Page 19 of King of Clubs (The Ladies’ Wagering Whist Society #9)

J oshua shrugged. “That’s an original name.” He could not have made his voice any more bland and uninterested.

Shelby chuckled. “And it’s being refurbished at a speed you would not believe. A great deal of funds is being poured into it,” he continued.

Joshua gave the slightest nod. That was interesting information. Joshua prided himself on the elegance of his club.

“They’re even putting in sound barriers, as I’ve heard you have, to contain the noise of the gaming room,” the fellow continued.

That was very interesting, indeed. So, the new club owner had stolen his idea. Well, that didn’t sit very well.

The man smirked, knowing he’d just made a hit.

Joshua turned to check on his mother, both to see how she was doing and to show his disinterest in what Shelby was telling him. It would not do to either leave her alone for too long, especially if she were horribly uncomfortable, nor allow Shelby to think he had anything over him.

Joshua frowned. His mother was smiling. She was no longer looking toward him, nor looking so bereft. In fact, she was facing Lord Keppel and looking for all the world as if she were enjoying speaking with him. Well, good for her! Joshua allowed himself to relax.

“Is that all, Shelby?” Joshua asked, turning back to the man who was now frowning fiercely at him. He clearly didn’t like being dismissed.

“Just one more small piece of information, but if you’re too busy, my lord, I would be happy to continue this conversation later—at Powell’s.” One side of Shelby’s lips quirked up.

Joshua gave a huff of a laugh. “I don’t think so. I am sorry, sir, but I still do not feel you are right for Powell’s membership.” He turned to leave, but the other man grabbed onto his arm.

“Oh, I think you will want to know this, my lord. This is the key piece. Naturally, I’ve saved the best for last.”

Joshua looked down at the man’s hand on his arm. Shelby lifted it off immediately but didn’t back down from his aggressive stance.

“And I assume you want membership in exchange for this piece of information,” Joshua surmised.

The man smiled.

The word “no” began to form on Joshua’s lips when Shelby interrupted him. “Trial membership,” he said quickly. “I would settle for a trial membership. After one month, if you still believe me unworthy to join your precious club, I will resign and never pass through your door again.”

Well, that sounded fair, Joshua had to admit that. “Very well, Shelby. If I hear one word against you for whatever reason, you will be asked to leave. Is that understood? We do not tolerate any infractions to the rules.”

The man nodded.

“All right. Now, what is this last bit of information?” Joshua asked.

Shelby smiled. “The Ryder Street Club is going to be for ladies only.” With that, he burst out laughing and turned away, leaving Joshua standing alone.

He snapped his mouth closed, realizing that people were staring.

~*~

“Lord Keppel, how wonderful to see you this evening,” a young woman said, coming up to join Hannah and the gentleman she was speaking with.

Hannah lifted her chin and stared the woman down. They’d been having a very nice conversation, and Hannah wasn’t certain she welcomed the interruption. On the other hand, Lord Keppel’s eyes lit with welcome when he saw the girl.

“Lady Welles, you are looking lovely as always. I was just with your husband not too long ago,” Lord Keppel said. He then turned to Hannah. “Lady Wickford, this is the young lady I was telling you about. May I present Lady Welles?”

The girl curtsied and gave her a big smile. “You are Lady Wickford. I am so very honored, my lady. I have long considered Lord Wickford a friend.”

“Really?” Hannah asked, looking down her nose at the girl.

“Lady Welles is absolutely the sweetest girl you will meet, my lady,” Lord Keppel told Hannah. “And not only that, but she is a member of the Ladies’ Wagering Whist Society. Has your son told you about this group?”

“The name is familiar,” Hannah admitted. “I do believe Joshua did tell me about them.” She turned to the girl. “But I thought he said it was a group of ladies more my age than yours.”

“We have women of all ages, my lady,” the girl told her. “I and Lady Colburne are the youngest members of the group. Would you care to meet more of the members? I know they would very much like to meet you.”

The girl was so forthright and earnest, Hannah had a hard time not agreeing to meet these women, and Joshua had said he would introduce her to them. Surely, he would not mind if she met them before he’d had the chance. “If you wouldn’t mind, my lord?” she asked, turning to Lord Keppel.

“Not at all! Please, don’t give me another thought.” He bowed to her as she turned to go off with the girl.

“Ladies,” Lady Welles said, capturing the attention of a number of women who were all standing in a cluster. “Please allow me to introduce Lady Wickford to you.” She turned to Hannah. “My lady, this is Lady Blakemore, Lady Ayres, Lady Colburne, the Duchess of Bolton, Miss Sherman, and Lady Gorling. Lady Sorrell is just over there with her sister, Miss Bolton, who is just making her come-out into society this Season.”

Hannah gave each woman a nod. She was pleased to see that most of the women were indeed about her age.

“Welcome, Lady Wickford,” said the first woman, Lady Blakemore, Hannah thought.

“We are so pleased to make your acquaintance,” the woman next to her said.

“Quite thrilled, in fact,” the woman who was supposed to be a duchess said with a giggle.

“I am pleased to meet all of you. My son has told me that you are quite renowned in society.”

“I don’t believe I would go quite that far, but we have been known to make a bit of a splash,” the girl, Lady Colburne, said with a little laugh.

“We are pleased to be able to assist people in any way we can. If that means helping two young people to realize their love for each other or raising money for those in need, we are always more than ready to lend our support,” Lady Ayres said.

“That sounds quite appropriate for a ladies’ society,” Hannah agreed. She, herself, had never been part of a society such as this. She’d always rather kept to herself, but she could definitely see the appeal in having friends.

“And of course, we enjoy a good card game every week,” Lady Welles said with a giggle.

“That goes without saying,” Lady Blakemore said, giving the girl a forgiving little smile.

“We are so pleased to see that you are doing well, my lady,” the duchess said. “We heard you had a most harrowing journey here.”

Hannah shook her head. “Please, Duchess, I would prefer not to be reminded of that.”

“Of course!” the other rotund lady said. Hannah couldn’t remember her name, but thought it began with a G. The woman frowned at the duchess before turning back to Hannah. “The Duchess of Warwick was able to recommend an excellent modiste for you?”

“Yes. She was extremely helpful and a very sweet and thoughtful girl,” Hannah told the women.

“Good evening, ladies,” Joshua said, coming to stand beside Hannah. He gave them all a bright smile. “I see you’ve met my mother.”

“Yes, we are so pleased you brought her this evening,” Lady Ayres said.

“Oh, Lord Wickford, you must be so thrilled to have her with you!” the duchess said effusively.

He gave a little chuckle. “Indeed, I am.” He turned and gave Hannah a warm smile. He looked so happy here amongst his friends. Hannah could feel his joy and how relaxed he was amongst these people. It made her pleased to know he had a good life here, was accepted, and had friends. It was all a mother could want for her son—aside from a daughter-in-law.

~May 4~

Gwendolyn didn’t feel conspicuous at all. Not at all. It was perfectly normal for a young lady to hang about on the street all by herself, wasn’t it? Well, she wasn’t entirely alone. Her maid was sitting in her carriage just a few feet away.

She spotted a man approaching. He was tall, broad-shouldered, not bad looking at all. He definitely looked like he might be one of the footmen who worked at Powell’s, the back gate of which she just so happened to be standing next to. She tried her best to look nonchalant… and then watched the man walk straight by.

Phooey!

She was watching him go when another fellow tried to walk past her. “I beg your pardon,” she said, turning on him.

He stopped. He was also tall and good-looking. “Yes, Miss?”

“Do you happen to work here?” she asked.

“Er, yes, Miss.” He nodded hesitantly.

She smiled. “How would you like to work at a different club for even more money?”

He frowned. “A different club?”

“Yes. The Ryder Street Club just down the street is looking for footmen.”

“There is an agency where footmen can be hired,” he told her.

“Yes, I know, but I want footmen who’ve been trained to work at a club. It will save a great deal of time and effort if you’re already trained. Oh, and did I mention, the Ryder Street Club is for ladies?” She gave him a brilliant smile.

His eyes widened. “Ladies?”

“Yes. Young ladies. Older ladies. All ladies.”

“And you say you’ll pay better than Lord Wickford? He pays us pretty well.”

“You will be paid more, I assure you,” she confirmed.

“Hmmm. I don’t know. I really like working for His Lordship. He’s very nice.”

“And Mr. Jamieson will be very nice. He’s the majordomo at the Ryder Street Club.”

“Mr. Jamieson.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll think about it,” he said with a little nod.

“Good!” Out of the corner of Gwendolyn’s eye, she saw Lord Wickford coming toward her. “Tell your friends,” she said quickly and quietly. And then more loudly, she said, “Are you sure you don’t know where number six is?”

The man caught sight of his employer bearing down on them and scooted through the gate.

Gwendolyn let out an exaggerated sigh. She turned and then pretended to act surprised. “Oh, Lord Wickford! How do you do?”

“Very well, Miss Sherman. What are you doing here and why are you speaking with Michael?”

“Michael?” she asked, deliberately looking confused.

“The man you were just speaking with?”

“Oh! I just stopped to ask him for directions. I’m looking for number six Ryder Street. Might you be able to help me?”

He smiled, showing her his brilliantly white, straight teeth. He was much, much too handsome! Those teeth, his golden eyes, strong chin, broad shoulders… Gwendolyn’s stomach turned over. “Of course, and I would be more than happy to escort you there. You shouldn’t be out on your own, you know.”

“Oh, er, yes. I do know, but, well…” She gave a little shrug.

He offered her his arm, giving her no choice but to take it. “Actually, I was meaning to walk in that direction myself.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, I understand there’s a new club at that end of Ryder Street. I wanted to take a look and see for myself,” he said, beginning to walk down the street.

“But that’s where I’m going. I want to see if I can join. I hear it’s going to be all the rage.”

“Do you think so?” he asked.

“I do.” They were silent for a few minutes as they walked. Gwendolyn had no idea what to say to this man. He was annoyingly good looking and entirely too charming.

“The trick with Ryder Street,” he said as they turned a corner and then crossed the street, “is this little jig. It’s not straight, so it can be difficult to find the address you’re looking for.” They turned again.

“Oh, yes, I see. That is tricky,” she said. Goodness, he really thought her an idiot, didn’t he? Well, wasn’t that just wonderful? Another tick under the column of why she seriously disliked this man. The one thing she had to be careful of today, though, was her runaway tongue. It was one thing to be rude to the fellow when they were in her drawing room or at a party, but he was “helping” her, and she needed to ensure he didn’t suspect that she’d been up to no good, hanging about talking to his employees.

They came up to the new club. It was looking quite magnificent if Gwendolyn did say so herself. The curtains hanging in the windows were pulled back to reveal the lovely white cloth-covered tables just inside the lavender-accented tea room. Even from the street, one could see the elegance of the room beyond.

She closely watched His Lordship’s reaction as he peered through the window. “Well, what do you think?” she asked, then quickly added. “Should I join?”

He turned and gave her a smile. “I wouldn’t know, Miss Sherman. It looks… quite elegantly feminine.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I suppose it is.”

~May 5~

Gwendolyn jumped to her feet when Bel and Bee were announced by her footman the following day. “Oh, thank God you are here!” she said before giving the girls each a hug.

“What do you mean? Of course we’re here.” Bel giggled.

“We wouldn’t miss your first at-home!” Bee agreed.

“No, I know you wouldn’t, but I did so hope that you would come early like you have.” Gwendolyn explained. “Even before the duchess arrived.”

“Oh?” Bel asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

“Is there something you need from us?” Bee asked.

“Yes. I need you to talk about the club—the Ryder Street Club for Ladies,” Gwendolyn told them.