CHAPTER 1
“Stop, please, move out of the way.”
Penelope Morton felt a burning sensation in her lungs. It was not as though she was not used to physical exertion, nor was she too old to be unable to deal with it. But she had been running for so long that it felt as though her knees would now give out at any moment.
“What is the rush, young lady?” A man stopped her to ask, but she did not bother breaking her sprint. Instead, she ignored the strange looks thrown her way by passersby.
She did not know where she was headed herself. Only that she could no longer turn back.
The narrow street curved sharply, and she rounded the corner blindly, crashing into an unknown street.
“Finally,” she said to herself, stopping for a breath now that there was some semblance of relief, and the invisibility of being in a crowded street, which had enough people that one could easily blend in without being spotted immediately.
But instinctively, Penelope knew that she would not be fully in the clear until she had a place to hide. At least for the time being until she sorted out the mess of her own mind.
She had to act quickly. Wasting no time at all, Penelope impatiently tapped against a wooden door, desperate for refuge. Her pale knuckles bruised against the rough surface but her rapping remained uninterrupted. She looked back once, as if worried that she had been too late already.
Any moment now, she could be spotted. Her knocking grew louder.
“Open up, please,” she rasped. From the outside, she could see a light inside the establishment. On top of the door, there was a worn- out wooden sign.
Walford’s.
“Is someone in there?” she called out again and just before she was to begin another round of knocking, the door opened.
“Are you lost?” came the response a moment later, as a man peered out the door. He eyed her carefully, taking in the disheveled state of her.
Presentablewas not a word she would use to describe herself at this moment. Her hair had fallen out of her once tightly knit chignon , the hem of her silky lavender gown was muddied, and a battered flower bouquet remained clutched in her hands – one that she had nearly forgotten about.
Managing a faint smile, she held it up to the man. “Can you let me in please?”
“And why would I shudder to do such a thing?” he asked.
It was a fair enough inquiry. She was a stranger, and he did not owe her any protection. She gathered her dress, which was now soaked at the bottom, and put on the most innocent expression that she could fathom.
“I have nowhere else to go,” she said in a voice that she hoped would be difficult to refuse, in an attempt to evoke some sense of honor in the man she was addressing.
The man’s gaze dropped to the bouquet she clutched in her hand, and then back to her face. He then looked around the crowded street.
“This street is no place for a woman to be dwelling,” he grumbled underneath his breath, “and that, too, unaccompanied. You ought to be careful.”
“It is a tad bit too late for that,” she said, both apologetically and a bit relieved. He seemed to be softening up, slightly.
“Well then,” he said, sighing in defeat. “Come on in then. But don’t you dare cause any trouble.”
Penelope did not know how to tell him it would be difficult to cause any more trouble than she already had.
He opened the door wider to let her in, watching her carefully at every step.
“Thank you,” Penelope said earnestly as she rushed inside. The first thing to note was just how much warmer it was on the inside, as compared to the street. It was a warmth that she welcomed eagerly. “You do not need to look so worried. I mean no harm.”
The man looked the furthest thing from convinced, still shaking his head.
“This is the last thing I needed tonight,” he said, “I am going to have to explain to the owner that I have let in a runaway bride into his establishment.”
It was at that moment that Penelope realized exactly where she had landed . It was a gentleman’s club, and quite a popular one by the looks of it, as many men occupied the various tables. A few curious glances were thrown in her direction.
“Follow me,” the man said to her before Penelope could stop to take a closer look. She obeyed without questioning, thoughshe paused for a moment when she caught sight of her own reflection in one of the mirrors placed on the wall.
