The other men at the table gave a low laugh, each of them eyeing her and Leonard. “Didn’t know you had such highfalutin friends, Thrup. What ye be hidin’ from us?”
“They ain’t my friends,” Thrup barked back, his mouth curled into a sneer and his brow pinched.
In this place, being associated with those in the upper crust was not a good thing. They were taught to despise those born into privilege, and to never even attempt to enter into that world.
But Honora had.
“Oh, come now,” she said, “It is rude to deny an acquaintance.”
“Can we go now?” Leonard pleaded from behind her. She could almost hear the slump of his shoulders in his voice.
She shook her head as all the others at the table nodded.
“Perhaps this will help your memory.” Honora knocked her knuckles against the tabletop to get Thrup to look at her.
Finally, the man gave her his attention, his eye color hardly discernible in the dark lighting, but she knew from history that they were a deep brown.
“What’s that?” he asked, his gaze leery.
She lifted her hand in the air, a single coin neatly tucked between two of her fingers. “One of your coins.”
Thrup’s face, already a hue of red, darkened further as his eyes raged. He slapped his hands on the table, standing.
Stanton took her arm, trying to pull her out of Thrup’s space. But she stood her ground.
“You come in here and steal? You got some nerve.” Thrup towered over her, his shoulders broad and his body, which appeared soft, a weapon of its own.
Honora shrugged, holding the coin in front of her. “Take it.”
Thrup’s mouth tensed, and he reached forward to do so. Honora lifted the coin higher in the air, forcing Thrup to get closer to her.
“What are youdoing?” Leonard hissed, pulling harder on her arm.
“Reacquainting myself with an old friend.”
Thrup’s anger slipped, and he looked at her face with narrowed eyes. She lifted her chin, cocking a brow as she smirked.
With a smirk of his own, Thrup reached forward and slipped the coin from her fingers. “Well I’ll be. If it ain’t little Honora herself.”
“In the flesh.”
“Ha!” Thrup threw his head back as he barked out a laugh. Then he slapped Honora’s back before retaking his seat, scooching to the far end and leaving a space. “Sit, sit,” he said, waving her down. “It’s been too long.”
Honora spun around and raised her brows at Stanton. His face was three shades paler than when they entered the pub, and his mouth hung open as if he were trying to catch one of the flies that buzzed about the tables.
She lifted a hand and tapped him under the chin. “Are you ready?”
He snapped his mouth shut. “Of course.” He swallowed. “I can keep up.”
As Honora took the seat beside Thrup, Leonard was left with no choice but to pull a chair up to the end of the booth. When he sat, the others at the table eyed him as if he were some foreign species.
“Well.” Leonard sighed, hands clasped on the table. “Care to deal me in?”
Thrup’s booming laugh nearly made her jump from her skin, and then the other men laughed as well, the combined sound nearly deafening. Honora looked at Stanton, then gave a gentle smile, nodding her approval. He was learning. And rather quickly.
She couldn’t be more proud.
Then, without asking why she was there, they began a game of brag. Four cards were dealt to each. Honora’s cards were particularly lousy, but the key to winning the game wasn’t necessarily who had the best cards, but rather who could best bluff.
