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Emma glanced out the carriage window as they slowed to a stop on King Street in front of the hallowed institution of Almack’s. Her nerves tingled as she disembarked. She’d never thought she would be nervous about getting banned from this dreadful place finally. While she’d endured the balls over the years, Almack’s was about as dull as a conversation with a rock. The patronesses were the most demanding group of ladies Emma had ever met.
“Come along, Emma.” Her mother clasped her elbow and tugged her toward the door.
“Of course, Mamma.” She still wondered how her mother managed to secure these exclusive vouchers each year. Mamma was the niece of Baron Greyson, but he hadn’t moved about in Society for over a decade. Emma assumed Lady Huntley's influence had something to do with it.
They walked into the assembly room, and the overwhelming odor of pungent food hit her nose. The patroness of the evening sat on her dais overlooking. Upon entering, Countess Lieven waved with her fan to indicate that they come close to her.
“My lady,” Emma and her mother said with a curtsy.
“Yes,” the countess said with a look of disdain. “Miss Drake, I must take it upon myself to ask you to leave and not return this season. I will inform the other patroness.”
Her mother shuddered as if she might faint. Emma clutched her mother’s elbow. How dare this haughty woman attempt to eject her out when she hadn’t even done anything yet!
“Might I inquire as to the reason?” Emma asked quietly.
“It has come to my attention that you were seen in a certain gaming hell dressed as a boy.”
Her mother gasped before saying, “My lady, that is a falsehood in the extreme. My daughter has never done such a thing.”
“It happened nearly a fortnight ago, Mrs. Drake. I received the information from an excellent source tonight.”
A source? Who the devil would have spoken to her about that adventure? Only a few people knew of her folly, and Emma trusted all of them implicitly. All except Mr. Kingsley. That meant the devil himself must have spoken to her.
“Come along, Mamma. I don’t believe I wish to dance here tonight.” Emma led her mother out the door before she created a scene. Holding her head high, she walked out the door. The gossips would love to hear how the countess denied Emma entrance. One more foible for a Drake sister.
And she shouldn’t care. This was what she’d wanted. Except she wanted to be the one to make it happen. She wasn’t supposed to be banished for something that no one should even know of.
“Take me home, Emma.”
“Of course.”
“Please tell me what Lady Lieven said wasn’t true,” her mother said when they were finally secluded in their carriage. “I couldn’t endure it.”
“There must be some misunderstanding, Mamma. I must speak with Susan tonight to find out if she knows anything about this matter. I will go to her as soon as we get you home.”
“Thank you, my dear. I’m not sure my nerves can handle much more tonight.” Mamma rested her head against the carriage, seemingly forlorn at the possible loss of marriageable men for her daughter.
After settling her mother into their home, she drove to Susan’s home only to discover that she was at Almack’s tonight. Where else would she be? Blast. Now what? She had no desire to go home to hear her mother lamenting her inability to marry her youngest daughter off. Emma wanted a drink to calm her nerves. And there was one place she could do it without caring what the owner would say because he wouldn’t be there.
“Rogers, please take me to Hell.”
“Hell, miss?”
“Yes.”
“Are you certain, miss?” Rogers asked tentatively.
“Yes!”
“As you wish.”
Thankfully, she’d picked up her reticule before leaving for Susan’s house, and the bag still contained Emma’s winnings from last week. Perhaps luck would be on her side again tonight. But just in case, she placed twenty pounds in the drawer under her seat. That way, she wouldn’t be tempted to lose more than she could afford. She would need that money for a painting instructor.
After stepping down from the carriage, she walked to the entrance with far more confidence than a week ago. When a hulking man with ginger hair opened the door, she gave him her card.
“This way, Miss Drake.”
“Don’t I need to pay an entrance fee?”
The large man laughed. “I’m quite certain King would have my head if I made you pay. You know the way?”
“Yes.”
She heard the man chuckle as she walked toward the inner doors. A whisky sounded perfectly wonderful right now, even if she had to go to a gaming hell to procure it. She smiled as she opened the door and noticed the table with all the hats lined up like soldiers.
“Good evening, ma’am,” the woman in a red silk dress said as Emma entered the room. “I’m Meg. Is this your first time here?”
“Not quite.”
Meg frowned slightly. “Pardon my saying, but you look vaguely familiar.”
“You were fucking the owner the first time I saw you.” Emma smiled at Meg’s shocked face. There was something about getting ejected from Almack’s that felt wholly liberating.
“You’re the duchess’s sister,” Meg stammered.
“I am. Would you be a dear and bring me a whisky?”
“Of course.”
Emma moved toward the roulette table to relax with a drink and some gambling. As she passed the card tables, she nodded to a few people she knew. Most of the men look uncommonly shocked by her appearance. By the time she sat down, Meg was there with her drink.
“If you need anything else, just let me know, ma’am.” Meg gave her a quick curtsy and then sauntered away.
She placed her bet and then sipped her whisky. After a few sips, her anger toward the owner of Hell faded. For once in her life, she controlled her destiny. Perhaps she didn’t need a list to enjoy life, the desire to do what she wanted satisfied her immensely.
#
SIMON GLANCED AT HIS reflection in the mirror as he pulled on his jacket. With all the innocents at Almack’s tonight, the lonely widows would be at the Jaspers’ party. And he would be there to pick the best and get his mind off one particular innocent at Almack’s. After brushing a stray black hair off his lapel, he moved to the door.
He opened it to find Riley with his fist up as if he were about to knock. Nothing peculiar about that, except the smug smile on the man’s face. “May I help you, Riley?”
“Thought you might want to know that Miss Drake is currently sitting at the roulette table drinking whiskey...only one so far tonight and winning a tidy sum again.”
“Goddammit! What the bloody hell is she doing here again? Please tell me she is not wearing some lad’s clothing again.”
Riley seemed unable to contain his laugh. “No, she is dressed in a beautiful white gown made more for an evening at Almack’s than Hell.”
“I’m going to kill Hood for letting her inside again.”
“I let her in.”
Simon stared up at Riley until he shrugged.
“Just thought you would prefer her inside than standing outside where anyone might see her.”
Simon strode down the stairs to his office so he could survey the room with no one else watching him. His fists tightened when he saw her sitting at the roulette table. What was wrong with her? Did she intentionally try to vex him?
While he’d promised Louisa he would stay away from Emma, he could do no such thing when she was in his gaming room unaccompanied. He would watch over her if only for her sake.
Walking down to the gaming room, he breathed in deeply to calm his anger. Emma was an innocent who didn’t know better. Although why, when clearly dressed for Almack’s, wasn’t she there? A curiosity, indeed.
He strolled to the bar, keeping her in his sight the entire time. After noting that her glass was almost empty, he picked up two glasses of whisky and headed toward her.
“I have never seen anyone as lucky as you when playing roulette.” He placed the whisky in front of her. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you have some system of cheating.”
Her movements stilled, but she didn’t look over at him. “I thought you were still at Worth Hall.”
“Like you, I returned early. I couldn’t let my business falter by being away too long.” He sat on the stool next to her. “How much are you up tonight?”
“Only about twenty.”
“That makes fifty you’ve pilfered from me now,” he noted, still wondering how she could have won so much in such a short amount of time.
“Hardly pilfered, Mr. Kingsley.”
“Simon,” he whispered near her ear. “I think after the other night, it would come naturally to you.”
Her cheeks reddened. “It’s not appropriate, Mr. Kingsley.”
“Neither is sitting in my gaming hell alone when you should be at Almack’s tonight.”
She laughed softly with a hint of scorn. “I was at Almack’s until Countess Lieven me informed that ladies who go to gaming hells wearing trousers are not acceptable clientele for Almack’s. Now since there were only five of us who knew I had done such a thing, I do wonder how she learned of it. Neither Louisa nor Harry would have spoken to anyone about what happened.”
“You can hardly think it was me.”
She looked over at him with one brow raised in question. “Can’t I?”
“Come up to my office where we can discuss this in private.” He assumed she would back down after their kiss the other night, but she jumped off the stool and was halfway across the room before she paused and glanced back expectedly at him. Simon moved from his seat to follow her.
Once in his office, she turned to him with anger marring her beautiful face. “Who else would speak to someone of what I did? Susan is my dearest friend and had no wish to go along with any of my plans.”
Plans? Had her ideas included pilfering silver from Lady Huntley and introducing herself to Simpson? And obtaining her first kiss? “I can guarantee you that I spoke to no one save your sister and my brother about you coming to Hell dressed as a man.”
Her face crumpled as she sank into a chair. “It could not have been Susan,” she muttered more to herself than to him. “She would never betray me no matter how much she thought my list was foolish.”
List?
She had a bloody list!
“When you said you could scratch off numbers two and three, there actually was a list of things you were planning to do?” he spoke with marked restraint.
She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together before giving him a slight nod. “Yes,” she replied with a sigh. “And getting tossed out of Almack’s was on it. But I wanted the satisfaction of doing something there. Not much, maybe an insult to a patroness.”
Since they had both left their drinks in the gaming room, he poured two glasses and handed her one. “Why would you do such a thing, Emma?”
“Do you have any idea what it is like to have a reputation that you did nothing to deserve?” she whispered before opening her eyes and staring at him.
He sat in the chair opposite her and then sipped his drink. He knew exactly how she felt. But should he tell her that? Would it matter if she knew his secret? “I do understand how you feel, Emma.”
“How could you possibly? For the past four years, I always did the right thing, the moral thing. I even engaged myself to a man because everyone told me he was the perfect husband for me. All to be ruined by my sisters’ actions.”
“No sane man believes you are to blame for the actions of your sisters,” he noted.
“Of course they do. Reputation is everything in Society, so do not tell me how I’m wrong to want to live up to mine. For once, I wanted to be the one who did something instead of being blamed for something I didn’t do.”
“But Emma, everyone knows it was your sisters, not you. You have no idea what it’s like when the sordid name is truly your own.”
“Well, you would understand that,” she said scornfully.
“I’m hardly the man people think I am,” he started slowly. “At least half of what is rumored about me is completely untrue.”
She looked incredulous. “You shot a man in a duel. That it is hardly the work of a gentleman.”
“Unless another man lied to protect a supposed friend.”
“What do you mean?”
“I came upon Winston and Parker at Hampstead Heath. God, they were foolish young men. They hadn’t even brought a surgeon with them. Once Parker shot Winston, their seconds ran off. I’d assumed to fetch the surgeon. Parker was stunned and had no idea what to do. I tried to stop the bleeding with my waist jacket, assuming the surgeon would arrive soon. After thirty minutes, I convinced him to bring Winston to a surgeon.”
Simon closed his eyes as he spoke. “I just hadn’t expected Parker to blame me for the shot.”
“I cannot believe Mr. Parker would do such a thing. And if what you say is true, why didn’t you deny it?”
He stared down into the amber liquid in his glass with a wry smile. “Because once Parker lied, business increased. When Winston died, business boomed. Suddenly all the ton wanted entrance into Hell. Everyone wanted to see the man who bested Winston and maybe even try to win some blunt off me. I let the rumor live, encouraged it even. The lie seemed to take on a life of its own. I became the man who took innocents to his bed, seduced more widows than there probably were widows, and cheated men out of fortunes.
“Now, even if I wanted to improve my reputation, no one would believe the rumors about me weren’t true.” He looked over at her. “So, I do understand your situation more than you realized.”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I had no idea.”
“I don’t want your pity.”
She took a sip of her whisky before looking over at him. “What do you want then?”
The seductive tone of her voice almost undid him. He wanted her. And he was tired of pretending he could stay away from her.
“I want the one innocent I can never have,” he whispered and then rose to stare down at the gaming room, away from her prying gaze.
Slender arms wrapped around him. “Who said you could not have her?”
He turned in her arms and moved her away from the windows. Staring down at her, he asked, “Is this just another thing to check off your list?”
Her cheeks colored scarlet.
“I think you should leave now.” He moved away from her before he felt the desire to kiss her again.
“Simon, you were not specifically on my list,” she said with a wry smile.
Simon? Now she decides to call him by his Christian name. “I suppose that is something,” he muttered. “Do you have a carriage tonight?”
She nodded. “I do.”
“Good. Riley will escort you to it.” Simon opened the door and shouted for Riley. “Goodnight, Miss Drake.”
“Goodnight, Mr. Kingsley.” She blinked as if holding back tears.
“What do you need, King?” Riley asked as he reached the top step.
“Get Miss Drake’s winnings and then escort her to her carriage.”
Riley nodded as he glanced back and forth between them. “Miss Drake, wait here until I retrieve your money.”
Simon looked over at her as she attempted to wipe away a tear without him noticing. Dammit! He closed the door while Riley fetched her money. The room felt far too confining with just the two of them in it.
“I should never have come here tonight.”
“Any night. You should stay away from Hell and me.”
“I thought I had. You were still supposed to be at Worth. If I’d know you were back in town, I would have gone straight home and missed the drink I wanted. I would never have come here.”
She wiped away another tear. Simon reached out and pulled her into his arms, exactly the wrong place for her. But he couldn’t seem to help himself. Whenever she was near, he wanted her in his arms, his lips on hers. Slowly, he lowered his head to hers and slanted his lips, touching her lips lightly. One taste of her, and he wanted more.
And evidently, so did she. Emma wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body closer to him, deepening the kiss. He was lost to the sensation as her tongue breached his mouth and skimmed across his tongue. Never had he desired a woman as he did Emma.
He wanted to show her what lovemaking could be like with the right man. Except he wasn’t the right man, nor could he ever be. Nor did he want to be some item on a list she scratched off when completed. She deserved a gentleman who could give her respectability.
“Miss Drake, I am ready when you are,” Riley shouted from the hall.
They broke apart as if both suddenly realizing their mistake.
“Goodbye, Miss Drake.”
“Goodnight, Mr. Kingsley.”
He watched her leave and then picked up the empty brandy snifter and hurled it at the door. The last thing he needed was a reckless girl who only wanted him because of some damned list. Who makes a list of ways to ruin their reputation? And why should he care if she chose him to help her eliminate some of the items on her list?
Because he did care.
He shouldn’t give a damn what she did...but he did.
Dammit all to hell. He had to find that list and see what else might be on it. Thwarting Emma Drake would now be his priority. He wasn’t about to let her ruin her reputation and live with the consequences for the rest of her life.