The man looked confused.
“She has started a women’s club next to a men’s one.”
“Of course. I forget how different we are from the rest of society sometimes,” Charles said with a small smile.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means we are more forward-thinking, for obvious reasons,” Charles said with a patience that made Ambrose want to punch him.
“Being a clairvoyant does not make you more patient.” He sounded testy now, but then, considering the day he was having, it was justified.
“My cousins were shunned and tossed out of society and had to rebuild their lives, which has changed them almost beyond recognition from who they once were. The Nightingale family is now open-minded and fair, Ambrose, and that is something I aspire to be also. Of course, there is also your sister, who constantly reminds me of that.” He smiled when he mentioned Violet. “My family also does not discriminate based on whether you are a man or woman.”
The words actually shocked Ambrose enough to make his mouth fall open. Was he someone who would discriminate due to gender?Hadhe been doing so?
“I say, is that a lemon sherbet?” Charles said, leaning closer. “Do you have any more?”
Ambrose snapped his jaw shut and held out his hand because he was too stunned to do anything else. He, Ambrose, Lord Talbot, was a bigot.Surely not?
CHAPTER 3
Tilly flexed her wrist as she looked around the interior of The Iris Club, letting her emotions settle from her encounter with those beastly men—and yes, she counted Lord Talbot as one of them.
It was moments like what she’d just had with those men, that reinforced Tilly’s decision not to marry. She wanted no man dictating how she behaved for the rest of her life. Yes, her birth was the main reason for her decision, but even so, she’d seen many unhappy wives during her time in society and had no wish to be one.
She could only imagine how controlling Lord Talbot would be as a husband. Damn tripping like that in front of him. No doubt he was still laughing over her clumsiness.
From the first day she’d met him, he’d unsettled her, no matter how much she’d told herself otherwise. He was one of those men who had a large presence. Even silent and surrounded by others, he stood out.
She’d had reactions to men before—that little tingle of awareness if they touched her, but it soon passed. It vexedher excessively that it hadn’t passed with Lord Talbot, especially considering he was her best friend’s brother.
Of course, he was just like all the others of his kind who believed that she had no right to her own opinions and definitely no right to have formed an all-women’s club.
Tilly looked around her and settled her eyes on the large front window looking over the street. She’d hung heavy velvet drapes to deter those who wished to look inside but weren’t welcome to enter.
The walls were a soft blue, with a feature wall at the end in violet-and-blue-patterned wallpaper. But it was the large iris painted in the center she was most proud of.
Turning in a circle, she felt her mood lift further. Everywhere one looked, it was feminine, yet dignified.
“Good day to you, Miss Wilson.”
Stopping her movements, Tilly looked at the approaching woman. “Hello, Margaret. Is everything all right? I hope we’ve had no more issues?”
So far in the past three months since they’d been trying to open The Iris, they’d had three broken windows and a small fire. She was of a suspicious nature and wondered if any of those had been deliberate, but without proof, she could not say for certain. But she knew there were many who wished The Iris Club had not opened.
“Everything is as it should be,” Margaret said in her precise way. “I’ve had the floors polished and the rugs swept again. There have been no more incidents.”
When she’d approached an agency for staff, the woman who ran it said she had just the person to be Tilly’s club’s stewardess. Margaret Vey was tall, well-built, and a no-nonsense type who had gladly stepped into the role. Tilly had not regretted her decision to hire her since the day she’d interviewed her.
“Excellent, but I must caution you that I have concludedthose incidents may be connected with people who have no wish for our club to be here,” Tilly said.
“I understand, Miss Wilson, but they will not deter you, I am sure. Now we have no one using the accommodations at the moment, but I have made up the beds just in case.”
“Thank you for your confidence in me, and making the beds is an excellent idea, Margaret. You never know when they will be needed.”
“One of the Daisy Parlor chairs was delivered with a broken leg, so I’ve returned it for repair.”
The furniture she and her friends had selected for the club was elegant yet comfortable, and she could not wait to spend time in the parlors chatting with her friends.
