Page 33 of The Gilded Lady
Zane was brought up short by the unexpected accusation as soon as he walked through the door of Glory’s apartment. She stood across the parlor staring at him, her eyes wide in both fear and anger. She wobbled a little as she stared him down, bringing his attention to the tumbler of whiskey in her hand.
“Yes, it’s me.” He proceeded cautiously, wondering what the hell had changed in the two hours since he’d left her to go talk to Hunter. It probably had something to do with that drink in her hand. As he shut the door behind him, Charlotte and Sally watched him from the sofa.
“I told you, I don’t want you looking for him.” Glory gave a snort and tossed back a swallow of the amber liquid, making a face as she did. A strand of red hair had come out from its pins to curl down over her shoulder. She peered into the glass, mumbling, “This isn’t brandy.” He’d never seen her sounpolished and undone. There was something appealing about it.
“It’s whiskey, doll, you finished the brandy so I switched it for you,” Sally answered helpfully.
“How much of that has she had?” he asked the woman.
“Notalot,” answered Glory. She spoke so fast that the words ran together.
His lips twitched as he attempted to keep from smiling at the way she stood there swaying, trying her best not to look like she was drunk.
Sally shrugged innocently but somehow managed to look guilty as sin at the same time. “Not much. That’s only her first glass.”
He looked to Charlotte for confirmation. “It’s only her first glass of whiskey.” Charlotte clarified. “She and Sally finished off that fifth of brandy first.” She nodded toward a side table which held the now empty bottle.
“Oh, posh.” Sally waved her hand. “It was only half full when we started. Who gets drunk off that much? I drank much more than she did before I even got here.”
Zane squeezed his temples. Two hours. He’d been gone for two hours and that’s all it had taken for Sally to get Glory drunk and unsteady on her feet. He did believe there was some truth to Sally’s protestations of innocence, though. She didn’t seem nearly as affected as Glory, meaning she’d probably had much more experience drinking than Glory. He hadn’t seen Glory drink anything but a glass of wine the entire time he’d been staying at Victoria House. Charlotte confirmed it when she said, “It’s because Glory rarely drinks. I’m sorry, Mr. Pierce. I only just arrived a few minutes ago.”
“No need to apologize,” said Zane. “Glory makes her own decisions.”
Charlotte looked uncertain, but she nodded.
Sally sighed in dramatic fashion. “She was upset. I simply kept refilling her glass to get her to calm down.” Charlotte gave her a critical eye, but didn’t say anything.
“H-h-hey!” Glory waited until she had their attention. “I’m right here. Stop talking about me.”
Zane bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. Her fury lacked its usual heat. She was strong, kind, fiery, and apparently adorable when drunk.
“Glory, doll, I have a half hour until my show. I have to go.” Sally walked over and gave her a hug before turning back to Zane. “Take care of her,” she mouthed as she let herself out.
He inclined his head in confirmation. That was a request he could follow.
“I’ll be down when you go on,” Glory called out.
The hell she would. Zane wasn’t letting her downstairs in her condition. He came to a stop in front of her, and she blinked, apparently only just realizing he was so close to her. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough to drink?” He held out his hand for the tumbler.
She scowled and held the glass behind her back. “Maybe.”
If she thought it was out of his reach, she was sorely mistaken. He was nearly twice her size and could have easily reached around her, but he didn’t. Instead he put his hands in his pockets and sighed. “Why are you so angry with me?”
“Because…I told you I don’t want you to have one thing to do with him and you went and got yourself involved anyway.”
“I hate to tell you this, pretty lady, but I was already involved. I’ve been involved since the night you came to me for help.” Sooner than that if he was being honest with himself. He’d have helped her at the first sign of trouble, whether she’d asked him for help or not.
Her scowl only deepened. “You know what I mean. You were s’pose…” She frowned at the way the word had come out andtried again. “You were supposed to find out if the letter was real or not. I didn’t want you all tangled up in…” She waved her hand, forgetting that she was holding a half full tumbler of whiskey so some of the golden liquid spilled out onto the rug.
He ran a hand over the back of his neck to keep from reaching out to take it from her. Charlotte hurried to the bathing chamber and came back with a towel to wipe up the spill.
“Now that we know it is real, what did you expect me to do? Did you think I’d sit here and do nothing? Or did you think I’d run off because my job is done?”
Glory frowned down at Charlotte, seeming to be confused about the mess she was cleaning up. Shaking his head, Zane took the glass and gently pried it from her fingers.
“Stop that!” she yelled and swatted at his wrist. “Hey! That’s mine.”
He stepped back with the glass and set it on the side table. “And it’ll be right here waiting for you. You can have the rest tomorrow.”
