“I must go inside, Lucas.”
“This is no area for a lady!”
She had attempted to slip out of the house undetected. Her intention had been to call a hackney and travel to Spitalfields alone. Lucas had found her on the road. He’d been roaring at her since she’d convinced him that she must go and he’d reluctantly agreed to accompany her.
“Your father called me to his room before we left. He told me that I must watch over you and your mother. He said there would be some odd, unexplainable things going on with you. He also made me promise that wherever you went, I would also… armed.”
“Oh, Father,” Beth sighed. His guilt over what they must do because of his actions, she believed, had been the reason for his seizure. The stress of his wife’s abduction and what he’d been forced to do over the last few years had finally taken its toll.
“I have not asked what is going on, Miss Bethany, but I know it’s a smokey game being played and that Logan, who suddenly appeared three years ago, is part of it.”
“It’s best you do not know, Lucas.”
She stood looking up at the brothel battling nerves. She had to get in there, steal some papers from a man’s jacket, and get out without being noticed.
The prospect was daunting. Especially as before returning to London she’d done nothing remotely dangerous. In fact, Beth had lived the life of a cosseted nobleman’s daughter. She’d stayed out of trouble and been dutiful, and yet here she was. About to commit her second crime.
“I should have done more to rebel earlier,” she muttered.
“Pardon?”
“Nothing.”
“You are not walking into danger without me, Miss Bethany.”
He looked as moveable as the building she stood before.
“You can stand outside, Lucas, but you cannot enter. They will see you, as you are overly large.”
“What is this place?”
“Ah, I’m not entirely sure.” There would be hell to play if he realized it was a brothel.
She started walking down the side of the building. As they approached the rear, she heard the rumble of voices. There appeared to be some kind of gathering taking place.
“Stay here and try to blend with those men. I shall not be long.”
“Miss—”
She hurried away from Lucas before he could stop her and started up the stairs at the rear of Madam Bolade’s. At the top, she opened a door and entered before she lost the courage to do so, closing it softly behind her. Pressing a fist to her heart, she struggled to breathe easily.
“Are you Lena?”
A woman approached. Tall, slender, she wore a dress that seemed to expose a vast amount of flesh. Her breasts were literally spilling from the bodice. Beth raised her eyes to the woman’s face when she caught sight of a nipple.
“Pardon?” Beth made her voice sound raspy and heavily accented like the actress she’d once met after a performance at the local theatre near her father’s estate.
“The new girl. Are you her? Not sure why you wouldn’t be, considering you’re standing right there.”
“Ja!” Beth said when nothing else came to mind.
“What are you wearing under that?” The woman hurried closer, gripped the sides of Beth’s cloak, and opened it.
“Oh no no no, that will never do. If madam sees you, she’ll chuck you out on your ass!”
Beth looked down at her dress. It was white with small blue bows stitched into the bodice and around the sleeves.
“You look like a bloody virgin.” The woman cackled. “This is not the place for that sort of thing. If you want to play that part, go to Madam Dorian’s.”
