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“My apologies,” the man muttered as he entered, not bothering to spare her a glance.
Madalene knew she couldn’t stay by the door for the entire evening, so she started walking between the tables. The men glanced up at her, eyeing her with approval, but their focus returned back to the cards in their hands.
A serving woman approached her with an empty tray in her hand and asked, “Are you lost, dear?”
“Why do you say that?”
The woman gave her an amused look. “You aren’t the type of woman we usually cater to.”
“Oh,” Madalene replied. “I was hoping to speak to the man in charge.”
“May I ask why?”
Madalene took a step closer to the woman so as to be heard over the boisterous noise in the hall. “I have some business I need to discuss with him,” she asserted.
The woman considered her for a moment before saying, “Follow me.” Then, she spun on her heel and started circumventing the tables.
Following close behind, Madalene gripped the strings to her reticule tighter. She hoped that the man in charge would be somewhat pleasant.
At the end of the hall, there was a closed door that the woman approached and banged on. It opened and a rough-looking man stared back at her.
“This woman would like to speak to Eddy,” the woman announced, gesturing back at her.
The man turned his beady eyes towards her, and Madalene resisted the urge to shrink back. “Come on in,” he said, opening the door wide.
The woman turned back to face her and mouthed, “Good luck.”
Madalene walked hesitantly into the small room and was startled when the door slammed behind her.
Another man sat at a large, imposing desk placed next to a window. He had a big head, a crooked nose, and thinning black hair combed over to the side. He smiled at her, but it appeared forced.
“I’m Eddy,” he said. “You wished to see me.”
Madalene nodded. “I did,” she replied, hoping her voice sounded more confident than she felt. “I would like to conduct some business with you.”
“Interesting. And what kind of business would you like to do with me?”
Taking a step closer to the desk, Madalene shared, “My friend, Edith Hardy, has gone missing, and I understand that her father owed you some money.”
“I am sad to hear about Miss Hardy going missing, but you are correct that Mr. Hardy did owe me some money,” Eddy revealed. “Quite a lot, actually.”
“If I pay the money back, would you let Miss Hardy go free?”
Eddy leaned back in his seat, eyeing her curiously. “What makes you think I had something to do with Miss Hardy’s disappearance?”
“Mrs. Hardy mentioned the possibility.”
With a loud laugh, Eddy said, “You must not believe everything you hear, darling.”
Madalene tensed at his condescending tone, but it was not the time to back down. “Do we have a deal or not?” she boldly asked.
The humor was stripped from Eddy’s face. “We do not, because I had nothing to do with Miss Hardy’s disappearance. After all, why would I hurt the lady who has been gracious enough to pay me back these past few months?”
When she didn’t say anything, Eddy continued. “But I do intend to make Mrs. Hardy pay for making such slanderous accusations against me, especially since she isn’t in a position to pay me back for her worthless husband’s debts.”
“Please don’t do that,” Madalene pleaded. “Allow me to pay off her debts.”
Eddy made a clucking noise with his tongue. “It is rather a large sum,” he stated. “Thirty pounds, to be precise.”
