Scoundrel of My Heart (Once Upon a Dukedom #1) - Lorraine Heath Page 0,40
Kingsland was that it reflected an honesty that ensured she never had to pretend to be other than as she was.
“Have you found someone to recommend you?” Lady Prudence, sitting beside Kathryn said sotto voce to Lady Caroline, who sat on the other side of Lady Prudence.
“I have, yes.”
“Would she recommend me, do you think?”
“I’ll recommend you if I gain membership.”
“What’s this then?” Kathryn asked, knowing it was rude to eavesdrop, but having her attention snagged by the recommend portion of their conversation.
Both ladies gave a start and looked rather guilty. They studied each other for a minute before finally nodding. Lady Prudence leaned toward Kathryn and whispered so low that she almost didn’t hear her. “There’s a new club.”
Her heart gave a lurch as suspicion took hold. Griff should be flush with funds after collecting on his wager. He might have obtained enough to purchase the building he wanted. “What sort of club?”
Lady Prudence glanced around as though fearful of being spied upon, of being caught doing what she ought not. “It’s a place where men and women meet for . . . companionship. But the membership is very exclusive, and you’re admitted only upon someone else’s recommendation.” Once more her gaze darted around the room. Seemingly satisfied with her observations, she inched her mouth ever closer to Kathryn’s ear. “And you must swear an oath not to divulge what happens within or whom you see there. More importantly whom you see together. I heard one lady didn’t honor the oath, began whispering about a gent in the company of a lady another was courting—and the offender awoke to find the club owner in her bedchamber threatening to see her reputation ruined if she didn’t cease with the gossiping.”
Kathryn seemed unable to stop herself from staring, to come up with a proper response. All of this sounded far, far too familiar, except for the notion of Griff breaking into a woman’s bedchamber to threaten reprisals. First of all, he wouldn’t have the skills needed for gaining entry into a residence locked up for the night, and secondly, he wasn’t one to threaten. Not seriously. If anything, he would be teasing.
“Scandalous, I know, for such a place to exist,” Lady Prudence murmured in the wake of her silence. “Not to mention the sneaking into a lady’s bedchamber.”
However, it wasn’t the scandal of the place but rather the fact that she knew owning such a business had been Griff’s dream. She even knew the building he’d wanted to purchase, had driven by it a few times after their nighttime visit to it. The last time she did so, it still appeared to be for sale. But that was a couple of months ago. “Who is the owner?”
Lady Prudence’s eyes widened with glee. “That’s just it. Only the members know, and they aren’t tattling. It’s just all so delightfully mysterious and deliciously disreputable.”
“Ladies, are you going to continue to play?”
Kathryn jerked her attention to the dealer, noting as she did so that he’d revealed his cards, the sum he’d reached greater than twenty-one. Her winnings already sat in front of her. She shook her head. “I believe I’ll call it a night.”
After gathering up her chips, she stood, started to move aside, halted, and lowered herself to Lady Prudence’s ear so she could make a discreet inquiry. “Has this establishment a name?”
“The Fair and Spare. But you shan’t be allowed in if your name isn’t on the list. And its membership is so secret that it’s deuced difficult to figure out who you can ask to sponsor you.”
“I shan’t require a sponsor.” Or a recommendation or her name on a list.
As she headed for the door, she knew nothing on God’s green earth was going to stop her from gaining entry.
From the top of the stairs, Griff looked over the railing and down onto the crowded foyer where the new arrivals mingled, waiting for the woman he’d hired to search for their name on a list and verify their membership before allowing them access to the main portion of the building. The Fair and Spare had officially opened a fortnight earlier, and word had spread more quickly than he’d anticipated. Everyone he’d invited to the first night’s celebration had come. He’d not put his name on the invitation, but neither had he hidden his identity from those who had walked through the door out of curiosity. As a matter of fact, he’d taken perverse delight in their shock when they’d realized they’d