“I am ready,” Frances announced as she returned to the parlor wearing a pale green pelisse and cream bonnet covering her golden curls.
They did not speak as he escorted her from the home, into the phaeton or all the way to Hyde Park.
Unless he engaged her in conversation, Frances would likely not speak to him.
“If you do not mind me asking, why are you free only three evenings a week?” Her unavailability to him had been something that Seth had been wondering about since he received her missive.
She tilted her head and offered a small smile. “I assumed you knew, given where I live.”
Live! What did her no longer residing with her family but with Lady Bethany have to do with anything?
Bloody hell! Women of similar ages did not live alone and without a male relative to protect them unless…unless they already had a protector.
His head snapped to look at her. “I do not. Perhaps you should explain.”
Frances had no idea why he thought she lived with Bethany but whatever possibility occurred to him had certainly alarmed Seth. A part of her wanted to simply tell him that it is what he assumed, but as she didn’t know what that was, she didn’t want to admit to such.
“Athena’s Salon,” Frances finally answered.
He frowned as his eyebrows drew together over his eyes. “What is that?”
“You do not know?” she asked with a laugh.
“No.”
“It was established by your cousin and Lady Bethany, except Her Grace married before it was opened. It had been her intention to live in the house with Lady Bethany.”
“That does not explain what Athena’s Salon is,” Seth reminded her.
“Four nights a week we open the doors for discussions of the sciences, politics, the arts and any other intellectual pursuits.”
“I had not realized you were interested in such.”
“That is because you only knew me in Laswell, which is a very small village compared to London. Once I ventured away from my home and Yorkshire, and came to Town, an entire world was opened to me and I found there were many things of interest.”
“This is a gathering place for women, I assume. How is it supported?”
“Subscription,” Frances answered. “It is not just women, but gentlemen as well, but only those who acknowledge that women are equally intelligent even if they were denied a formal education such as the one you received.”
“Four nights a week you spend your time in intellectual discussion,” he said as if to clarify, though Seth appeared puzzled. She shouldn’t be surprised because many gentlemen first reacted in the same manner.
“Your cousin and Lady Bethany take part in the salon and I am their employee,” Frances answered. “They are my friends and were before I was hired and the reason I moved into the house.”
Seth pulled the phaeton over then turned to look at her. “An employee!”
Why was he so appalled? There was no shame in taking a position, even if her brother was an earl. It was her father who had been the landed gentleman and it was his older brother who had been the Earl of Albany. “I am an employee, but I can assure you, there is little labor required.”
“What is your position?” he asked slowly.
“I manage the gaming tables and sometimes am a dealer in games of chance.”
For a moment, all he did was stare at her as if she were spouting nonsense or a foreign language that he did not understand. “You manage gaming tables,” he said slowly. “You are a dealer who has tables for gambling in a salon that was established for the purpose of intellectual and artistic discussions,” he repeated as if he still couldn’t grasp the concept or what she did. “This salon is owned by my cousin.”
“And Lady Bethany.”
“What games?”
“We only play Faro, Vingt-et-un, and Baccarat.”
