The words came easily. But then again, the truth always did write well.
Unfortunately, the truth did not sell papers.
He ascended the stairs to his curricle, pulling himself up into the seat and taking the reins, dismissing his groom for the night. He liked to drive himself; found solace in the rhythm of hoofbeats and the circling of wheels.
He followed behind the lady’s coach as it trundled at a snail’s pace, attempting to leave the Worthington property, and had no choice but to think of her, inside that carriage, with her thoughts. He imagined her staring out the window at the lanterns that hung on the carriages that remained along the street. Imagined her wondering how her carriage might have been with the others – might have been one of the last to leave that evening, after she had danced again and again and again, with a myriad of gentlemen until her feet were sore and her muscles straining from exhaustion. Imagined her thinking about the way she might have left the ball – not to escape Society, but as a queen of it.
If only she hadn’t been ruined.
He imagined her pretty eyes filled with regret, for all the things she might have been. All the things she might have done. All the life she might have led.
If things had been different.
He was so lost in thinking of the lady that he did not realize that she had missed her turn – the one to her brother’s home – and instead, she was headed through Mayfair, oddly, in his same direction.
He certainly wasn’t following her intentionally.
The carriage wheels clattered along the cobblestoned streets of Mayfair, turning down Bond – where the shops had closed for the evening – and then onto Piccadilly toward St. James.
It was then that he began to question where she was headed.
He allowed his curricle to fall back, for no reason at all, he told himself. He allowed a few carriages to come between them, barely able to make out the lanterns on her conveyance as it made the turn onto Duke Street, then cut into the labyrinth of streets and alleyways behind the men’s clubs of St. James. He sat up in his seat.
She was behind The Fallen Angel.
Duncan West was arguably the greatest newspaperman in London, but it did not take an investigative mind such as his own to recognize the truth.
Lady Georgiana Pearson, sister of the Duke of Leighton, with a dowry big enough to buy Buckingham Palace, and supposedly desperate for a restored reputation – one he had offered to secure for her – was headed straight for Britain’s most celebrated men’s club.
Which just so happened to be his club.
He stopped his curricle before making the final turn to the rear entrance of the club, leaping down and heading the rest of the way on foot, not wanting to draw attention to his presence. If she were seen here, her reputation would be destroyed forever. No man would have her, and her daughter would have no future.
It was a risk of outrageous proportions.
So what in hell was she doing?
West remained in the shadows, leaning against the alley wall, watching the great black carriage that had stopped, its occupant still inside. He realized that the carriage boasted no markings; there was nothing about it that would draw attention. Nothing but the enormous outrider, who climbed down from his perch, moving to bang on the heavy steel door that marked the back entrance to the club. A small slot opened, then closed when the servant spoke. The door opened, revealing a great black chasm – the dark rear entry to the club.
Still the doors to the carriage remained firmly shut.
Good. Perhaps she was reconsidering whatever idiocy this was.
Perhaps she would not exit.
Except she would. No doubt, she had before. No doubt, that was why she had such easy access to this club, run by London’s darkest men, any one of whom could destroy her without hesitation.
He should stop her. He moved to, coming off the wall, ready to cross the wide mews, tear open the door to the carriage, and give her what for.
But the outrider was closer than he, opening the door and setting the step on the ground below.
West hesitated, waiting for her, for her white skirts, and that innocent silver slipper that had been his last, lingering glimpse of her.
Except the slipper that emerged was in no way innocent.
It was sinful.
High-heeled and dark – too dark to tell the color in the spare light from the carriage – showcasing a long, slender foot that arched with perfection. He came off the wall where he’d been leaning, gaze focused as the foot gave way to ankle and then a sea of silk the color of midnight, the mass of fabric ending at the point of a corseted bodice, threaded and tightened to showcase a glorious bosom designed to make a man salivate.
He swallowed.
And then she stepped into the light, painted lips, kohled eyes, and blond hair gleaming platinum.
Blond wig gleaming platinum.
Recognition flared, and he swore in the darkness.
Shock soon gave way to the acute pleasure that came with uncovering a remarkable story.
Lady Georgiana Pearson was no innocent. She was London’s finest whore.
And she was his answer.
Chapter 4
… Lady G— may not be thought much a lady, but she comported herself with grace and aplomb at the W— Ball, and attracted the attention of at least one duke and a half-dozen aristocratic gentlemen in search of wives…
… it seems that Lady M— and her compatriots are in rare form this Season, eager to dress down any who dare come near. Gentlemen of the ton should take care… the daughter of the Earl of H— appears to lack the grace of some of her lessers…
The Scandal Sheet, April 20, 1833
The following night, Georgiana entered her apartments high above the club, startling Asriel, one of the Angel’s security detail, who sat quietly, reading.