Lady Revealed (13 page)

Acker swirled the whiskey around in his glass while he slumped in a chair inside Dagger’s Haven, a popular gaming hell, and run by Sebastain Stanwick. The two were once friends but Acker had lost track of him after Stanwick dropped out of Oxford. They became reacquainted when Dagger’s Haven opened. It was early in the evening yet but Acker couldn’t remain in his home watching the time slowly tick by while he waited for the ballet to begin. He had come here for the distraction. Under normal circumstances he would be looking forward to the production, had he found Juliette and asked her to join him, but she remained missing.

What would it have been like to watch the ballet with Juliette by his side? They could discuss the production afterwards and he could learn how she viewed other performers. Would she have been critical or simply enjoyed the production as he did when he watched her?

Instead he dreaded this evening. He would be attending with Bentley and his family and watching a ballet that did not include Juliette. Seeing the other ballerinas would only remind him of how he ruined everything. Actually, he didn’t need the ballet to remind him of his errors. Every day that he couldn’t find Juliette and the remembrance of their discussions were forefront in his mind. Acker doubted he would ever forget. He was such a bloody fool.

Acker glanced around the room at those sitting at the tables. He knew better than to gamble here, but he wasn’t in the mood for Whites this evening and he enjoyed the atmosphere at the Haven. Besides, it was located in Covent Gardens, the area where Acker had been spending most of his time. He had even taken up residence in the home where he had once kept his mistress in hopes that while he was out he would see Juliette again.

It had been a month since she ran out of the coffee house. Where had she gone this time?

Jonathan Bridges, probably the richest man in the room from his shipping ventures, tossed his cards on the table and rose from his seat. By the firm set of his mouth, Acker assumed the cards had not been in Bridges favor this evening. This was Stanwick’s establishment, the cards or dice were never in the patron’s favor. That didn’t mean Stanwick cheated. Far from it. One of the reason so many gentlemen frequented this gaming hell was because it was fair and honest. If a gentleman wished for fair play away from the Gentlemen’s Clubs of St. James, they came to Dagger’s Haven. Stanwick simply had the damnedest luck of anyone Acker knew. And, he also spotted the cheaters and tossed them out on their ear when caught. A few had challenged him, not that it was ever discussed again nor did Acker know any details.

Bridges walked over and settled into the chair next to Acker. “I should have known better.”

Acker chuckled. “How much did you lose?” Not that any amount would make a dent in Bridge’s fortune.

“One hundred pounds.”

Acker nearly choked. He could afford to lose that much as well as Bridges, but many of the young whelps about the tables could not. How many quarterlies were lost in one evening in this establishment?

Stanwick strolled over and joined the gentleman at their table, his grin wide. “I thank you for your patronage, Bridges.

“You’re bloody welcome,” Bridges grumbled.

Stanwick threw back his head and laughed. “I’d feel sorry for your loss but I know that you can afford it and I don’t mind lightening your pockets.” He lifted his arm and gestured for a servant to come over. “A bottle of my best brandy for these gentlemen,” he ordered when the young man appeared at the table.

He then focused on Acker. “Though I don’t know why I am sharing with you as you haven’t sat at a table in weeks.”

“I prefer to keep my money,” Acker laughed.

The three of them had attended Harrow together and were close friends until Acker and Stanwick went off to Oxford and Bridges to Cambridge. Yet, despite the years that had passed and not being in each others company as they once were, the friendship that formed when they were younger remained in place.

The servant appeared with the requested bottle and placed it on the table with three glasses. Stanwick poured then leaned back in his chair cradling his goblet. “Why are you gentlemen here and not attending some ball in search of a wife?”

“Because I have no intention of marrying,” Bridges answered. “Besides, I am not of that world.”

“Your money makes you of that world,” Stanwick reminded him.

“I don’t want a young debutant for a wife,” Bridges said and tilted back the glass to take a drink. “And they don’t want me. They want a title. I can never give them that.”

“What of your holdings, your business?” Acker asked. Even though Bridges did not have a title, there was much he could leave an heir.

“I’ve two nephews. They will profit from my demise.”

Acker simply shook his head and took a drink. The liquid burned a path down this throat and warmed his belly in a way the whiskey had not. If he drank enough he might just be able to sleep through the night without dreams of Juliette for a change, though he should remain sober for the ballet. He could always return here after it concluded and Acker suspected he would need the brandy then more than he did now.

“You, on the other hand,” Stanwick addressed Acker, “have a title and estates. Shouldn’t you be looking for your wife?” He leaned in toward Acker. “You aren’t getting any younger.”

“Bugger off,” Acker muttered before downing the rest of his brandy.

Stanwick simply laughed and refilled Ackers’ glass.

“The same could be said of you,” Acker reminded his friend. “You will inherit your uncle’s title.”

Stanwick frowned. “Don’t remind me.”

“Shouldn’t you be doing your duty?”

The owner of the hell set his now empty glass on the table with a thud. “I have no intention of doing my duty ever. As far as I am concerned, the title can go hang.”

These words did not surprise Acker. Stanwick hated his uncle for abandoning his mother when Stanwick’s father drank himself to death after gambling away everything the family owned. The only way Stanwick was able to attend Oxford was because his uncle had paid for it in preparation of the gentleman inheriting the title one day. Perhaps the uncle should have treated his sister-in-law a little better if he wished for his title to remain within the immediate line of inheritance instead of some distant relation he had never met.

Acker pulled his watch from the inside of his pocket. The ballet was to begin in less than an hour. It was time to leave. “Thank you for the hospitality, Stanwick,” he said as he stood.

“Where are you going?” Bridges asked. “It is early.”

“I am off to the ballet,” Acker answered and made his way to the door.

*

Juliette stretched and reviewed the steps in her mind while the others prepared for the production. In Milan many of the dancers had been her friends. Such had not been the case in London. They resented her for taking the place of another and some viewed her as competition for more prominent roles. Juliette didn’t want to be anyone’s competition, she only wanted to dance.

“Do you think Lord Acker will be here tonight?” Hélène asked as she approached. Her sister had finished the alterations on Juliette’s costume a few days earlier but another dancer had asked her to help fix a tear and soon Hélène was repairing costumes much as she had done in Milan.

Genviève was seated in a chair at the side of the room. There was no reason for her to be here but she hadn’t wanted to remain at home either. Maman, despite her continued illness, was driving them all mad with worry over the performance. What if someone recognized her and told the family. Maman tried to make Juliette quit the production but she held fast. Juliette was not going to let strangers dictate how she lived. However, she had asked her sisters. Her discovery, however remote the possibility, could affect them as well, but they were in agreement that the three of them could not hide for the rest of their lives.

Juliette came to the conclusion that maman was being overly dramatic, which she had a tendency to do, along with displays of paranoia. Genviève was of the same mind and claimed the gentleman whom she had met in the Piazza seemed genuinely interested in locating Julia and Adele. The way he spoke of his betrothed and wishing to buy her flowers was not the actions of a controlling, unfeeling man. Despite their arguments, however, Maman refused to contact anyone in the Trent family to learn if she would be free to remain in London or if they would need to leave once again.

In fact, Juliette wouldn’t be surprised if they returned to their set of rooms this evening to find everything packed and ready to move. The illness was probably the only thing that would keep her from taking such action.

Were her mother’s fears legitimate or had she let the truth of the past be skewed over the years?

“Do you think he will be here?” Hélène asked again.

“Yes.” Juliette knew Hélène meant Lord Acker and she expected him to be in the audience. After all, it had been Lord Acker who had directed her here in the first place. The question was, would he wish to meet with her after the performance and would he wish to continue where they left off.

Even though she said she would not meet with him again, it wasn’t what she wanted, no matter how foolish. After he explained about his friend, Eleanor, Juliette could understand why he did not seek a more permanent relationship with her. But now that Eleanor was married to another and Acker remained free, would he see her in a different light? Would he want her for something more than a mistress? Is that what he wished to discuss with her but she hadn’t given him the opportunity?

Juliette shook the absurd thought from her mind. She was a ballerina and he was a lord. This left only one option open and Juliette would be no man’s mistress no matter how much she may long to be with him.

“What will you do if he wishes to pursue you once again?” Genviève asked.

“I will discourage him and ask him not to seek me out again.” It is what she knew she must do no matter how much it caused her heart to ache. To become further involved with Lord Acker would leave her shattered in the end. Besides, he was friends with the family she was to avoid and any association with Acker risked her being confronted by her brother. No matter how much she wished to meet him, in this she would not go against her mother’s dictate.

The orchestra began tuning their instruments and a moment of anxiety shifted through Juliette. It wasn’t uncommon for her to become nervous when she performed a dance for the first time before an audience, but she knew that after a few steps her confidence would return and the music would take over.

“I am going to watch from the back of the theatre,” Genviève informed them before she slipped from the room.

“I want to meet him,” Hélène announced as soon as their sister was gone.

“Our brother?” Juliette clarified.

“Yes.” Hélène clarified. “It has been years and what if maman is wrong?”

Juliette looked into her younger sister’s blue eyes. “I’ve considered the same,” Juliette said quietly.

“If he is horrible we will do as maman planned by selling her jewelry and return to Milan.”

Juliette bit her bottom lip in thought. Hélène was right. Maman was already making plans to leave. What harm could there be in meeting their one relation, a half-brother?

“Let’s plan to call on him, but not until maman sells her jewelry and right before we are set to leave. If he is horrible we will be able to disappear quickly.”

“And we won’t tell maman. Or at least not until we are back in Milan.” Hélène frowned. “We will need to find out his name and direction.” She huffed and walked toward the side curtain. “We have a brother and don’t even know his name.” Hélène peeked through a small opening and a moment later stepped away and turned to Juliette. “Lord Acker is in the audience.”

Juliette’s nerves spiked but she would put it from her mind. She had danced with Acker watching before and tonight would be no different. “Is he sitting with anyone?” She wanted to know if he had escorted a lady.

Hélène eyed Juliette for a moment. “He is with two other couples, but no lady appears to be with him, if that is what you wish to know.”

Heat infused her face, but Juliette said nothing. Her sisters knew her too well.

The orchestra quieted which meant their instruments were now in tune. In just a few short moments Juliette would take the stage.

“We need to leave immediately after the performance,” she informed Hélène. “Have my clothing ready, please. I want to be gone before Lord Acker comes back here, if he chooses to come.”

Hélène nodded and began gathering her things.

*

Acker settled back while the orchestra turned their instruments. He shared a box with Lord Bentley and Eleanor, as well as Mr. Jordan Trent and his wife, Audrey. Normally his mother jointed him at the ballet, but she had chosen to stay with the Dowager Bentley and two gentlemen in a box on the opposite side of the theatre. He narrowed his eyes and studied the couples. Were those gentlemen friends or were the ladies being courted? Mother was only in her fiftieth year and Bentley’s mother was only three-and six. It would stand to reason that widowers, with heirs and children already might seek out their companionship.

Acker glanced at the older gentleman, Lord Filbright, who was paying particular attention to his mother. The gentleman had better have honorable intentions towards his mother or Acker might just need to have a few words with him.