Page 18 of Rules for Ruin (The Crinoline Academy #1)

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On returning to Sloane Street that evening, after a day spent in meetings with Lord Haverford and his influential friends, Gabriel was met in the hall by Kilby, Ollie O’Cleary, and Bill Walsh. The three hovered as Gabriel divested himself of his hat, coat, and gloves.

Gabriel’s already grim mood took a turn for the worse. “Not at the door,” he said before stalking into the gaslit dining room. There, he poured himself a glass of whiskey from the bottle on the mahogany sideboard and downed it in one swallow. If there was one thing he couldn’t tolerate, it was being met at the door with bad news. And by the looks on their faces, Gabriel was in for a parcel of it.

Setting down his empty glass, he rested his hands on the sideboard, head bent.

He counted himself a skillful businessman when it came to running the betting shop and dealing with the fraught politics of the Rookery. The complicated mechanisms of government involved in improving a London neighborhood, however, were another beast entirely.

Ensconced with Haverford and several other gentlemen in a smoke-filled room at their club, Gabriel had listened as the men talked about forming a committee, in consult with Lord Compton, to write an impartial report on conditions in St. Giles. Haverford had also suggested that Compton might pen a newspaper article in support of reform to be published in the Times . There had been other proposals, too—nearly half a dozen altogether—but however well-thought-out and well-intentioned, they all bore two things in common. Each required Compton’s unequivocal support, and each required time—an abundance of it.

Gabriel had no desire for the former. As for the latter…

The Rookery was running out of time. Which meant Gabriel was, too. He had no patience for lengthy studies, detailed reports, or pious editorials. The people of St. Giles needed change now, not in some unreliable, indefinite future. Without it, the already dwindling slum wouldn’t survive another year.

He poured himself another glass of whiskey. Kilby, Ollie, and Walsh waited in the dining room doorway. Kilby was unshakable as ever, his posture unbending, and his lined face a study in butler-like reserve. His stillness cast an unflattering light on Ollie’s and Walsh’s restlessness. The two shifted from foot to foot with nervous apprehension, the soles of their shoes squeaking in protest.

“Walsh,” Gabriel said, taking a drink. “Speak to me.”

Bill Walsh stepped forward. He held his cloth cap in his meaty hands. What remained of his hair was ruthlessly slicked down with a heavy application of bear grease pomade. “I found someone, Mr.Royce. An old woman what knew Grace.”

“Did you,” Gabriel said in a flat monotone. “And yet…” He cast a dispassionate glance around the dining room. “I see no old woman here. Do you, Kilby?”

“No, sir,” the butler replied.

Gabriel took another drink. “I distinctly recall telling you that if you found someone you were to bring them to me.”

“Yes, sir,” Walsh said.

“Yes, sir,” Gabriel murmured. “Yet, here we are.”

Walsh drew closer. “Thing is, Mr.Royce, I did try to get her to come, but the old woman—Mrs.Young, she calls herself—she weren’t having it. Says she won’t travel outside Hertfordshire on no account. And seeing as how you said I wasn’t to use violence—”

Gabriel leveled a look at him. “Hertfordshire? Is that where you’ve been since Tuesday?”

Walsh nodded. “A blacksmith chap in Church Lane directed me. Claimed this Mrs.Young knew everyone from the old days in St. Giles. She lived in the same lodging house as him ’til five years ago when she moved to Trowley Green—a village outside Sawbridgeworth—to lodge with her widowed sister.”

“And she knew Grace, did she?”

“She says she knew of her.”

Gabriel exhaled a weary breath. It appeared he would be making a journey to Trowley Green.

The timing was scarcely convenient. Sawbridgeworth was over thirty miles away. He’d lose nearly a day traveling back and forth on the train, and for what? A few very likely useless scraps of information about someone else’s aged family servant?

But not someone else’s. Effie’s.

He straightened from the sideboard, leaving the rest of his drink unfinished. “Give Kilby the address.”

“Yes, Mr.Royce.” Walsh bobbed his head.

“Kilby?” Gabriel summoned the butler next. “I presume you have something pressing to tell me?”

The butler approached. “A footman delivered this for you earlier this afternoon, sir. He claimed it was important.” Kilby handed Gabriel a white envelope sealed with a pale violet wafer.

“From Compton?” Gabriel asked as he took it.

“The footman was from the Belwoods’ residence in Brook Street, sir.”

Gabriel stilled. He stared at the envelope in his hand. The direction had been written in a firm but delicate hand. His direction.

He didn’t wait until he was alone to open it. While the three men stood back, with varying expressions of unease, Gabriel broke the seal on the envelope. The letter inside was short and to the point—only a few lines, penned in the same elegant hand as the one that had written out his address.

Dear Sir,

I shall be visiting Cremorne Gardens tomorrow evening, along with a small party of friends, to view Mr.Galezzo’s high-wire act. We would be pleased if you would join us.

We depart Brook Street at eight o’clock. Meet us there, if you are so inclined.

Yours etc.,

E. Flite

Gabriel read the message twice through before folding it back into its envelope and thrusting it into the pocket of his waistcoat. He was aware of his heart beating rather more heavily than it had a moment ago. It did nothing to improve his mood.

How the devil had she obtained his address? And what friends? Gentlemen ones, no doubt.

Scowling, he picked up his glass again. “What about you, Ollie?” he asked crossly. “Anything you want to add?”

“Only that Miss Flite were here earlier, sir.”

Gabriel dropped his glass back onto the sideboard with a heavy clink. He turned on the lad. “ Here? In my house ?”

Ollie took a reflexive step backward. “Not inside it, Mr.Royce. On the street. She came up on me, like. Thought I were following her again.”

“Miss Flite was in Sloane Street?”

Ollie nodded rapidly. “She were angry at me. Said I was to tell anyone else you sent to follow her that she sees everything and she don’t take kindly to spies.”

“And somewhere in this brief and riveting exchange, you told her this house belonged to me.” Gabriel felt the bitter urge to laugh. And not with humor. In dismay at the extent of his own masculine naivete.

Had he really thought that his warnings to Effie in Hyde Park would have any appreciable effect on her? That she’d seriously consider backing off of Compton?

No, Gabriel hadn’t thought she would. Neither had he thought that she’d turn her sights on him.

Look sharp , she’d told him.

And Gabriel hadn’t. He’d been too busy being pulled in twenty different directions. Too distracted with trying to save himself, all the while confident in the fact that Effie would never find Wingard’s documents, not if it was Compton she was chasing.

But she wasn’t chasing him any longer, was she? Not exclusively.

Gabriel saw it now quite clearly. Effie Flite was chasing him.