Taking a deep breath, she gathered her courage and knocked on the door.
The sound was deep and resonant and seemed to echo from inside the hell. Then the door swung open, and they entered.
Inside was a tall, spindly man who looked to be well over a hundred. They were in a small antechamber where everything was red and covered in velvet. The man said nothing, merely gestured at their cloaks which they removed slowly and handed to him. He took them and disappeared through one of three doors. They waited, looking at one another with wide eyes. Rosalie’s heart was in her throat. Violet looked calm and serene, but Iris was fidgeting quite a bit.
The man returned and bowed to them then held out a hand toward the middle door. From behind it, they could hear laughter and the sounds of carousing. The sisters glanced at each other then Rosalie stepped forward and pushed open the door.
She was greeted by a roar of noise.
The gaming hell was huge. As she stepped inside, Rosalie had to crane her neck to see the ceiling which was painted with elaborate frescoes in gold leaf. Giant chandeliers of crystal hung from the ceiling, casting glittering, rainbow-colored light over the scene.
And what a scene it was. Dozens of gaming tables, all surrounded by gentlemen, ladies, and women who were decidedlynotladies, unmasked and in low-cut gowns. The men and women were drinking, mostly flutes of champagne but also whiskey and pints of cider while those seated at the tables were either playing cards or throwing dice. Everyone was making a lot of noise, and that, along with the dizzying crush of people, nearly overwhelmed all of Rosalie’s senses.
“This is madness,” Violet breathed as she glanced around.
Iris grimaced. “Complete madness.”
They stepped into the room, and the door shut behind them with an ominousbang.Now that she was inside the hell, Rosalie felt her excitement surge. A waiter passed with a tray, and she seized a flute of champagne from it.
Iris raised an eyebrow. “Should you really be drinking?”
“I’ve got to make it look real, don’t I?” she grinned. “Now, remember the plan: we spread out, but we always keep one another in sight. And when Lord Cain approaches me?—”
“We remember,” Iris assured her. “Now come on, let’s go.”
They set off into the room, Rosalie making sure that she could see her sisters at all times. She went first to a table where people were playing a version of what looked like loo although the rules seemed more complicated and the amount of money on the table made her feel faint. She stood near the table, watching and taking small sips of her champagne. A large, red-faced man seemed to be winning. She observed the game for a minute or two then she felt a prickling on the back of her skin, like someone was watching her.
Turning quickly, her eyes met those of a man standing on the opposite side of the hell. He was tall and wiry, with a sharp chinand mustache. He was too far away to see the color of his eyes, but there was an intensity to them that made her skin crawl.
They stared at each other for a moment then the man looked away. It wasn’t Lord Cain, but she wondered if, perhaps, this man worked for him. Then a waiter passed in front of her line of sight, and by the time he was gone, so was the man.
Shivering slightly, she turned back to the loo table then looked over to where Violet was sitting at a craps table about twenty feet away. Violet gave her a curious look—she must have seen Rosalie turn—but Rosalie shook her head.It wasn’t him.
“Well, hello there, pretty lady,” a man to Rosalie’s left said, and she turned to see that the red-faced man who had been winning earlier was now standing next to her. He was holding a glass of whiskey and swaying slightly, leering at her with bulging eyes and several rotten teeth. “I saw you watching me,” he crooned, leaning closer to her. His breath stank of alcohol, and she leaned instinctively away. “How abouts we have a private little chat? And then you can sit on my lap and tell me all your favorite things, and I’ll buy them all for you.” He jangled his purse, and Rosalie felt her stomach twist.
“No thank you,” she said as firmly as she could.
“Come on, little lassie,” he insisted, and he reached out and grabbed her arm.
“Let go of me,” Rosalie said, a little more loudly.
“What’s the problem?” the man leered. “Why else did a pretty little thing like you come to a place like this? I know you want it.”
“I said, let go of me!”
The man’s expression darkened, and his fingers tightened on her arm. “What did you say to me?” he hissed.
Rosalie tried to rip her arm away, but he held on. She looked around, to see if Violet or Iris were near, but she couldn’t see them, and when she looked back at the man, his face had turned purple.
He yanked her closer to him. “Come on and give me a kiss,” he snarled as his big mouth came toward her. She closed her eyes in horror.
And then suddenly, the man released her. At the same time, he let out a littleoofof pain. Rosalie opened her eyes. The man was being held by his cravat, which was choking him, by a newcomer wearing a mask.
“The lady said no,” the man in the mask said in a cold whisper, and then he threw the man back against the loo table, causing it to shake and the players to look over in alarm and annoyance. The man slumped against the table then sank to the ground, looking up in fear at the man towering over him.
It was Lord Cain.
“Are you ready?” Grove asked Nathan and Lord Redfield as the carriage pulled to a halt.
