“Actually, no,” Heloise replied with no little wonder.“She succeeded in hiding it from everyone.”
Iris frowned again.“If so, why you were upset when she left?”
“No doubt because Miss Marlow went to a gaming hell in the first place,” Euphemia explained.
“But that’s not it at all,” Heloise replied, her anxiety returning tenfold when she recalled Julia’s face pale with fear.“I am upset because, before she quite knew what was happening, she lost quite heavily.So much that Lady Ayersley put up her ruby jewelry so Julia might continue playing.Jewelry that was quickly lost to Dionysus.Jewelry,” she continued, unable to keep her voice from shaking, “that Lord Ayersley gave his wife upon their engagement, and that he has since decreed she must wear to their anniversary ball in a month’s time.And if Julia does not somehow produce the rubies by then, Lady Ayersley has threatened to accuse her of stealing them.”
The Widows fell into a stunned silence.“Which would mean,” Euphemia managed, eyes wide, “she will either be hanged or transported.”
“Yes,” Heloise said through a throat tight with fear.
“How horrible,” Iris whispered.
Sylvia, however, quickly rallied, waving a hand in the air.“It seems an easy enough fix.If she put the jewels up as collateral, we simply need to go to Dionysus and produce the funds to secure the necklace.”
Heloise shook her head.“Julia has already tried that.They claim they have no record of the necklace.”
That seemed to give the viscountess pause.She raisedone silver brow.“No record of it?How strange.I hear Dionysus is quite meticulous and aboveboard in everything.”
“Perhaps they are not as ‘meticulous and aboveboard’ as they would like everyone to believe,” Heloise said darkly, the anger from before sizzling hot under her skin.
Laney sat forward, no doubt sensing there was much more than anger behind the words.“What do you mean, Heloise?”
“Julia is certain she witnessed the dealer at her table manipulating the deck, and that is the reason she lost so heavily.”
A silence fell over the room once more, this time electric with shock.
“Dionysus, cheating?”Laney breathed, finally breaking the spell Heloise’s revelation had cast.“I have never heard anything of the sort said about that hell.Their reputation is a source of pride to them.”
And Laney would know.Once an acclaimed pugilist, she was the Widows’ doorway into London’s underground gaming empires.Judging by the disbelief stamped on her face, she was having trouble wrapping her head around such a piece of news.Truly, Heloise didn’t blame her.It was an astonishing piece of information, after all.While the lower-class “copper hells” were known for their shady dealings, the upper-class “golden hells” thrived on their reputations for fair play.And Dionysus, by all accounts, was the most trustworthy of the bunch.
Sighing, feeling more alone than ever—which truly was saying something, considering how adrift she typically felt—she opened her mouth to excuse herself.
Sylvia, however, was once again quicker than she.
“Well then,” she declared, sitting forward, “let us begin to plan what needs to be done to recover those jewels.”
Heloise stared at her.“What are you talking about?”
Laney smiled widely, an excited gleam entering her eyes.“Oh yes,” she said to Sylvia, clasping her hand, “let’s begin.I can see this will be quite the job.”
“Job?”Heloise gaped at them.“What job?There is no job.”
“Of course there is,” Iris said, taking up the notebook and pencil she always kept with her, opening to a blank page, and looking about in expectation.
“And an exciting one, as well,” Euphemia said with a grin, putting her stitching aside, a fresh enthusiasm lighting her face.
Heloise shook her head, frowning at the lot of them.“I cannot allow you to get involved in such a mess.”
“You’re notallowingus to do anything,” Sylvia declared.“This is what we do, after all, protecting the innocent, righting wrongs.We go into this quite willingly, I assure you.”When Heloise made to protest once more, the viscountess held up a staying hand.“We shall all be part of this, and so you may as well accept it.You cannot take on Dionysus alone.And besides, it is the least I can do.”She gave Heloise a pained smile.“I’m afraid my guilt will allow me to do no less.”
“Your guilt?”Heloise asked with no little disbelief.
“Certainly.If I had given you proper warning of Lady Ayersley’s past propensity for gambling, you might have discouraged Miss Marlow from accepting a position with her, and she might not now be in this mess.And so you must allow me to make reparations.”
Which was as far-fetched a reason as Heloise had ever heard.Yet she found she could no longer fight their help.The truth of the matter was, she was frightened nearly witless at the danger to Julia.She would do anything to helpher.Anything.Even if that meant adding to the massive debt she owed these women for taking her in when she had been beyond hope.
Blinking back tears, she nodded.“Very well,” she replied.“Where shall we begin?”
