“I’m coming with you!” Clara cried. “You cannot go there alone.”
“I will have to learn how to do many new things alone,” Miss Rees said gently. “I shall be perfectly safe.”
Clara dropped her hands on her hips. “Aaron, there is food downstairs waiting for you. Now if you excuse me, I shall be accompanying Miss Rees to a fleecing.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Miss Rees said. “You have gone alone to all sorts of strange places. I am merely emulating your bravery.”
“My séances are perfectly safe!”
He held up his hand. “Perhaps one of you should tell me what’s going on.”
Miss Rees shook her head. “It is nothing of import. I merely asked your sister to contact Lord Loughton on my behalf. She has refused, and I am—”
“Lilah is going to a gambling den to out-swindle a swindler. She’s going to lose all her money and maybe die.”
The silence in the room after that pronouncement seemed to echo in his head. Contrary to his sister’s mode of argument, Miss Rees did not try to out-yell or out-dramatize Clara. She smiled warmly as she collected her things and made as if to leave. Naturally, he couldn’t allow that, but he did appreciate that she wasn’t trying to create a Cheltenham tragedy out of her plans.
“You know I must have the truth now,” he said. “Clara will never give me any peace if I allow things to stand.”
Miss Rees paused and blew out a slow breath. “I have done as you asked, my lord. In the last eight days I have visited all the registries in London pretending to be a client. I have looked into the way they do business, figured the prices and expenses, and even taken steps to claim my dowry. And now, thanks to a suggestion from Mr. Ruben Bates, I have learned—”
“Bates! Wherever did you meet him?”
Miss Rees tilted her head. “Do you know him? He visited me last week on the pretext of offering his help. I gather he learned of my plans from Lucas, my brother-in-law.”
“Yes,” Aaron grumbled. “He and Lucas are fast friends, though I cannot understand what he was thinking to introduce the two of you.”
Clara frowned. “Is he a blackguard then?”
“No, no,” Aaron rushed to say. “I believe his heart is in the right place. Generally.”
Miss Rees smiled. “But he is an interesting person. Seems to straddle the line, I think, between self-interest and general good.”
He did not like the way she smiled when she spoke of him. Unfortunately, he could not disagree with her statement. Reuben Bates had made a business out of being aware of everyone else’s business. He was related to half of London and was friendly with the other half, including theton, though he couldn’t imagine many would admit to the association. “He is not respectable, Miss Rees, and I cannot understand what Lucas is about to allow you the association.”
“Lucas has no authority to allow or disallow my companions,” she countered firmly. “The question is, do you think Mr. Bates is reliable?”
He would rather chew glass than answer that, but he could see she would not be deterred. “He will honor his word.”
“Excellent—”
“But did he give it?” Aaron pressed. “Did he say you would be safe at this gambling den? Will his men protect you?”
“No!” Clara huffed. “That’s the problem. He has tossed her to the lion’s den and waits to see if she gets eaten.”
Aaron folded his arms. “I believe I need details. What lion? What den?”
Miss Rees laughed. “Oh, sorry. She means that literally. I am to find my quarry most nights in the Lyon’s Den. It’s a gaming hell that—”
“I know it,” Aaron interrupted. Every young man of means knew of the Lyon’s Den. It was where the unwary went to enjoy gambling on unusual things. The usual as well, but the place was notorious for unusual games.
“Mr. Parker is there most nights,” Miss Rees continued.
Clara folded her arms. “Tell him what you intend to do.”
Miss Rees shrugged. “I intend to gamble with him. I have pin money, and he has debts.” She grinned. “I intend to win ownership of his registry.”
He gaped at her. “You cannot be serious.”