Pamela would love to roll her eyes, but that would only bring another reprimand from her sister-in-law. Most likely her brother spent time at his club to avoid his ‘suffering in silence’ good wife.
Corinne continued to chatter on and on about the not very entertaining social season, her many health issues, her difficulties in finding decent staff, and her annoyance with her brother because she had not yet conceived his heir.
As if it didn’t take two to make a baby. But then, she was sure Corinne only wanted to produce an heir that so she could say she’d done her duty and then banish David from her bed.
Once the tea arrived and Pamela poured and fixed Corinne’s tea the way she liked it, and passed her a plate with biscuits on it, did the woman state the purpose for her visit.
Taking a delicate sip of tea, she placed the cup firmly in the saucer, folded her hands on her lap and looked Pamela in the eye. “It troubles me greatly to tell you that your brother is extremely upset to learn that you are in London without telling him, and that you are associating yourself with a known criminal, a gambling house owner, and the product of the riffraff of London.”
For effect, she patted the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief. “It simply breaks my heart to see the earl suffer like this.”
Pamela was getting closer to eye-rolling every minute. Instead, she took a sip of tea knowing Corinne was not yet finished with her tirade.
“It further troubles me because your brother is so distraught at this situation that he won’t confront you, and I found it necessary for me to take up for him.”
Translation: David either didn’t know Corinne was here or told her not to come.
“M-may I sp-speak?”
Corinne dabbed her eyes again and waved at her. “If you are able. I see you still have difficulty.”
Pamela gritted her teeth at the veiled insult. “I am in L-London to find a young l-lady I am friends with who h-has disappeared. The m-man I am associating m-myself with is a highly re-respectable business owner in Bath with a c-caring heart who offered to h-help m-me.”
It was best not to tell Corinne about the carriage accident or exactly to where Lizbeth had disappeared. Most likely she would be sending for smelling salts if she did.
“You must disassociate yourself with him immediately.” The pretend tears disappeared, and Corinne sat straight as an arrow. “I am prepared to bring you to our house until you can make arrangements to return to your home in Bath.”
Well, then.
It appeared this sisterly reunion would not encompass a return to their home permanently. After all, even without her association with Nick she was still a social disgrace as far as Corinne was concerned.
“While I a-appreciate y-your th-thoughtfulness,”—she almost gagged—"I’m afraid I m-must d-decline your generous offer. W-we are close to fi-finding my friend and I do n-not plan to leave here until s-she has been f-found and I know s-she is safe.”
Corinne narrowed her eyes. “What, exactly, has this man gotten you involved in?”
Pamela was growing tired of the discourse, the innuendoes, and flat out insults. “As I exp-plained, sister, he has not g-gotten me into anything. He is h-h-helping me find a fr-friend.”
“What of your reputation? You, a young unmarried woman, is living in a man’s home. Brazenly. That is how I—I mean we—found out.”
“This home b-belongs to Mr. Montrose, another r-r-respectable business m-man. We are st-staying here temporarily while w-we conduct our s-search. If you are c-c-concerned for my reputation, I will be m-m-more than happy to introduce y-you to Mrs. Fletcher, who is employed b-by Mr. Smith and is acting as m-my chaperone.”
Corinne snorted. Something Pamela would never have expected.
“She works for Mr. Smith? Well, I’m sure if she wishes to continue with her employment, she will look whatever way Mr. Smith wishes her to look.”
Pamela jumped up, almost spilling her tea. Why she felt the need to appease this woman was beyond her, but she would not allow Corinne to leave with the idea that anything untoward was going on. “If y-you will excuse me, I shall be r-right b-back.”
She strode from the room, her skirts swishing, her face red, and her heart pounding. That woman would drive a saint to commit murder. How her brother put up with her she could never know. Corinne was nasty and mean, all underneath a veneer of propriety.
“Mrs. Fl-fletcher.” Pamela knocked on the woman’s bedchamber door. Hopefully she was not napping, which she did on occasion.
The door opened with Mrs. Fletcher looking quite surprised. “Is everything all right, my lady?”
Pamela took a deep breath. “Y-yes. Just fine. However, my s-s-sister-in-law has paid a v-v-visit and she is concerned th-that I am living h-here with no chaperone. May I impose upon y-you to join us in the d-d-drawing room for t-tea?”
“Of course, my dear.” Mrs. Fletcher looked in the mirror next to the door and smoothed her hair back. “Lead the way, my lady.”
They returned to the room to find Corinne walking about, examining items on the tables. She turned, her fake-warm smile on her lips. “Who have we here?”
Pamela again gritted her teeth, sure she would have worn them down to nubs before this visit ended. “As I exp-plained to you, Corinne th-this is my chaperone.” She placed her hand on Mrs. Fletcher’s arm. “M-may I present t-to you Mrs. Fletcher, h-housekeeper to Mr. Smith in his B-bath home and chaperone on this t-trip.” She turned to Mrs. Fletcher. “This is m-my brother David’s w-wife, Lady Mulgrave.”
Corinne lifted her chin. “He is the Earl of Mulgrave, Pamela. Please keep your manners, my dear.” Her lips moved into what she no doubt thought was a smile, but it managed to be a grin that would frighten a small child.
Mrs. Fletcher smiled. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
Of course, Corinne didn’t return the sentiment, but merely dipped her head.
“Mrs. F-fletcher would you care for t-tea?” Pamela moved to the chair she’d occupied and lifted the tea pot.
“Sister, dear, I am afraid I do not have any more time to spare. I have an appointment with my dressmaker.” Corinne glided past Pamela to the entrance hall, pulling on her gloves.
Pamela finally rolled her eyes, but unfortunately only Mrs. Fletcher saw it. And smiled.
Once at the door, Corinne allowed Grossman to help her into her coat. “I prefer not to have tea with the help, my dear. That is something you need to work on.” She patted Pamela’s cheek and air-kissed her once again.
“I do hope our little talk has given you something to think about. Despite having that chaperone, it is not the thing to be staying here. You are welcome to come to us as I stated until you return to Bath.” She stepped through the door as Grossman opened it. “If you are not concerned for your own reputation, think of the damage you are doing to your brother.”
With those words she sailed down the stairs and into the Mulgrave carriage. Pamela shook her head and returned to the drawing room.
Mrs. Fletcher held up the teapot. “More tea, my dear?”
“How about sh-sherry, instead.” She headed to the sidebar where Mr. Montrose kept a well-stocked supply of sherry and brandy.
14
A few days later Nick and Marcus met at Marcus’s townhouse in Mayfair. Nick had sent a full description of Lizbeth Davenport to him the evening after they’d met in the club. Pamela had done more than describe the young lady, she had drawn a very good sketch of her likeness. A talent Nick did not realize Pamela possessed.
Nick was amazed when he heard back so quickly from Mallory that he was pretty sure Miss Davenport was at the brothel they had suspected.
“Did you bring a gun?” Marcus pulled on his gloves as they made their way down the steps to Mallory’s well-equipped carriage.
“I always carry one. As well as a dagger. Or two.” He climbed into the carriage. “I was raised on the streets, remember.”
Nick checked his timepiece as the carriage began the trek
over the cobblestones to the brothel. It was approaching ten o’clock, around the time most brothels were busy. They wanted the anonymity of a large crowd.
“As I told you in my note, it’s quite certain that Miss Davenport is at this brothel. She apparently has only been there a few days, however. I’m not sure why the lapse from when she was taken.” Marcus drew out a folded paper from his inside jacket pocket.
“I was also able to get a layout of the building with all the exits marked.”
Nick reached out and took the paper from Marcus’s hands. He leaned closer to the lantern hanging on the wall of the carriage to study the map. “This is quite helpful. How did you get it?”
“Money will buy anything. Trust me.”
Nick looked over the drawing. It was quite detailed. “I will reimburse you.”
“You will do no such thing. The price was well worth rescuing a young lady from the clutches of hell.” He took the paper from Nick that he handed back to him and tucked it away. “My sources tell me the first couple of hours the madam encourages the ‘guests’ to mingle with the ladies, drink, gamble, and otherwise spend money. Then they select their lady of choice and retire to one of the upper bed chambers.”
“That makes it all quite easy.” Nick shifted in his seat and leaned forward, his fingers linked between his knees. “Here is what I propose. We will enter together and go our separate ways but attempt to keep each other in view. I will approach Miss Davenport and let her know who I am and why we are there.”
Marcus nodded.
“I will select her as my lady of choice, and we will retire upstairs. As soon as it appears most of the others are settled in for a while, I will bring her to the end of the corridor where the stairs are. You will meet us there and direct us down and outside.”
The carriage came to a rolling stop in front of the building. There were no indications that this was anything but a townhouse in a fine middle-class neighborhood.
They exited the carriage and Marcus gave instructions to the driver as Nick bounded up the stairs. Once they were together, Nick dropped the door knocker. The door was immediately opened by a tall, bulky man in a liveried suit. “Yes?”
“Mr. Dennis Chambers invited us to join him tonight. I am Lord Mulgrave and this is Mr. Nicholas Smith.”
The man looked them both and up and down, then proceeded to pat them down, taking Marcus’s and Nick’s gun. The doorman handed the guns off to another equally bulky man. “You can retrieve these when you leave.”
He missed the daggers.
Satisfied, the doorman stepped back and they moved forward, following a third man to a large room that might have been a drawing room when the townhouse was originally built. Marcus leaned in next to Nick. “There goes our protection for the evening.”
“I still have two daggers.” He spoke from the side of his mouth. “But if all goes as planned, we won’t need them. I will pass one of the daggers to you when no one is noticing.”
Marcus nodded. They roamed the room, separately as they planned. Nick was just beginning to think they had bad information when he spotted the woman who had to be Miss Davenport. She was a beauty. Dark brown hair, slicked back to show off the fine lines of her face. She had full lips that would drive anyone paying for her services crazy and deep blue eyes that looked as sad as any he’d ever seen.
While the other women strolled the room, obviously looking for the best partner for the evening, Miss Davenport sat on a white padded chair with several men surrounding her, but not engaging her much in conversation. As he watched an older woman dressed in a deep red satin gown that hugged all the curves, she must have been proud of at one time, but no longer held appeal, walked over to her.
She bent and said something to Miss Davenport, who flushed and then stood, causing the men surrounding her to back up. It would not be easy to get to his quarry with the attention she was getting, but he had to do it, and do it fast. He would end up in fisticuffs if he watched one of these men take her by the arm and lead her upstairs.
He quickly decided on another course of action. He walked over to the woman in the red dress and gave her a slight bow. “Good evening, madame. I assume you are the owner?”
She looked him up and down with a sultry look and apparently finding him worthy, bowed her head. “Yes. I am Mrs. Parker. And who are you? I haven’t seen you before.” She waved a red feather fan in her face.
He took her other hand and kissed it. “That is quite true. I am Mr. Nicholas Smith, owner of The Lion’s Den in Bath.”
Her eyebrows rose, apparently impressed with what he said. She perked up, no doubt seeing money signs in her eyes. “Well, it’s a pleasure to welcome you to The Naughty Nest, Mr. Smith.”
Nick almost gagged at the name.
Instead he offered a smile. “I am here at the invitation of Mr. Dennis Chambers.”
“Ah, yes. One of our best customers.” She linked her arm into his and moved him forward. “May I offer you a drink, Mr. Smith?”
“Of course.” Once they were settled at a small table with a watered down, high priced brandy for him and a glass of tea they were passing off as whiskey for her, he made his move.
“I am quite taken with the young lady who was sitting on the chair. The beauty with the pale blue gown.”
“Ah, yes. Diedre. She is one of our new ones. Very popular.”
Nick had to quell the desire to punch the woman in the face, race across the room and grab Miss Davenport. But his idea was to get her out of the place, not end up in jail.
“I would like to request her services for the evening.” He took a sip of his drink and watched the woman’s eyes as she calculated how much she could get from him.
“As I said, she is very popular. Quite expensive, in fact.”
He waved his hand. “Whatever the price, I will pay it.”
“You are smitten?”
He leaned in. “It doesn’t pay to be smitten with a whore, now does it?” He was willing to pay, but didn’t want to be robbed, either.
Mrs. Parker smiled. She recognized he was not a fool. “Very well. You may have her. She will be available in about ten minutes. I will have my man join you to finalize the transaction.”
He nodded as she rose and left the small bar area, her hips in the tight dress swaying in a very practiced walk. His heart thumped with excitement. He was half-way there. He looked around to see if Marcus was in sight but didn’t see him. As soon as he was done with Mrs. Parker’s ‘man’ he would find him and let him know they were moving forward.
Once Nick paid the outrageous fee for Miss Davenport, which he knew the young lady would see very little of, he left his watered-down drink and returned to the main room.
Women had started to pair with various men. Since he’d already secured Miss Davenport for the night, he wandered all the rooms until he found Marcus playing poker. He looked up as Nick approached and threw in his hand. “I’m done, gentlemen.”
They both walked the perimeter of the room. He stealthily handed off one of the daggers. “I got her.”
Marcus nodded. “Good. I’m thinking it will take this crowd about a half hour to become occupied in the rooms upstairs. Once the madam calls for everyone to make their selection, I will disappear outside and enter through the back and meet you at the top of the stairs.”
“Good luck. Be careful, I’m quite certain they will have someone at the door.”
Mrs. Parker made the call for everyone to retire to the rooms upstairs. Nick walked over to Miss Davenport who looked like she was ready to bolt. He took her hand and kissed it. She shrunk back against the wall and he smiled at her. He lowered his voice so no one else could hear him. “I am a friend of Lady Pamela.”
Her eyes grew wide and she licked her lips.
“Don’t be frightened. I have paid for you, but I have no intention of doing anything except getting you out of here.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “If this is some sort of a prank….”
�
��Not at all. We have been looking for you since you disappeared from Mrs. O’Leary’s boarding house.”
A lone tear rolled down her cheek.
He placed her arm in his. “Let’s go upstairs so we can get on with my plan.”
She tugged back slightly, apparently unsure of his intentions. His words could have been misinterpreted.
“I know you have no reason to trust me, but please be at ease. There is another man here, Lord Mulgrave. You might have heard of him. He is the brother of Pamela’s good friend, Lady Berkshire.”
She nodded.
“In about a half hour he will be waiting for us at the top of the back staircase. His carriage is right out front, and we will whisk you away to a townhouse where you will meet up with Lady Pamela.”
She closed her eyes and took in a deep, shuttering breath. She began to move with him, following the other couples up the stairs. He felt her entire body shaking as they moved forward.
He followed her to a room that was decorated in the same deep red satin as Mrs. Parker’s gown. He cringed at the mirror on the ceiling and the feathers decorating the headboard. Not that he’d never been to a place like this before. He was a man, after all. But knowing this poor, defenseless young lady had been snatched from her home and forced to work here drove him mad.
He led Miss Davenport to the bed and released her arm. “We will just sit here for a while and then make our way to the staircase.”
“What about Mrs. Parker?” That was the first time she spoke, and he was surprised at the sultriness of her voice. No wonder she was ‘popular.’
“Lord Mulgrave managed to get a map of the building. He is confident in his ability to avoid detection.”
“Mrs. Parker has a man at the back door.”
Nick nodded. “We allowed for that.” He patted her hand. “Don’t worry, Miss Davenport, we will get you out of here tonight if I have to toss you out the window.”
For the first time since he laid eyes on her, she smiled.
Nick listened by the door until he was sure everyone was busy with their night of pleasure and no longer roaming the halls. He signaled to Miss Davenport and she joined him from where she’d sat on the bed the entire time they were in the room. He turned to her and raised his finger to his lips and slowly opened the door.
Lady Pamela and the Gambler: The Merry Misfits of Bath - Book Three Page 12