Page 2 of His Wicked Secret
Lucien’s set his cigar into a nearby tray and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he pressed his fingers together in contemplation. Then he gazed intently at Jonathan. Lucien was in his early thirties and had seen and done much in the world. Jonathan was a lad by comparison at only five and twenty years of age. He trusted whatever advice his friend could offer.
“I think you shouldn’t let her go. She’s hurting. Something happened and she’s giving up. But you shouldn’t. Horatia was much the same with me. I said some foolish things, did even more foolish things, and rather than lash out, she retreated from me. There’s a chance Audrey is acting like her sister. I’ve seen how Audrey looks at you when she thinks no one is watching. There are stars in her eyes, my boy. And if you want her, then take her.”
Jonathan’s smile was sad. He was too full of foolish hope, and he knew it. “Stars in her eyes?”
“She acts frivolous when it comes to love, but she’s a true romantic. She’s the kind of woman who rescues kittens from the rain, who seeks to clothe and feed the helpless, and who crusades for what she believes in. She’s not unlike our Lady Society, I suppose.” He waved a hand toward the paper that Jonathan still held, and his lips twitched. “A woman like that deserves a champion who will fight at her side and who won’t betray her noble causes. If you are that man, then I say go after her at any cost.”
Jonathan set the crumpled paper down on the table, smoothing out the pages as he thought back over every encounter he’d ever had with Audrey. From that first kiss in her bedchamber last Christmas to this afternoon in the brothel when she’d come apart in his arms as he touched her intimately for the first time. She had been angry, hurt, and cold afterward, but in those first moments as he’d taught her pleasure, he’d seen the girl who had looked at him with stars in her eyes.
“I want to be her man. Her hero, her rogue, whatever she wants me to be.”
Lucien smiled and retrieved his brandy. “There’s a good lad.” When Jonathan didn’t move, Lucien kicked him with one of his Hessian boots. “Well don’t just sit there—go after her before she gets into any more trouble.”
Jonathan leapt out of his chair and waved a lad over who was waiting to serve.
“Fetch my coat and have my horse brought around.”
“Of course.” The boy darted off. Jonathan began to leave but stopped at the doorway.
“You will tell the others I have an urgent matter to attend to?” he asked Lucien.
“I will. No sense in telling them what you’re up to, not until the little scamp is properly leg-shackled, or willing to be at least. Cedric will insist on giving her away, so don’t do something foolish like run off to Gretna Green.”
“Of course not. She’ll want a proper wedding, to have an excuse to buy a new dress if nothing else.” Jonathan tapped his fingers on the doorjamb, hesitating a moment longer, and then left the room. Yes, Audrey and her dresses—the woman was obsessed with fashion. A smile twisted up the corners of his lips as he decided that when they married, he would fill an entire room with just bonnets if she wished.
Whatever you want, my heart, you shall have, if I can only convince you to say yes.
He walked through the gallery of the club. Most of the chairs were filled with men reading, though a few of the older gentlemen were asleep. A good club provided refuge for men from the world, their wives, or anything else they might be avoiding. Jonathan wasn’t avoiding anything, but he was still new to society, and here at least he never felt like he was being judged. He liked the quiet companionship of Berkley’s, especially when his half brother and friends were there.
He took the stairs down through the card room. It was a rather quiet night here. Only a few tables were busy with faro and whist, but Jonathan knew the stakes would be high. Cedric, Audrey’s older brother, had won a pair of Arabian horses earlier that year in this very room from a fellow who’d nearly killed Cedric and his wife in an act of vengeance.
Jonathan wisely avoided those tables. He’d never been one to gamble, at least not with money. The flick of cards and the games of chance held no appeal to him. Though he now owned a small country estate and a townhouse in London as well as a decent fortune and a steady income given to him by his half brother, he couldn’t find it in himself to risk even small sums at the gaming tables. He had spent his entire life earning his way. The thought of tossing it all away by chance was utter madness.
A voice brought him up short as he reached the hall. “Mr. St. Laurent!” A young man dressed in the livery of the Lonsdale estate was just entering the club’s front door. He recognized the lad as Tom Linley, valet to Charles Humphrey, the Earl of Lonsdale, another one of his friends. While most valets remained at their master’s house, Linley had become a companion to Charles as well, followed him about, running all sorts of errands and delivering messages when needed.
“Tom?” Jonathan accepted his coat from the servant and walked over to Linley. The lad’s blue eyes were wide, and his brows were knit together with concern.
“It’s fortunate I found you, sir. His lordship sent me to the club early to see you all. He’s at Tattersall’s, but he received a message from Miss Audrey Sheridan. I wouldn’t normally divulge the contents of a private letter—”
“But you felt you had to tell someone?”
“Not someone—you,” Linley insisted. “She—Miss Sheridan, that is—was supposed to ask his lordship to escort her to a disreputable club tonight, but in the letter she said she no longer needed him.” Linley shifted restlessly.
“And you’re worried?” Jonathan slipped on his coat and riding gloves.
“I’m worried she’ll go anyway. Pardon me for saying so, but you know what she’s like, Mr. St. Laurent. High-spirited and willful.”
“All too well,” he said with a sigh. “You know where she was planning to go?”
“I do.” Linley handed him a scrap paper with an address. “Be careful, my lord. It is a hellfire club, full of bad men they say. She can’t go in there alone.”
A hellfire club? Was the woman mad? A knot of fear formed in his stomach. That was far more reckless than anything she had done so far. What on earth would she do that for?
“You are quite right. Thank you, Tom.” Jonathan tried to remain outwardly calm despite his pounding heart as he patted the lad on the shoulder and left.
It was very early in the evening, and any minute now the rest of his friends would be having drinks in the Bombay Room. The wives of all the married men were having a dinner, but Audrey was using tonight as an opportunity to escape.
No doubt she thinks I won’t be around to discover she’s run off again.I shouldn’t be surprised, I really shouldn’t.
