by Emma Brady
"Eloisa sent a note around to ask if we were still going to attend tonight." Daphne's voice came from the other side of the closed door.
"Send the reply that we will be going." Rachel was still running her fingers through his hair and giving him the shivers. "Your brother insists."
"I never thought I would hear you say that." Daphne said.
Alex couldn't help but smile. Rachel was a good influence on his timid sister, helping her to build a little courage. She didn't know it would come around on her occasionally. Rachel was smiling at his sister's comment too.
"She's taking after you." he told her.
"A little too much." Rachel looked at him with serious eyes again. "Please be careful."
He nodded and she left the room to go get ready. For women preparing for a ball was like preparing for war. Alex would do well to stay out of their way. The ladies left first, but it wasn't long after that Thomas arrived. He was dressed in all black, same as Alex and wore a wide brimmed hat that could hide part of his face. It was important that a duke not be seen going into a place like the Dancing Fish.
The establishment was everything one would expect from such a name. It was old and worn out with a sagging roof and crooked doors. The sign that hung on the outside was in the shape of a fish in a dancing pose and had been painted so long ago most of the letters were missing. It looked like it was the Ding Fi and not very welcoming. The inside wasn't much better, but most of the customers were too drunk to notice. The man they were looking for motioned to them from a booth in the back, and they tried to make it there without drawing attention.
"Is this your best attempt at blending in? Because anyone could spot you are gentlemen from a mile away in those fancy clothes."
Mitchum, Thomas called him that, was a very portly young man, with a bushy beard around his chin and no hair across his head. He wore a shirt and coat but no waist coat or tie. A bowler hat sat on the table next to a large glass of beer. Mitchum signaled for the barmaid to bring two more for his guests. Even though they wouldn't be drinking them, that might help the two blend in better.
"You said you had news about your new assignment?" Thomas was quick to get to the point.
"Yes, that Hatwell fellow. It seems he hasn't been that man for very long."
"We already know he changed his identity and bought himself the connections he has now."
"Yes, but it cost him every dime he had. Now he's here hoping to find a new source of income."
"Not the textiles?"
Mitchum laughed. "Those are a long term investment and he's going to need funds much sooner. Rumor is he's looking to do what you did and marry into some available funds."
That might explain why Hatwell expressed such an interest in Rachel without knowing who she was. One look at her clothes and her demeanor would tell any skilled grifter she had plenty of money. He would have considered her a mark from the very beginning.
"He's been doing a few other things to try and get his hands one money as well. Gambling, for one thing. That's why I asked you gentleman down here at this hour. He spends most nights gambling in a room in the back of this place."
"Why would he come to Whitechapel? This isn't the place to find players with deep pockets." Alex knew where all the best places to play were and nothing in this neighborhood made the list.
"My guess is he wants to keep his activities a secret from those fancy investors. They might not trust him as a partner if they knew he had to gamble to pay for his rooms in town."
That made sense. Deckland wouldn't want them to know his life as a gentleman was a thin lie. They might get suspicious and pull out. Then he would be right back in his place as a thief and swindler.
"I thought you might want to catch him at such an establishment and discuss your history. Work out what you need to where no one would be looking."
"Good job." Thomas said, shaking the man's dirty hand without hesitation. "Once again, you have done excellent work."
"My pleasure, sir." Mitchum pulled the two mugs of beer that the men still had untouched toward himself. "Head down the back to the farthest room and tell the man at the door I sent you. He will show you to where your man is."
The two gentlemen followed the directions to the secret room. Alex had never been desperate enough to play in such a place. The use of Mitchum's name got them in the door and they knew it to be a place where only the most hardened people could be found. There, in the center table, was Deckland. He wasn't wearing his fancy suit but what Alex remembered him dressing in, the clothes of a merchant in the middle class who didn't want to draw attention to himself.
"What a surprise!" Deckland stood when he saw them entering the room. "I didn't think I would see you in a place like this."
"We need to talk." Alex growled.
"I'm a little busy right now, perhaps we can meet tomorrow?"
"Now."
The other men in the room responded to his tone and were getting restless.
"I don't think you realize where you are. This is not one of your sophisticated gaming hells or gentlemen’s clubs. This is the underbelly of London and these are my people.”
Deckland smiled with a smug expression.
Alex looked at Thomas, who held his cane in both hands like a weapon. Alex knew that his friend was a skilled fighter, but there were half a dozen men in the room. It would be difficult to fight them all.
"We just want to talk. I want what you owe me." Alex said, hoping he could convince Deckland to come outside.
"Owe you? I don't owe you anything."
"I just want the money you took."
Deckland laughed, tilting his head back and letting it out loud.
"I didn't take anything from you. You gave it to me, remember? You were so excited at the idea of making more of it that you didn't even look at the risks. You let yourself get greedy and that's what cost you the family fortune.”
Alex felt his blood pumping faster through his veins and he struggled to remain still.
"You lied to me. You pretended to be a businessman and I trusted you."
"That was your mistake, not mine." Deckland smiled with those pearly white teeth. "Now you better hurry home to that new wife of yours or you might lose something again."
That was the last thing Alex remembered Deckland saying before the room erupted into violence.
CHAPTER 16
Rachel knew it was a bad idea, but she didn't let that stop her from following her husband that night. He was up to something and might need her help. It was no surprise to her when the duke's carriage drove past his home, where they were supposed to be spending the evening. It did shock her to see that she was following him into Whitechapel. Rachel wished she had brought someone with her. Not Daphne or Eloisa of course, but she hadn't even brought a servant for protection. She had gotten a hired hack to follow her husband but doubted the driver would be much help.
She saw that their carriage stopped at a pub, with a card room in the back she heard players mention before. It was the type of place someone went when they couldn't get into an establishment like the Raven Club. Rachel was frightened of what Alex might have gone there looking for.
The driver of the hack didn't seem to want to leave her there alone, but she pushed enough coin into his hand to make him stop arguing. She was wearing one of her older gowns, dark in color and very well worn. She knew it would make her look like she belonged, even in a place like this. Her hair was pinned tightly to her head under the hood of her cloak and she walked slowly behind her husband and Thomas. First, they shared a table with a gruff looking man but they only spoke. They went to the back room after a few minutes. She slipped in after them, keeping close to the wall to avoid being seen by the guard at the door. She wouldn't reveal herself unless she had to.
The men in the room responded quickly to the intrusion, standing up around the table. Deckland was speaking but Rachel wasn’t close enough to hear what was being said. She could only watch the way the men got worke
d up from it and then chaos broke out.
Outnumbered, both Alex and Thomas did their best to fight off the other men but it was useless. Rachel watched as her husband was toppled to the ground and beaten by three of them. Thomas was able to use his cane to knock of the men fighting him, but not without gaining a few injuries as well. Rachel felt helpless, knowing that she could do nothing to save them both.
“Enough!” Deckland finally yelled and the men stopped their attack. “I find this has become tedious. Leave me alone or I will make sure you are unable to return home to your wife.”
Deckland walked past her as he left the room, but Rachel kept her head turned and her face hidden by the cloak. He didn’t even bother to look at her, he was so smugly satisfied with himself.
Thomas had enough strength to help Alex up from the floor and carry him out of the pub and into his waiting carriage. Rachel called out to them, getting in with them to ride home.
“How long were you there?” Thomas asked. “I didn’t catch your scent but the room was full of smelly thieves.”
“Long enough to know I married a fool.”
“Rachel?”
Alex had lifted his head enough to look at her through the one eye he could open. The expression on his bruised and swollen face was confused. Then his head fell back and he was unconscious.
Rachel felt like her heart was thumping in her chest hard enough to leave a bruise. She reached out and placed a hand on him, just to reassure her mind that he was still alive. Her breath only came as she watched the rise and fall of his chest. If he stopped, she feared she might as well.
At the house, servants carried Alex in and up to their room while Thomas went to his own house to rest. Not knowing what else to do, Rachel sent a message to the one person who knew about dangerous things. She hoped he would understand the urgency and come quickly.
"What happened?" Her father didn't bother with salutations, but burst into the house asking for the important information. Rachel did her best to explain everything she knew, including Deckland and his new identity.
"The bastard applied to become a member at the club. I had no idea who he really was."
"Did you let him in?"
Her father shook his head. "No, there was something about the man I didn't like. I told him we were full and wouldn't be taking new members for a while."
"Alex shouldn't have gone to face him with only one person watching his back. There were at least half a dozen against him in that fight."
"Sometimes men are too busy being angry to be smart. He probably couldn't think of anything but catching the man who betrayed him."
"He was badly beaten. I don't think it hurt his leg again, but almost everywhere else on his body is bruised. He could barely open his eyes when I gave him the laudanum. " Rachel felt the tears in her eyes and struggled to remain calm.
"The sort of men who go to that club are the hardened criminals most men are afraid of."
Rachel knew she was certainly afraid of them. Her mind was still playing over the scene in her head. She remembered each face and each blow. She trembled so strongly from them that she had to sit down or she was afraid she was going to fall.
"He's going to try it again." she said, her voice hollow to her own ears. "I know he won't give up. As soon as he is well enough to leave the bed, he will try to find him again. He won't give up until Deckland sees justice or he is killed."
"Then we will need to find a way to bring him to justice."
"I don't know how. Deckland was very careful in his dealings with Alex. He never even met Daphne during their time doing business."
"So there is no way to prove his new identity is false."
"Exactly. He's had years to build this story of being Hatwell and he's done a fine job if it."
Rachel had spent the entire evening holding back the tears, but they were now rolling down her cheeks. Knowing that her husband was so badly beaten was overwhelming. She let them slide down her face but didn't give in to the sobbing. She maintained her composure for the sake of her husband, but now she could no longer do so.
"Yet, he has run out of money, so he's been gambling to maintain the lie." said Gerald.
"We just discussed that." There was no need to go over it again.
Something changed in her father's expression and he began to pace the floor, his hands behind his back like when he was thinking about the club. His eyebrows were drawn together but his eyes had a wild look to them. She could only remember a few times in her life when her father got that look and it was usually when he had a brilliant idea.
"What if we don't worry about trying to prove he's Deckland, but instead we focus on him now as Hatwell?"
"Focus on him how?"
"The man is desperate for funds. Desperate men are easy to manipulate."
"You mean at the gaming table?"
"Yes. We do to him what he did to Alex. We take everything from him."
That idea made Rachel's tears stop. She looked at Gerald, waiting for him to explain the plan he clearly had formulating in his mind. If there was a way to get Alex back what he lost, she was willing to do it.
"We can use the club. He wants in so badly that if I send him an invitation to a private game he won't be able to resist."
"Do you think you will be able to beat him?"
Gerald had been an excellent player when he was younger, but it had been a very long time since he’d played. Once he was the owner and manager Gerald didn't feel the need to continue playing.
"No, but the Raven can."
"You didn't want me playing that part anymore."
"This can be an exception. If he's been playing in London, then someone has surely told him about the Raven’s impeccable playing skills. A man like that would want to play against the best. We can use his ego against him."
Rachel knew that Alex would not approve of her taking such a risk. Tonight Deckland had proven that he wasn't against using violence. There was also her reputation to consider now. She was still struggling to fit into Alex's world and if she was found out that would make her efforts wasted.
"What if I can't beat him?" Rachel hated the weak sound of her voice as she begged Gerald for reassurance.
"You don’t lose."
"I did once." That night had changed her life.
"You won’t. You would never let that happen."
She felt scared and alone in that moment. Without warning she moved from her seat and into his arms. It felt good to be held like that, the same as it had been when she was a child. Her father had always been the strongest man she had ever known. Now she let him protect her from her own fears and drew on that strength.
“I was afraid you might not come.” Rachel confessed, keeping her face buried in his shirt front.
“Your message was very urgent.”
“Yes, but you have been clearly avoiding me.”
She felt the rise and fall of his chest against her cheek as he sighed.
“I thought I was doing what was best for you. I didn’t want my reputation to ruin yours, but now you need me.”
“I always needed you.”
He squeezed her hard and Rachel could feel his regret. There would be no more avoiding her after this.
"It will take me some time to get it set up. The man will have to believe it is a legitimate game or he might not risk coming." Gerald spoke while he held her, and the sound rumbled in his chest. "You need to explain the plan to Alex and do what you must to convince him to go along with it."
"I'm not sure he will listen."
"You can persuade him. A wife always knows how to do that."
"We don't have the kind of marriage you and mother had."
Gerald laughed and Rachel felt it through his entire body. She pulled back and looked up at him in confusion.
"What kind of marriage did you think we had?" Gerald asked. "Certainly not a perfect one. I can still remember how pretty your mother looked when she was angry with me. Her cheeks would turn red an
d her eyes would be shooting sparks at me."
"I don't remember you fighting.”
"You were just a little girl and we tried to keep it out of sight. That doesn't mean it wasn't there.”
"I think Alex and I fight more than we don't."
Gerald reached up and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear as he had when she was a child. "You two are still getting to know each other, but I assure you that the love is there."
Rachel couldn't admit that to her father, but she was having trouble fighting the idea to herself.
"Get some sleep. I will be back in the morning to work out the details." Gerald placed a kiss on his daughter's head.
Once her father was gone, Rachel felt completely alone. The house was quiet and Alex was asleep. She went to sit with him and watch him, but after a few minutes, the silence grew deafening. She chose to go back to his study and attempt to read a book.
That's where she was when Daphne arrived home from her ball. One look at Rachel's face and Daphne panicked.
"What happened? Is Alex hurt?"
The young girl's face was scared and Rachel didn't know if the truth would help. It hadn't help ease her fears. She told Daphne what happened but left out some of the more horrific details. At the end of the story, the girl fell into one of the chairs, a blank look on her face.
"He's returned." she mumbled. "Alex has been waiting years to face him, and now he's here."
"Yes, but he's been very careful about protecting his identity."
"I can't believe I shook his hand. I smiled at him. I flirted with him."
"You didn't know."
Rachel watched as Daphne tried not to break and lost the battle. The poor girl began to shake with sobs. Not knowing anything else to do, Rachel came to kneel beside her in the chair and offer her a hand to hold. It felt good to be of assistance in some way.
"Alex was devastated last time he dealt with that man. How is he going to handle it now?" Daphne asked.
"My father and I have a plan. It's a good plan. It will make sure Deckland pays for what he did."
"Still, Alex must be so upset."
Rachel chose not to tell Daphne how badly her bother was beaten. She wasn't going to let her see him in such a condition.