"We?" Lucy shot back a look of complete amazement. "You can't mean...?"
"Of course that's what I mean." Elyse turned back to the mirror. "It won't work unless we both go."
"You are crazy!" Lucy looked back at her with astonishment. "No woman has ever been inside White's before. At least no woman who's a lady. The only women allowed inside are... Well, it's only a rumor, of course."
"Yes, I know," Elyse replied. She had heard the rumors as well. "Don't you think it's about time a lady did see just what goes on in an exclusive men's club? Or perhaps two ladies?"
Lucy's eyes widened. "Andrew would never allow it... "
"Which, is precisely the reason you're to say nothing to him about it." She saw the objection on her friend's face.
"Haven't you been just the least bit curious to know what goes on at those clubs, or what Andrew does when he goes there?" The expression on Lucy's face was her answer.
"What time do we go?" Lucy asked with growing excitement.
"Chivers told me that Jerrold usually leaves for the club around nine o'clock. We should plan to arrive around ten o'clock."
Lucy's hands trembled with the boldness of their plan. "Aren't you just a little bit nervous about this?"
Elyse smiled. "I think it's exciting. A little like that trapeze act we saw at the circus last summer, don't you think? Besides, it's all very harmless. We'll go for just a little while, and then leave. After all, Jerrold claims it's all quite boring.
"Supposedly the men play a few games of cards, talk, smoke their cigarettes, and discuss whose horse won at the races. He claims I wouldn't possibly be interested in any of it. Still," Elyse mused thoughtfully, "it does make you wonder why they all go if it's so boring." A mischievous gleam danced in her eyes.
"What happens if we're caught?" Lucy asked. "We need an escape plan."
"We won't be caught. Andrew won't even know about it," Elyse replied. "You'll be home and in bed before he leaves the club. But just in case, if anything does go wrong, we'll split up and leave by separate doors. I found out there are two back entrances as well as an employees' entrance out the back alley. What do you think?"
"Think!" Lucy gaped at her reflection in the mirror. "I think you’re insane."
"But you will go." Elyse turned to her friend.
Lucy sighed. "We're going to regret this," she predicted, but the light in her eyes matched Elyse's for excitement. "Still, I wouldn't miss it for the world!"
Elyse smiled. "You'll find clothes for yourself in that box." She indicated the box on the bed. "They should fit quite nicely."
Lucy pulled the man's coat from the box and tried it on. It was a perfect fit.
"You were obviously fairly certain that I would go along with your plan," Lucy commented.
Elyse smiled. "Haven't we always been partners in every little escapade since we were small?"
"Yes. And I keep remembering the disastrous results of your last plan, exchanging places at my own wedding just to see if Andrew would notice the difference. He was on to us and said nothing, and you practically ended up married to my husband. I would never have forgiven you for that," Lucy replied.
"You have to admit, it worked, for a while. Andrew kept waiting for one of us to end it, and we kept waiting for him to say something."
"What could I say?" Lucy's eyes widened innocently. "I was the farthest from the altar and the bishop."
Elyse laughed. "Remember the bishop's face, when he finally realized he very nearly married the wrong bride to the groom?"
"I thought the poor man would have apoplexy. And dear Anne almost fainted." Lucy sighed a small twinge of concern for the stepmother she'd never gotten along with. Then her mouth twitched with delight.
"But you'd never have gotten through the wedding night, my dear. Even if he were a blind man, Andrew would have known the difference."
Elyse turned, her eyes widening at the revelation of a secret she'd not known until this moment. "Lucy! Do you mean to tell me that you and Andrew...? That you... before you were married?"
Lucy smiled as she realized that she'd finally managed to shock Elyse. "Of course. How do you expect anyone to endure a betrothal that lasts an entire year? I'd have come unraveled if I'd had to wait a year to make love with him. Certainly, you and Jerrold...?" she stopped as Elyse glanced away.
"Do you mean to tell me that you and Jerrold have never made love?" She was completely aghast.
