AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Edmond made no reply and soon left to visit the lower floors. There the gambling took place with dancers attending to their wealthy patrons from whom he took dark pleasure in taking thousands of guineas from their banks.
Oliver, who helped manage the floors and had a silver tongue the bewigged and masked ladies seemed to love, also left the room with a silent raising of his glass of brandy. Genevieve remained, and Lucien turned to face her.
“Why do you have that troubled frown about your face, minx?”
Her mouth smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. “If she is a lady…she is not for you.”
He chuckled. “That I met a lady who is holding me enthralled for a bit does not mean I want to marry her.”
His sister’s eyes narrowed in contemplation. “Wanting to bed her is just as dangerous. Even more so.”
She jumped off the surface of the oak desk she had been sitting on and came over to him. Those eyes were wide with remembered pain as she stared up at him. “Remember, three of us have been burned by those who believe they can use and discard us. They treated our hearts and pride as if we were not people who love and feel like themselves. Do not forget those lessons, Luc. Please.”
Lucien chucked her gently under her chin before he drew her into his arms and hugged her. He and Ollie, at one point, had been foolish enough to fall for ladies of quality and were rebuffed. Vi had a tender and giving heart, and she had fallen heedlessly in love with the son of an earl. That bastard had simply seen her as a beautiful plaything, the elusive Genevieve who sang in the club like an angel. Lucien had taken great satisfaction in slamming his fist in the man’s face and seeing him bleed after he had stomped on her heart and pride.
Yes, their family had well learned the lessons, and gruffly Lucien assured his sister that all was well. Vi made her way from the room to her private chambers across the hall. There she would change with the help of a maid, don a wig and a mask to enthrall the crowd with her voice for at least an hour. She was the incredible draw to their gambling den. They had created a sort of mysterious allure around their sister’s identity, and none knew the identity of the songstress who graced them with her beauty and voice once a week. She was ruthlessly protected by two bodyguards, and none of the patrons were allowed to accost or touch her. They were the only gambling den in all of London that offered such a rare entertainment, and they were loved for it.
Lucien and his brothers’ only dissatisfaction about the matter was the men’s fascination with their baby sister. Vi had merely laughed, finding it all amusing, and reminded them she was protected, and they should not worry. It rankled them, but they could not talk her out of being a part of the club. Only tonight, a damn duke’s son approached Lucien with an offer of five thousand pounds for a night with her. The boy must have seen the cold fury in his eyes, for he had looked nervous before stammering a reply and hastening away. He was damn lucky he had not made the offer to Edmond. Duke’s son or no, he would have found himself on his arse outside.
Lucien’s heart lurched as a flash of raven black hair caught his attention. He hissed out a slow breath as the lady he highlighted tilted her head in a laugh. For a brief second he thought it was Miss Mimi, but the shape of her face was wrong. It was not Miss Mimi. Lucien scrubbed a hand over his face. Those brief flashes of her seemed as if they had been seared onto his brain. He suspected he would be able to know the shape of her…the slant of her cheekbones, the slope of her forehead he had glimpsed beneath the bonnet and those remarkable blue eyes anywhere.
The hunger he had to know her was baffling, for he had never felt this immediate connection with another.Was it love?He laughed at himself, scoffing at his absurdity. As a gambling den owner, and a financier, a man many referred to as a loan shark, he was not the type of man with whom any well-bred lady would want to be involved. And without a doubt, Miss Mimi had been a quality bit, so he needed to quash this damn, foolish fascination he had with her.
If his siblings knew he had taken his carriage and drove around Mayfair yesterday in the hopes he might glimpse her again, they would be astonished. And that he had visited Hyde Park twice in vain…hoping for another chance encounter.
“Forget her,” he muttered, lifting the glass to his mouth to swallow the last of his brandy. Lucien had been a fool once. It would be a damn sight if he made the same mistake again.
CHAPTER5
“Ibelieve we should have taken a servant or a footman with us,” Ester said with a considering frown. “Recalling all the lessons on propriety is rather tedious, but after Ellie’s adventure to Hyde Park and back without a chaperone, this rule has been stressed repeatedly.”
“There are four of us,” Lizzy pointed out with great exasperation. “I do not think it is necessary. And to be fair, we did leave the house with servants. They have simply carried back our shopping boxes without us.”
Eleanor laughed and glanced upward, revealing her fair skin to the warm rays of the sun. “I am certain we are still to be scolded by the old dragon. We should not have sent the carriage ahead of us and decide to walk.”
Emma glanced up at the bright sky. “Well, wehadto. Look how marvelous the weather is, and we are very close to home. I daresay another fifteen minutes and we shall be there.”
Lizzy cast her a glance. “How do you feel about the upcoming ball, Ellie?”
Her other sisters fell silent as they keenly listened. “You mean about meeting Mr. Hayford?”
“Yes.”
Of course, the entire family knew of their grandaunt’s plan, and even Colin and their mother approved. There was a frightful and uncertain squeeze about her heart, but she brushed it aside. “Mr. Hayford has a reputation of being handsome and good-natured,” she said, “I believe we might suit.”
“Well, I think it is outrageous,” Emma cried, “Agreeing to marry a gentleman you have not met? Are we living in medieval times?”
Eleanor laughed. “It is not so serious as that, Emma. I agreed to a courtship. If we do not like each other, I daresay we will not commit to going any further.”
All her sisters sent her doubtful stares, sending a flutter of nervousness low in her belly. “You do not believe it to be so?”
“We have heard mama and the old dragon talking,” Ester said, her eyes glittering with her anger. “They are talking about wedding venues and dates. Fanny married in a largetonwedding for all to see and speculate on, and the same must be done for you. They do not speak as if any outcome other than marriage to be possible!”
“And would that be so terrible?” Eleanor murmured. “I do want to marry and be the mistress of my own home. It would please me even more if my marriage was of benefit to my family. I love you all and what Lady Celdon and Colin are trying to do is really wonderful for us.”
“What if you never grow to love him?” Lizzy murmured, an unfathomable look in her eyes.
“Oh, what do I know of love?” Eleanor said, “to be able to speculate on it? I have never felt or tasted it to long for or miss it. I daresay I would not even know if my marriage lacked it!”
