Page 81 of Dukes Are Forever
"Then drink up." He seemed to have cast off his surliness like a cloak. "I want to celebrate."
Adele paused. Then she tipped the glass to her lips and drained it. "What are we celebrating?"
"You. Me." He smoothly replaced her empty glass with his full one. "That fact your husband isn't here."
Adele made herself laugh. "Well, I could hardly bring him, could I? Malloryn has such a dampening effect upon a gathering. It's the supercilious way he peers down his nose at you, I think."
A little part of her enjoyed the fact her husband would be listening to every word.
"And where is he tonight?" Devoncourt murmured, slipping one hand onto the small of her back as he guided her into the edges of the ballroom.
"Malloryn? Why the hell would I know? You were the one who reminded me he wasn't spending his nights at home." She let her smile thin. "Or his days."
"It bothers you."
"Of course not." But she looked away sharply. "I don't want to speak about him. Not tonight. Tell me about this place. It'ssoexclusive I hear even Lord Buxton was denied membership. He's as rich as Croesus. I cannot believe he was turned away."
A flicker of frustration darkened Devoncourt's brow. "Unfortunately, you cannot merely buy your entrée."
"No?" She feigned surprise. "That must ruffle some feathers."
"Oh, it does."
"What are the requirements for membership, then? Can ladies join?"
"Unfortunately, it's strictly a gentleman's club. Members may invite those of the opposite sex for the night, but only blue bloods are initiated."
"Like the Echelon in its peak?"
Women had been mere chattel when the prince consort reigned; denied the Blood Rites where a nobleman's son was judged by his peers and found worthy of receiving the craving virus, and thus near immortality.
"Similar. Angel's Fall provides a place to play for those who find themselves reduced in status."
Her ears pricked.
She was right.
The members of Angel's Fall were all blue blood nobles who longed for a return to the old ways. The perfect recruitment ground for the Rising Sons. And if they were lucky, there would be membership rolls listing the current members.
Hopefully, Malloryn would be smart enough to make the same connections she had.
"Who makes these rules?"
"The founding four. They call themselves the Four Horsemen."
Someone had a high opinion of themselves. Adele stifled a giggle in her champagne. "The Four Horsemen? It's starting to sound like some sort of occult society, and not a club at all."
"They intend to bring about a new age," Devoncourt said. "The heralds of the Apocalypse."
"Can I meet them?" she asked. "This all sounds so dashed exciting."
"Alas, their identities remain unknown. We only know them as Death, War, Famine, and Conquest."
"It's rumored Lord Corvus owns a share in the business," she murmured. "Is he one of your Horsemen?"
He looked at her sharply. "Where did you hear that?"
"I make it my business to know what Corvus is up to." Her throat was suddenly dry. Adele finished the rest of her champagne in a hurry. "Is... is he here?"
