Page 29 of King of Clubs (The Ladies’ Wagering Whist Society #9)

J oshua looked up at the imposing house on Berkeley Square. It had been a mistake to come the last time he’d been here. He’d known it at the time but had thought he was doing the right thing. Now he realized what a fool he’d been.

How could he possibly kiss Miss Sherman and not know immediately that she was the woman for him? Well, he wasn’t that much of an idiot. He had known; he simply let his fears get in the way of his heart. But he wasn’t going to do that now.

The ladies had been right. He was a viscount, and it was way past time he accepted that and started believing in himself. It didn’t matter what his past was; no one was going to take away his title. And even if they did, he now had built a life for himself that he was proud of. A life that would support him and his family. A life where he was respected and, dare he even think it, admired by members of society.

It didn’t matter what his pedigree. He was a viscount. His son would inherit his title, and his daughter would be accepted into society when it was time for her to make her debut. No one was going to say otherwise—no matter who he married.

He strode up to the door of the Hanslow residence and lifted the knocker.

When the footman announced him, he straightened his shoulders and walked into the drawing room. This wasn’t going to be easy or pleasant.

“Lady Hanslow, Miss Hanslow,” he said, bowing to the two ladies. The younger stood and curtsied.

“What a delightful surprise, my lord,” Miss Hanslow said. She indicated the sofa where she’d been sitting. “Won’t you come in and have a seat? I shall ring for some tea.”

“No, thank you,” he said quickly, stopping her. “I don’t believe I’m going to be staying for long.” He paused and then turned to the older lady. “I was wondering if I might have a word in private with Miss Hanslow?”

The woman’s grin could not be wider. “Of course, my lord,” she said with a giggle.

Joshua could only frown and shake his head. When he did so, the lady’s smile faltered, but she left the room, leaving the door ajar.

He turned back to her daughter who had sat back down on the sofa. He joined her. “Miss Hanslow, I don’t know if your father has spoken to you already, but I made a mistake. A terrible, terrible mistake.”

The girl frowned at him.

“A week ago, I asked your father for his permission to court you. Unfortunately, circumstances have changed since then, and now I find… I find myself unable to live up to that inherent promise.”

She blinked at him, her dark lashes fluttering in confusion. “Circumstances have changed, my lord? What circumstances?”

“The state of my heart,” he told her boldly.

She now truly looked confused. “Your heart? What has your heart got to do with you courting me?”

Joshua nearly laughed. Of course she would think this way. She had been raised to believe that one married for advancement. It would probably never occur to her that one might wish to love the person they married. “I’m afraid I have fallen in love with another. I feel compelled to follow my heart rather than my head, which tells me that you are most ideal young lady of my acquaintance and the one I should marry.”

“I am without a doubt the most accomplished young lady on the marriage mart. You would be a fool to marry anyone else,” she said. He was certain she was merely mimicking her parents words.

“You are right. I would be a fool, and I will be such a fool. I am sorry, Miss Hanslow, but I must follow my heart. I do hope you will forgive me.”

“No, my lord, I will count myself lucky that I did not succumb to your charms because clearly you are an idiot.”

“Yes, indeed. I’m certain you are correct. And yet, there it is.” He stood up and gave her a smile. “Thank you for understanding.”

“But I don’t understand,” she said. “Why would you knowingly be so stupid?”

He gave a little laugh and shrug. “Sometimes men are just that way. Thank you for your time.” He bowed and strode out of the room, bowing again to her mother who was standing just outside the door. “That went a great deal better than I had anticipated. Good day, my lady.”

The woman looked at him with as much confusion as her daughter had. Whew! That was a close call, he thought, as he left the house.

~*~

Joshua found his mother pacing in the drawing room when he got home. “Mother, is everything all right?”

“Oh, Joshua! Thank goodness you are back! I need to speak with you. It is most urgent,” she said, coming over to him.

“Of course. Come and sit down.” He tried to lead her over to the sofa, but she didn’t budge.

“No, I cannot sit. We must do something! Poor Miss Sherman has been revealed as the owner of the Ryder Street Club!”

He couldn’t believe she sounded so upset by this. It rather made him curious as to why she cared so much about Gwendolyn’s reputation, but he shoved that thought aside for later. “Yes, I know. I learned about it last night.”

“Last night? What have you done to help her? Is that where you were? At her home? Have you come up with a solution?” His mother grabbed onto his arm.

“What? No. I, er, as soon as I heard, I tried to offer my help, but she thinks that it was me who told everyone her secret.”

“What? Why would you do something like that? I thought you liked her!” his mother screeched.

Joshua winced. “Mother, I didn’t! It wasn’t me. I went into Lady Penderton’s soirée where everyone was talking about it and tried to dispel the rumors, but it was impossible. No one would listen to me. One woman told me that she got it from her maid, who heard about it from Lady Hanslow’s cook.”

“Lady Hanslow? Isn’t that the woman whose daughter you were thinking of marrying?”

“Yes. In fact, I was just at their home to tell Miss Hanslow that I will not be pursuing anything further with her.”

A smile grew on his mother’s face. “I am happy to hear that, my son. Very happy!”

He took in a breath. “Yes. But I don’t believe Lady Hanslow knows what her own cook is spreading about. She didn’t mention a word of it to me.”

Lady Wickford lost her smile and frowned, thinking about that. Finally, she shook her head. “I’m sure she knows. What sort of mistress would she be if she didn’t?”

“I don’t know. But in any case, I have cut ties with her and her daughter.”

“That is good,” she nodded. “Now, I have a plan to save Miss Sherman. We are going to put it into effect, but I want to know who started this rumor. Who told this cook, who spread the word to everyone else?”

Now, it was Joshua’s turn to be surprised. “I, er, I don’t know.”

“Well, find out!” She looked at him as if he could just magically discover this information.

“I will speak with…” He thought for a moment. Who could he speak to who would know? An idea came to him. Jamieson, the majordomo at the Ryder Street Club. He would either know or be able to find out. Joshua needed to speak to the man immediately.

“And we must go over to Miss Sherman right away before it is too late,” his mother said, interrupting his thoughts. “Come, I will tell you my plan on the way.” His mother started toward the door.

“But, Mother, if you want me…”

“Joshua, do not argue with me. Just come!” She turned and led the way out of the house.

It was nearly five by the time they arrived at Miss Sherman’s home as they stopped for Joshua to have a quick word with Jamieson on their way. Joshua was astounded to see a traveling carriage pull up to the house just before him.

His mother gasped. “She’s leaving! We cannot allow her to leave!” She climbed down the moment the footman opened her door. Joshua jumped down after her and joined her at the door.

“We must see Miss Sherman immediately,” she announced to the footman who answered the door. The man stepped back involuntarily at her onslaught, but Joshua’s mother simply took that as an invitation to step into the house.

“Er, ma’am, I’m very sorry but Miss Sherman isn’t seeing visitors. She’s to leave—” the poor man started.

“She will see me, and she will do so now,” Lady Wickford stated in her most regal manner. “Tell her Lord and Lady Wickford are here.”

“Er, yes, my lady.”

A few moments later, he came back down the steps looking a little confused, but he showed them up.

“Lady Wickford,” Gwendolyn said, greeting Joshua’s mother as she walked in the door of her drawing room. She hadn’t been sitting, and Joshua had a feeling she’d only entered the room herself a minute before.

“Miss Sherman, you are not leaving,” Lady Wickford stated. She took Gwendolyn’s hand’s in her own and looked down into her eyes. “You are not leaving,” she said again more firmly.

Gwendolyn blinked quickly. “I have to.”

“No, you do not. What you are going to do is sell me either your entire club or half of it—that is up to you.”

Gwendolyn frowned. “Sell… you want to buy the Ryder Street Club?”

“I do. I am going to become the face of the club. The one who everyone knows as the owner. If you would still like to run things from behind, you may retain fifty-percent ownership, and no one need know. If you want to completely wash your hands of the whole thing… well, I think that would be extremely—”

“No! No, I don’t, but I’m being forced to do so,” Gwendolyn said, interrupting her.

“Well, you will not be any longer. Not once we have let it be known that it wasn’t you, but me who is the owner.”

Joshua stepped forward. “My mother didn’t feel comfortable sharing this information with anyone since she is new to Town, but when she saw my club and how it was run, she had the brilliant idea to create a club just like it, only for ladies.” He gave Gwendolyn a little smile, trying to gauge how she was taking this story they’d thought up on their way over.

“Oh, er, of course. That makes perfect sense. Only… why was it spread about that I was the club’s owner?” Gwendolyn asked him.

It was an excellent question. “It was entirely created by the Hanslow’s cook who learned that I was infatuated with you. She wanted your reputation destroyed, so I would marry her mistress’s daughter, who I have also shown an interest in. She thought Miss Hanslow would be happy to be married to me. I was spoiling her—and the Hanslow’s—plans. It was entirely through spite that you were implicated.”

Gwendolyn’s mouth dropped open. She looked from Joshua, to his mother, and then back again. “You… you would do that? For me? And what, my lord, of Miss Hanslow?”

“I have informed her earlier today that I have no interest in furthering our acquaintance.”

Gwendolyn’s eyes went wide.

Lady Wickford smiled down at her and gave their still-linked hands a little shake. “Of course, I would do anything for the object of my son’s affections. And I do believe that your idea of a club for ladies is a brilliant one. Why wouldn’t I claim it as my own?” She gave a little laugh.

“The object of…” Gwendolyn started. She was clearly overwhelmed with all the information being thrown her way. He couldn’t blame her.

The idea of proposing to Gwendolyn right here and now flashed through Joshua’s mind, but just as quickly, he dismissed the idea. He absolutely would not propose in front of his mother. No, he would do so on his own terms, in his own time, when he could do so in the most romantic manner he could. Ah… but now he had to plan his proposal well.

The smile on Gwendolyn’s face grew hesitantly at first, then blossomed fully. She let out a sigh of relief. “Fifty percent. I will sell you half of the club.”

Joshua and his mother both nodded. “We will purchase fifty percent, and you will continue to run things from behind—with some guidance from me,” Lady Wickford agreed.

“You are truly interested in taking an interest in the running of the club?” Gwendolyn asked.

“But of course! And perhaps we’ll even let Joshua add in an idea or two of his own,” she added with a laugh.

Gwendolyn laughed—a sound sweeter than any Joshua had heard in a long time.

“I will meet with your father tomorrow to arrange for the purchase,” he told her, “but you will also need to go out into society—no hiding in the shadows until this blows over. You need to go out with my mother and prove to the world that you have no reason to fear this talk because it simply isn’t true.”

“Shall we go for a drive in the park tomorrow?” his mother suggested to Gwendolyn.

“I would much rather assist with the selling of half the club,” Gwendolyn admitted.

Joshua’s mother looked at her oddly. “Surely you are jesting?”

“No. I’m afraid I’m simply much more comfortable dealing with business matters than society,” Gwendolyn admitted.

“I agree it’s not going to be easy facing down people who only yesterday were running your name through the mud,” his mother said kindly. “But you must be brave, my girl. You must lift your chin and follow my lead. We will show those gossips that we don’t care one whit what they say because we will have truth and honor on our side.”

Gwendolyn smiled up at the woman, looking so incredibly grateful. “Thank you,” she whispered. She cleared her throat and then added, “How about a walk, then, my lady? I think it will be easier to speak with people if we’re not causing others to wait behind us,” Gwendolyn suggested.

Lady Wickford smiled. “An excellent idea, my dear.”