“I hope you still think so an hour hence.”
That hardly encouraged indifference. He was not truly concerned. Yet---- “Am I going to dislike this?”
“I hope not. I rather count on it not being too surprising. But with men, well, you really never know.”
“It is something a husband may not like, in other words.”
“Most husbands, I daresay. I believe you to be different.”
“And if I am not?”
She sighed. “I suppose I will have to change how you think, which is such a chore.”
Married thirty minutes, and already she had designs on his thinking. That did not seem fair. After all, he had sworn to never try to changeher.
He was about to point that out when he realized where they were going. The carriage turned into Bedford Square and stopped in front of her house. The house, now that he remembered, that he had promised to allow her to use to her preference. The property upon which he had promised he would not exercise his rights as a husband. The place where she had staked her claim to unfettered independence.
He followed her out of the carriage, almost sure that nothing untoward waited for him here. Almost.
“I trust you are not going to tell me that you have a lover living here now.” He said it as a joke, and laughed a bit too loud as he did.
“I told you my doings were not about that. In fact, should we ever come to that, which I know we will not, I will need another house.”
That was not very reassuring.
Mrs. Finley opened the door as they approached. She happily welcomed Clara, delighting in calling her Duchess. Did he imagine that this woman glanced to him with approval, as if he had finally measured up in some way? Considering his own doings here with her mistress, probably so.
“Is everything prepared, Mrs. Finley?” Clara asked.
“Was finished yesterday, just as you instructed. Ten replies came in, so it should have a good start when we begin.”
“Thank you. I will show the duke the property. We will not need you any longer.”
Mrs. Finley disappeared into the back of the house. Clara opened the library doors. “I have made a few changes that I want you to see.”
He stepped inside the library. Much still remained as he remembered it, but there were more chairs now, and an additional divan. A good sized table near the fireplace held at least twenty crystal glasses and three decanters. He went to that table, opened a decanter, and sniffed. Brandy. He eyed the others.
Clara came beside him. “That is sherry, and that one is whiskey.”
“Are you expecting a party? Because after this breakfast I have no intention of sharing you with anyone for the rest of the day. Hell, probably not for the rest of the month.”
“Come and see the dining room.”
He followed her, glancing back at those spirits before she escorted him into the dining room. Only instead of one long table now there were four smaller ones. He strolled around, noting the table that held decks of cards. Then he came upon a ledger, opened to the first clean page.
A strange idea entered his mind.No, surely not. Only this house now resembled it in so many ways, that if he did not know better he would swear that he was in a-----
He looked at her. She smiled at him. He closed the ledger. The cover bore the wordWagers.
“It is a club,” he said, finally accepting the evidence. “You have made a club of it. A gambling club? Some women turn their homes into them for the income, of course, but you hardly need to.”
“I expect there will be some gambling. Hence the ledger and the card room. However, it will mostly be a place to visit and relax away from home. It will be for women only, of course.”
“Of course? Women do not have clubs, Clara.”
“They do now. This one. The invitations went out this week. Once we are established, rules must be drawn up, of course, regarding admittance and membership. I intend there to be provisions for members who are not in the fashionable set, regarding their fees and such. I have some friends who would need that support.”
He looked at the gaming tables. He thought about that whiskey decanter, and her intentions for a democratic membership. This would not be well received in the many other clubs in town. “Men will not permit their women to join. Not a club like this that has gambling and serves spirits.”
