rachel stood up and faced the two men.
"You look as though you've never seen a girl hiding behind a curtain before."
"What are you doing here?" Gerald seethed just beneath the surface and it was reflected in his dark eyes.
"I wanted to be sure Lord Andrews wouldn't suffer for my misbehavior last night."
"The Raven, I presume?" Lord Andrews asked.
She gave him a nod.
“Lord Andrews, allow me to introduce my daughter, Rachel."
No one outside the club staff knew her true identity, and they would never reveal it for fear of losing their well-paid positions. None of the club’s patrons even knew Gerald had a daughter and he preferred it that way. There was always the concern that someone might use that knowledge against him in some way.
The lord looked as shocked as she felt.
"The Raven is your daughter?"
"She's the only daughter I have."
They were talking about her as if she wasn't standing in the room. She was accustomed to Gerald ignoring her, but the other gentleman had no right. It infuriated her that her opinion about her own life carried no weight with them. She might as well not even have one.
"I'm not going to be marrying anyone." She snapped her fingers to get their attention.
Lord Andrew's eyes flickered in her direction. Gerald didn’t even bother to do that. In his usual overbearing fashion, he wasn’t going to listen to anything she said.
"Her mother was a respectable lady in Spain before we met. She gave up that life when she married me. I would like to give my daughter a place in society."
"Marriage to me wouldn't guarantee she was accepted. Her lack of family connections would be a reason for them to cut her publicly."
"Being your wife would gain her entry; the rest can be taken care of."
"You want to make your daughter a lady?"
"In a more formal sense, yes."
Rachel’s stomach sank as she watched Lord Andrew's face. Not only was he considering it, she was fairly certain he wanted to accept it.
Gerald must have seen it too because he was quick to add more.
"She comes with ownership of half the club. It would be more than enough to keep the creditors away, regain your position in society and give your sister the debut she deserves."
Rachel knew that was too much for him to turn down. Nothing she could say would convince him to refuse that kind of money. Rachel pushed Lord Andrews out of her way as she left the room in frustration.
She was in her room, pacing and grumbling, when her father came in. He didn't bother to knock. He stepped over all the things Rachel had thrown to floor in her fit of anger. They both knew he would replace anything that was broken. It wouldn't be the first time her room was redecorated by her temper.
"You are handling this better than I expected." Gerald leaned against the mantle of her fireplace.
Looking around at the destruction she had caused, Rachel raised her eyebrows. "What were you expecting?"
"Bags packed, ready to run."
The thought had crossed her mind, but the truth was that she had nowhere to go. Aside from her maid, Rachel didn't hav
e any friends. A woman traveling alone without a destination would quickly run into trouble. These walls held the only place she felt safe. Not that she would admit that to him.
"It's still early in the day." she tossed over her shoulder at him.
"That's my girl."
Gerald had always shown pride in her spirit. The same behavior that her grandparents tried to tame, Gerald encouraged. He said it reminded him of her mother. She wished she still had the kind of memories about her mother that he did.
"Are you going to give me a chance to explain?" Gerald asked.
"It appears simple enough. You are paying someone to take me off your hands."
He laughed in the same way he had when she was a child.
"You know it is nothing like that. You are being overdramatic again."
“You told me you would never send me away again.”
Gerald had made her that promise the night she was brought to live at the club. A child who had just lost both her grandparents and never knew a mother, she remembered everything. Those words were a solemn vow from him in her mind. Gerald lost his amusement.
“I know I did.”
"Then why are you doing this?"
Her father's demeanor changed drastically. She noticed the circles under his eyes and the wrinkles around them. With his smile gone, Rachel noticed the stubble that showed he hadn't shaved in a couple days. The long work hours meant they often went days without meeting face to face. She should have been taking better care of him.
"It is what your mother wanted for you. A good marriage and a place in society was what she had always planned." Gerald shrugged. "I still want to give her that."
"By bargaining with a penniless aristocrat?" Rachel could still remember the desperate look on Lord Andrews’s face when Gerald offered him half the club for her.
"He's a good man in a bad situation. He will do right by you."
"I could have chosen on my own."
"Not after you became the Raven."
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Rachel knew that. The first time she wore that mask and entered the gaming parlors, she knew her future would be forever changed. It was what she needed at the time, but it had been reckless.
Sensing she was beginning to soften, Gerald pushed his advantage. "This is a way for you to have a place in society, to be a real lady."
"It’s a title, not a magic spell. It won’t force people to accept me."
"No, but he has some very powerful friends. If you act properly, you can win them over."
It humbled her to know Gerald had that kind of faith in her. It was not easy for a girl raised in that life to do well in London, nonetheless one with no experience. That was the real danger. It made Rachel's stomach turn just to think of facing proper society.
“What if I can’t behave?” she asked.
Her father smiled at her softly. “I know that I have indulged you too much over the years. Protected you from the world, while you played pretend at the tables. You have become an excellent actress, so I don’t doubt you can perform the role they want you to be.”
Leaving the safety of the club was enough to knock the wind out of her and she felt the tears building in her eyes.
“You won’t be alone in the venture.” Her father added. ”Lord Andrews is good at appearances. He will make sure you don’t fail.”
“You seem to have a lot of trust in a man you barely know.”
“I see something in him. Perhaps it was the fact that he had the cunning to best you, when no one else could.”
That reminder stung.
"This is what your mother wanted and it will be best for you." Gerald came over and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Try to be happy about it."
The tone of his voice said there was no room to argue, so Rachel didn't bother to try. As soon he left she sat down and started planning a way to go around him instead.
CHAPTER 3
ALEX WASN'T SURE WHERE to go after he left the club. The house he stayed in belonged to his aunt, and he always felt like the staff was watching him. His aunt didn’t like to visit London, and they were keeping her up to date on everything he did. He wasn't ready for her to know about this sudden turn of events. She would be strongly against him marrying anyone from the working class, even if it meant replenishing his pockets.
It was too early in the day for him to go anywhere disreputable, so that left him with only one option. Hopefully the Duke of Ashford wouldn't mind the interruption at breakfast.
The butler led him into the duke's dining room even though it was too early for social calls. Alex almost felt guilty for interrupting such a happy domestic scene. The duke and his wife were flirting over their breakfast plates.
"I'm surprised to see you up this early." Alex said to Thomas Powell, the Duke of Ashford. "You used to stay in bed until after noon."
"My wife likes to be up at dawn and gives me good reason to wake up with her." Thomas gave his friend a wink.
Eloisa, his wife, was blushing but smiling. It was a shame that Thomas was blind and couldn't see how pretty she looked with that pink in her cheeks. Thomas was the golden boy of the ton, with the kind of blond-haired, blue-eyed good looks that society raved about. His wife was lovely in a less obvious way, but her soft chestnut hair and gentle brown eyes held a certain appeal to those who knew her. The two of them were a couple deeply in love and it drove the gossips mad.
"If I had such lovely company, I would rise with the dawn too." Alex enjoyed the way his elaborate flattery always made her laugh.
"We should find you a wife so you can be as happy as Thomas is." Eloisa said.
"That won't be necessary. It seems I have already found one."
A heavy silence filled the room. Both of his friends held shocked expressions with wide eyes. At least Thomas had his mouth closed.
Alex gave them a moment to recover from the shock. Neither of them knew what to say, so he tried to help.
"You could congratulate me."
"Of course. She's a lucky girl." Eloisa was giving Thomas a nudge with her elbow. "Who is she? We didn't know you were seriously courting anyone in London."
"It was a sudden opportunity that came up."
"That doesn't sound very romantic." Eloisa looked disappointed, like a child that had lost a balloon.
"Most marriages are more about business than love." said Thomas.
Thomas knew the circumstances Alex was in. Marrying a woman with wealth was one of the few acceptable options for a man of their rank. There was no judgment in his friend's expression. Perhaps if he told them what had happened they could help him feel more certain that he would make the right choice.
“That was certainly an interesting story.” Eloisa said, after Alex gave them a brief version of the night before.
“I would be tempted to think it was fiction if I wasn’t there for every minute.”
“What is she like?”
“Depends, on if you are asking about Rachel or the Raven. They appear to be two very different women that share the same person.”
“That should keep things exciting.”
Alex was still having trouble wrapping his head around the differences between the two. He would have sworn that the Raven was a woman of guile and experience, yet the women in Gerald’s office lacked that sophistication. It was difficult to decide which of the two fascinated him more.
“She is firmly set against the marriage.” Alex could still remember the way her face flushed with anger. “I had hoped my future bride would be at least willing, if not enthusiastic.”
“Finally found a woman who is immune to your flirtations?” Thomas grinned.
“I wouldn’t go that far. I don’t think it’s me she has issue with, but the institution of marriage as a whole.”
“Not every woman wants to be married.”
Eloisa said that and both men turned in her direction making her blush.
“I never wanted to marry. I enjoyed my freedom and thought I would always
prefer my own company to a man’s. Perhaps she feels the same.”
“That won’t bode well for our union.”
“You will have to convince her that there is more to gain than to lose.”
“What if I can’t?”
Eloisa and Thomas were both silent. If he didn’t, then he was going to be saddled with a wife who hated him for the rest of their lives. Alex needed to give this more serious thought, so he kept his visit short and headed to his own home finally.
Rachel sitting outside his door was the last thing Alex expected when he arrived home a few hours later. He looked around, wondering if her father was waiting for him too.
"I'm here alone." Rachel moved slowly to stand. She wore a fashionable day dress in a deep green hue. Nothing about it was provocative except the woman in it.
"A woman shouldn't be traveling the city alone."
"That's because they have to protect their reputation. I don't have to worry about that."
That was true, since one didn’t worry about a bad reputation. The Raven had one built on speculation, but it would be impolite to mention it in front of the lady herself.
"You could have been the victim of criminals. The city is full of those."
"I know how to handle those types."
There was nothing in her expression that indicated she was bluffing. The thought of where she would most likely strike an attacker made him wince.
"You could have written me that you wanted to meet. Given me time to prepare." Alex felt exposed, standing there in the street with her. He knew his aunt's neighbors had their noses pressed to their windows.
"I didn't want to give you a chance to hide."
"Such a low opinion of me."
"I've learned a few things about men and you...” she paused to narrow her eyes at him. “Are a man."
Alex didn't doubt she had learned many things. Working and living at the club, naturally most would paint his sex in a negative light. He didn't like that she grouped him in with the rest of those men. Alex took pride in being different from most of his peers, at least since his bad turn of luck had changed the man he was.