Chapter Four
Allan led hisbrothers up the river steps and along the street leading away from the dock. He turned into a mews lane and passed several buildings before opening a gate, nodding to its guard. He crossed a small walled garden and turned through a second gate into a kitchen courtyard, from which he entered a large building through the back door.
They had donned their masks before leaving the tunnel. Only the proprietor of The Golden Adonis knew their identity—not the boatmen, not the other employees of the club, and certainly not the clients.
“Good evening,” he said to the kitchen servants, as he passed down the service corridor. “Good evening,” again to the lady who controlled the staff on behalf of the proprietor. He knew her as Thalia, for all the servants and employees wore nicknames—the names of Greek gods—to protect their identities. Thalia was the manager, or so the owner called her, though her role combined housekeeper, house steward, secretary and—he often thought—ringmaster.
“Apollo,” she replied. “Madam wishes to see you and Faunus. She said to send you up when you arrived.”
“Problems?” Allan asked.
“Not as far as I know,” said Thalia. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”
The brothers went in different directions, some to various card rooms, Isaac and Jerome to the music gallery, the remainder to the ballroom. Allan and Frank mounted the stairs to Hera’s office.
Hera was the widow who owned The Golden Adonis, a club that provided wealthy women with all the services that gentlemen normally found at their various clubs and other, less reputable, venues.
Seated behind her desk, she conveyed an impression of power that was justly deserved. Here under this roof, she was the final authority, and even beyond these walls she wielded considerable influence. Her origins were humble—or so Allan had gathered in the eighteen months of their acquaintance. Murky, even. Nobody quite knew where she had come from or how she had achieved wealth and power.
To look at, she was nothing special. Finely, even richly dressed. A little on the plump side but all the more formidable for it. In her middle years, though nudging the upper boundaries of that age span, her hair touched lightly with grey. Yet she dominated any room she was in, and no one meeting her could doubt she was a woman of substance.
“Good evening, Madam,” Allan said, and Frank repeated the greeting.
Hera looked up from the papers she was studying. “Ah! Faunus. And you, too, Apollo. Good. Faunus, I have a favor to ask. One of our guests has requested that you be her only escort from now on. Apollo, I know you keep a close eye on your relatives, so I asked you to join our meeting.”
Frank tended to become speechless when alarmed, so Allan spoke for him. “Faunus does not provide intimate services,” he said.
Their employer shook both one hand and her head. “That is not what Lady Andromeda requires. Faunus has already been meeting with the lady, and all she wants is someone to talk to.”
“Lady Andromeda,” Frank repeated, with a distant smile. “I am happy to talk with Lady Andromeda.”
That was a surprising response. Frank found it hard to converse with people he didn’t know, and even most of the people he did. Indeed, he was only comfortable with his brothers, so Allan had arranged for him to work at one remove from the social activities that were the lifeblood of the club. He exchanged money for gambling tokens, paid out money when the lady guests redeemed their tokens, and kept careful records.
“I should like to help Lady Andromeda, Allan—Apollo, I mean,” Frank said.
“I did not know you had been meeting the clients,” Allan grumbled.
“Lady Andromeda met Faunus on her first night here,” said Madam Hera. “She says he was kind to her and helpful. That was the evening he helped in the sitting rooms, because some of the other hosts were absent with that ague that was doing the rounds. Ever since, she has sought Faunus out whenever she visits.”
Allan was still uncertain. “What does she need, Madam Hera?”
“Confidence, in a word. Lady Andromeda is uncomfortable with most people, but especially with men. She likes you, Faunus, and that is the first step. Rest assured, however, that she is not a customer for our more intimate services. Lady Andromeda is an unmarried miss, and an innocent.”
Feeling easier in his mind, Allan asked, “When is she expected, Madam? I shall arrange for one of my other relatives to manage the cash box.”
As they finished their meeting with Hera, the sound of a bell indicated that the doors to the club would open in fifteen minutes. Frank hurried to his station in the little room that held the cash box, and Allan began his usual rounds of the building. He was in charge of ensuring that all the men who worked there were diligent, conscientious, and safe.
Tonight, he was particularly aware of Frank, who was closeted in one of the private rooms with the guest who had asked for him. No intimate services, Hera had said. But what could the lady wish to discuss that required such privacy?
There was not much he could do to help. Unless the building was burning down or a worker called for help, no one was permitted to enter the private rooms while they were occupied.
Still, he was relieved when the two of them emerged after nearly an hour alone.Good lord. Frank is smiling. Not only that, but he bent over the lady’s hand when she held it out to him in farewell. What had got into their shy, awkward Frank?
Then the lady turned to walk away, almost bumped into Allan, blushed bright scarlet, and stammered as she made her apology. Frank hurried to her aid. “Do not be alarmed, Lady Andromeda. It is only my brother. Allan—Apollo, I mean—why were you just standing there? Come along, dear lady. I shall see you to the door.”
Good heavens. Allan stared after the pair. Could it be that Frank was smitten? If so, from the lady’s behavior, the feeling was mutual. What a pity that the brothers were about to flee. If anyone deserved a chance at happiness, it was Frank.
Allan could do nothing about that tonight, and it was time he reminded Isaac and Jerome, who were lost in their music making, to take it in turns to have a break and some supper. It was two o’clock in the morning but the club was just approaching its busiest time. They had hours of work still ahead of them.
