“We do not call them that, my lord,” Henbury said. “They are muses.”
Jareth was quickly moving beyond surprise to outrage. “It doesn’t matter what you call them,” he said. “It is all the same. God’s Bones, this cannot be true!”
Henbury was genuinely puzzled at the outrage. “The Feast has been in the de Long family for many years,” he said. “It wasn’t just yer uncle, my lord. His father before him, and his before him. Ye did not know?”
Realizing this enterprise was generational did nothing for Jareth’s shock or anger. He looked at the men around him, feeling a great deal of embarrassment. They’d all come to witness his shameful inheritance. The fact that this was some family secret kept from him only made him feel more foolish. After a moment, he closed his eyes and clapped a hand on his forehead.
“I did not know,” he muttered. “How is that even possible? Surely my mother knew. My father must have known. And no one bothered to mention it.”
Henbury wasn’t sure what to say. “Ye must find Desdra, my lord,” he said again. “She will tell you everything.”
Jareth shook his head quickly. “I am not going anywhere,” he said. “Bring this Desdra woman to me immediately. I willnotgo to a brothel. I certainly will not own one.”
Henbury was coming to realize that the man who identified himself as Lord Chester’s nephew was grossly unhappy with the inheritance he’d been given. Perhaps it wasn’t the most prestigious bequest, but it was a moneymaker. It also did good for the town. Henbury had been around it for so long that the fact it featured women meant nothing to him. It was simply one business in Lord Chester’s empire.
But, clearly, the knight didn’t feel that way.
Perhaps Henbury needed to explain a little more than he had.
“It is not as bad as that, my lord,” he said. “Aphrodite’s Feast is well respected, even by the church. They do not mind it.”
Jareth was incredulous. “How can they not mind it?”
“Because it is more than what ye think,” Henbury said. “Come inside and I’ll explain it all to ye. Then ye can proceed into town, as ye’ll be fully informed.”
Jareth was quite sure he wouldn’t be proceeding anywhere that had to do with a brothel, but he took the man up on his invitation to go inside the manse. The ride from London had been tiring and he was ready to sit and rest. But before he could do that, he took the opportunity to inspect the grounds and the manse itself. At close range, he wasn’t disappointed with what he saw.
Redcliffe Hill Manor was astonishing.
It was enough to take his mind off the brothel for the moment. He walked the yard of the manse with his friends, with Henbury trailing after him, and he inspected the stables and the few outbuildings there were. Then he went inside the manse only to discover that the entire thing was furnished in absolute riches. Cushions on the chairs, tapestries on the walls, and curtains on the windows. The feasting table had lion’s heads carved at each corner, and above the hearth, on a long wooden mantel, sat a dozen plates of pewter and at least one plate of gold with a few semiprecious stones embedded in it.
“Incredible,” Stefan said, standing near Jareth. “My family is wealthy, so when I say that this is an astonishing display of wealth, you can believe it.”
Jareth glanced at him, though it was difficult for him to tear his eyes away from what he was seeing. “I knew the man was rich, but this is beyond anything I could imagine,” he said. “And this was built from the shipping business?”
“Not all of it, my lord,” Henbury said, speaking on something he knew about. “What ye mostly see is the wealth from Aphrodite’s Feast.”
Jareth was reminded of that which he’d been happy to forget. With a sigh, he turned to the old man. “No brothel can bring in this kind of coinage.”
“The Feast can.”
Jareth didn’t want to hear that. “I am not sure how much plainer I can be,” he said. “I do not want this Feast place. No moral man would.”
Henbury stiffened. “Lord Chester was an exceedingly moral man, my lord,” he said. “Ye do not understand about The Feast. Ye do not understand that it provides positions for women who have nowhere to go. Women who are widows or spinsters. It gives them the opportunity to earn a living so they are not destitute.”
Jareth wasn’t sold. “Earn a living by receiving money for… favors.”
Henbury shrugged. “Only if they wish to,” he said. “They are not forced to do anything they do not wish to do. Most of them simply sing or dance or have conversations with men who pay them for such things. Women are creatures of beauty and companionship, and for those who do not know the benefits of such things, at Aphrodite’s Feast, they can pay for the privilege and the woman can feed herself and her children. Is that not better than starving?”
“I do not know,” Jareth said with irritation. “Is it? Are you telling me that my uncle made money off their misfortune?”
By this time, all of the Six were listening to Henbury’s explanation and Jareth’s stubborn, but understandable, reaction. It was Aidric who finally leaned into Jareth.
“Mayhap you had better see for yourself,” he muttered. “You may as well inspect that which you are going to refuse. Onlya fool wouldn’t discover the truth, because if what that man is telling you is true, your uncle left you the riches of Midas.”
Jareth looked at him, his lips pressed in a stubborn line, but he refrained from retorting. Aidric was right and he knew it. He glanced at Britt and Dirk, seeing that they were agreeing with Aidric. Jareth was usually the wise and levelheaded one of the group, but in this case, he realized he hadn’t been. He was ready to refuse something outright that he didn’t even know anything about. After a moment, he nodded reluctantly.
“Very well,” he said, though he was clearly unhappy. “I suppose I should examine it before making a decision. Where did you say it was?”
