Page 4 of His Wicked Secret
The man sighed, clearly feeling his theatrics were going to waste. “I did.”
Langley…Jonathan knew that name. Gerald Langley was a ridiculous but dangerous fool who had recently been publicly exposed for his cruelty and villainy.
And the woman who had dragged his name through the mud was Lady Society.
“So where is she?” another man demanded.
“Coming. I sent her an invitation she couldn’t resist. She foolishly believes she will be getting the better of us. For now, I suggest we all settle into the dining room to drink while we await her arrival.”
The group of men moved into a macabre decorated dining room and took seats at the table. Dozens of candles were lit with wax dripping down, lending a Gothic atmosphere to the entire affair. The “Lord of Lust” sat down, and the black cat hissed and leapt off the table, darting into the hallway.
“Bloody cat.” Langley cursed and poured himself a goblet of wine. He leaned back, a small smile on his lips as he surveyed the rest of his worshipers. When the others joined him, Jonathan snatched up a goblet and took a single sip, attempting to blend in. Why was Audrey coming here, of all places? Surely she didn’t have some mission to spy on these men? They weren’t dangerous, at least not to the Crown. Some hellfire clubs had been known to cause trouble and incite violence in the streets, even riots, but from the looks of it, Langley’s club was merely a chance for men to wallow in debauchery.
So why would Audrey choose this place? Then it hit him. Langley had lured Lady Society here tonight. The infamous columnist who had wrought devastation with her pen against those she felt deserved it.
If Audrey was friends with Lady Society, that would explain everything about today’s article. He wanted to growl. Once he found her, he was going to get her safely away from these men and give her bottom a good whack; then he could hold her close and finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The door to the dining room opened, and the butler showed in a new man. There was something familiar about him. He walked with a tall, upright stance that spoke of nobility handed down through ancient bloodlines. He was nothing like the men at this table, the rude and callous ruffians in fancy clothes but with not one ounce of nobility between them. He kept a close eye on the man, trying to puzzle out the sense of familiarity.
The man smiled at some of the members who were busy telling bawdy jokes, and even though the smile seemed forced, Jonathan finally recognized him—at least he thought he did. Was that James Fordyce, the Earl of Pembroke? Surely he wasn’t a member? He had better sense than this, and he was a good man, too good. He was a friend to the League of Rogues but deemed by the League much too nice and good of heart to be a member himself. Surely the League had not misjudged him? Jonathan liked him immensely, and his instincts weren’t usually wrong.
So why then was James here? The man, if it was James, walked over and sat opposite him. Their eyes locked briefly, but neither spoke.
“Gentlemen!” Langley’s shout silenced the stories and laughter. Jonathan turned to Langley like the rest of the men. With the blazing fire behind him, the man was playing perfectly into his role as a satanic worshiper, and it seemed even the Lord of Wine was getting into the spirit of things. He rose from his chair, the lights from the candles playing with the eerie painted face of the mask he wore. Jonathan shuddered in revulsion.
“Tonight, we have a feast prepared. As I mentioned at our previous meeting, we have severalspecialguests, some ladies with whom you are well acquainted.” Langley paused to allow the men to chuckle at some private club joke. The cruelty in Langley’s voice made Jonathan tense.Please let Audrey be safe at home…or anywhere but here.
Langley continued. “They wish to participate in the dark arts, and we have two delicious young virgin beauties who graciously volunteered to sate our need for the blood of the innocent.”
Jonathan shifted forward in his seat, trying to fight the urge to leap from his chair and rush from the room. All he wanted was to find Audrey and see her safely away from these bastards.
The man beside Jonathan nudged him in the ribs. “I’d like to pluck that ripe fruit. What about you?”
Jonathan made a gruff noise and hoped the men would assume he agreed, but the whole event made him sick.Volunteered.He found that highly unlikely. If there was one thing that mattered to him, it was a woman’s right to choose her lovers. This night would likely be a series of rapes. Whoever these ladies were, they weren’t safe.
Please don’t let Audrey be one of them. Please let her have stayed home.
“Are you prepared?” Langley demanded, with a dark grin just visible below the edges of his mask.
The men in the room whooped and whistled as the dining room doors opened and six ladies came in. They took seats at the empty chairs in between the men at the table.
Langley cleared his throat. “My lords, as the Lord of Lust, let me present our guests to you. The Lady of Sin, the Lady of the Night, the Lady of the Dark Desire, and the Lady of the Bedchamber.”
Jonathan studied the women closely as they were named. But when he reached the last two women, his breath caught. A woman in a red dress and a woman in purple sat beside each other. Each wore half-masks, revealing their faces enough to be familiar to him. The lady in purple was Gillian Beaumont, Audrey’s loyal lady’s maid and friend. And the hellion in the red dress was…
“Audrey.” He said the word aloud, but so softly that no one heard him.
Damnation. She’d come after all. She and Gillian. He would have to somehow rescue them both, and the odds weren’t in his favor tonight.
He shot a glance at James Fordyce. He had a hunch about the man’s presence, and prayed he was right. But even if James could aid him in the rescue, they were still woefully outnumbered.
“Now, last but not least, we have a most esteemed guest amongst us. You recall the scathing, poisonous pen of that bitch who calls herself Lady Society?” Langley spat. Jonathan tensed as the men around him pounded on the table. Audrey jumped, and Jonathan saw the muscles in her throat strain as she tried to remain calm.
“Well, tonight I set the perfect trap and lured Lady Society herself to my door. I let it slip at a ball the other evening that we would be meeting tonight and that she wouldn’t want to miss our entertainment.”
Audrey’s face drained of all color, and her lips parted. Jonathan stared in horror and understanding. Audrey wasn’t here to help her friend Lady Society.
She is Lady Society.
