“Of course.” Once they were settled at a small table with a watered down, high priced brandy for him and a glass of tea they were passing off as whiskey for her, he made his move.
“I am quite taken with the young lady who was sitting on the chair. The beauty with the pale blue gown.”
“Ah, yes. Diedre. She is one of our new ones. Very popular.”
Nick had to quell the desire to punch the woman in the face, race across the room and grab Miss Davenport. But his idea was to get her out of the place, not end up in jail.
“I would like to request her services for the evening.” He took a sip of his drink and watched the woman’s eyes as she calculated how much she could get from him.
“As I said, she is very popular. Quite expensive, in fact.”
He waved his hand. “Whatever the price, I will pay it.”
“You are smitten?”
He leaned in. “It doesn’t pay to be smitten with a whore, now does it?” He was willing to pay, but didn’t want to be robbed, either.
Mrs. Parker smiled. She recognized he was not a fool. “Very well. You may have her. She will be available in about ten minutes. I will have my man join you to finalize the transaction.”
He nodded as she rose and left the small bar area, her hips in the tight dress swaying in a very practiced walk. His heart thumped with excitement. He was half-way there. He looked around to see if Marcus was in sight but didn’t see him. As soon as he was done with Mrs. Parker’s ‘man’ he would find him and let him know they were moving forward.
Once Nick paid the outrageous fee for Miss Davenport, which he knew the young lady would see very little of, he left his watered-down drink and returned to the main room.
Women had started to pair with various men. Since he’d already secured Miss Davenport for the night, he wandered all the rooms until he found Marcus playing poker. He looked up as Nick approached and threw in his hand. “I’m done, gentlemen.”
They both walked the perimeter of the room. He stealthily handed off one of the daggers. “I got her.”
Marcus nodded. “Good. I’m thinking it will take this crowd about a half hour to become occupied in the rooms upstairs. Once the madam calls for everyone to make their selection, I will disappear outside and enter through the back and meet you at the top of the stairs.”
“Good luck. Be careful, I’m quite certain they will have someone at the door.”
Mrs. Parker made the call for everyone to retire to the rooms upstairs. Nick walked over to Miss Davenport who looked like she was ready to bolt. He took her hand and kissed it. She shrunk back against the wall and he smiled at her. He lowered his voice so no one else could hear him. “I am a friend of Lady Pamela.”
Her eyes grew wide and she licked her lips.
“Don’t be frightened. I have paid for you, but I have no intention of doing anything except getting you out of here.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “If this is some sort of a prank….”
?
??Not at all. We have been looking for you since you disappeared from Mrs. O’Leary’s boarding house.”
A lone tear rolled down her cheek.
He placed her arm in his. “Let’s go upstairs so we can get on with my plan.”
She tugged back slightly, apparently unsure of his intentions. His words could have been misinterpreted.
“I know you have no reason to trust me, but please be at ease. There is another man here, Lord Mulgrave. You might have heard of him. He is the brother of Pamela’s good friend, Lady Berkshire.”
She nodded.
“In about a half hour he will be waiting for us at the top of the back staircase. His carriage is right out front, and we will whisk you away to a townhouse where you will meet up with Lady Pamela.”
She closed her eyes and took in a deep, shuttering breath. She began to move with him, following the other couples up the stairs. He felt her entire body shaking as they moved forward.
He followed her to a room that was decorated in the same deep red satin as Mrs. Parker’s gown. He cringed at the mirror on the ceiling and the feathers decorating the headboard. Not that he’d never been to a place like this before. He was a man, after all. But knowing this poor, defenseless young lady had been snatched from her home and forced to work here drove him mad.