And the Widow Wore Scarlet (Scandalous Sons Book 1) by Adele Clee

Author:Adele Clee [Clee, Adele]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-12T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Once a coffeehouse where men gathered to converse about politics, their wretched wives and play a few hands of cards, The Silver Serpent had done away with the beverage in favour of potent spirits. Spirits strong enough to affect a man’s ability to concentrate on his game. Regular patrons knew the house always won, but that didn’t stop the young bucks trying to break the bank.

Only fools and drunken sots believed in rags-to-riches tales.

Sensible men knew when to cut and run.

“Did you send word we were coming?” Damian asked as he took Scarlett’s hand and assisted her descent from the carriage.

“Of course,” she said, straightening her skirts.

“And did you explain the nature of our relationship?”

“Mr Flannery knows we’re not lovers if that is what you mean.”

No, they were not lovers, not yet, but a man brought back from the brink of death numerous times knew to have faith.

“Am I to assume that we’re standing on Princes Street because you cannot enter the establishment via the front door?”

“Women are not permitted entrance, Wycliff. You know that.”

“Not even the owner?”

“If men knew of my association with the club, they would bombard me with pleas for clemency. Desperate wives with crying babes in their arms would accost me in the street. Every devious lord would look for a means to bribe me so that I might wipe his slate clean. Hence the reason we are using the side entrance in the alley.”

He glanced at the avenue between the two taverns, where drunken revellers stumbled out into the night to empty their bursting bladders. “Please tell me you don’t usually visit the club after dark. These passages are unsafe for a woman on her own.”

A smile touched her lips. “Why, Mr Wycliff, it almost sounds as though you care about my welfare.”

He cared more than she knew.

More than he dared admit.

“If I am risking my life to protect you, I would rather know my efforts are not in vain.” It occurred to him that his reply in no way conveyed the truth. That having nursed him for a second time, she deserved better. “You’ve suffered enough at the hands of a depraved miscreant. I should not like to see you suffer again.”

“I am aware of the dangers.” She touched his arm in a gesture of reassurance. “But let me put your mind at ease. Alcock usually walks me to the door. I am not the naive girl I once was. Nothing would induce me to race into an alley alone at night.”

“Not even to save me?”

She exhaled a soft sigh. “You are perhaps the only person I would risk my life to save.” She shook her head as if someone else had commanded her mind and spoken the sentimental words. “Dear me.” Sadness lingered in her light laugh. “You seem to have caught me at a vulnerable moment.”

The yearning ache in his chest returned. “That is the most heartfelt thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“Remember it. Such moments are rare for a scandalous widow.

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