HowGinny loved a colorful turn of phrase. She wasn’t about to let on.
“Is—” She stopped. It was impossible to imagine him in any sort of domesticity. And yet this impossibility only turned up the flame on her curiosity.
“He’s an employee,” he explained. “The road to iniquity is long. You have to start them out on it young or they’ll never fully develop into rogues.” He raised his voice a little. “He’ll be taking over Mr. Ogden’s job in a few weeks.”
“Very amusing, sir.” Mr. Ogden’s voice echoed as he reentered the anteroom.
“Miss Woodville, where is your brother? Does he know you’re here?”
The question made her wary.
“He’s at home in Sussex. And no, he doesn’t know I’ve come here, but I do not think he would be surprised. I’ve raisedmy siblings since we lost our parents eight years ago. And he knows I would do anything for them.”
“I see. And what specifically was it you hoped to accomplish when you came here today, Miss Woodville?”
Her heart immediately leaped into a painful gallop. It was probably too late to attempt to ingratiate herself to him, but she suspected nothing she might have said or done would have made a bit of difference, anyway. Still, she needed to try.
She softened her gaze to something she hoped approximated limpid. “I understand this is an extraordinary request. But I would be so grateful if you would please speak to the person to whom Hogarth lost and ask him to tear up Hogarth’s vowels. In light of my brother’s youth and inexperience. In light of the grave and perhaps permanent damage done to his family.”
She might have attempted a few tears, but she was certain they would have evaporated in the rays of scathing incredulity now pouring off Mr. Marchand.
“Miss Woodville. Regardless of your contempt for the nature of it, my business is successful because I never trouble a member to”—he paused, as if he could hardly believe he was about to issue the next words—“return money fairly won.”
“I understand,” she said humbly. “And I suppose it’s only good practice to feed your members a new sacrificial lamb now and again. Someone from whom a large win is all but guaranteed.”
She could not seem to help herself. If she could dent his armor even a little, she might leave here with her pride intact, if nothing else.
Mr. Marchand regarded her for a long moment of alarming stillness. His expression was thoughtful, his brow furrowed,his eyes hard and bright as dagger blades. She wondered if he was trying to decide which part of her to sink his teeth into first.
She took a breath. “I will be frank with you, Mr. Marchand.”
“Will you? I wonder what you’ve been up until now,” he said flatly.
“Discussions regarding the marriage settlements for my sisters, Felicity and Fiona, are scheduled for a fortnight hence. The success of these,andtheir marriages, and their futures, are predicated on the assumption of dowries that, as of a particular night Hogarth spent at Lucifer’s Fall, no longer exist.”
Marchand’s head went back and came down in a nod of comprehension.
“I assume this applies to your dowry, too?”
She didn’t reply. Yes, of course, her dowry, too. But this was quite beside the point, and she had no reason to believe she’d endeared herself to Marchand in any way. He would likely be pleased enough to tell her to go hang.
“No doubt you see the urgency, Mr. Marchand. I cannot bear to see my sisters’ hopes crushed and their futures ruined, and I know Hogarth is devastated. If you would kindly share the name of the person to whom Hogarth lost, I promise I’ll never trouble you again. I understand thatyoucannot speak to this person. But surely you cannot object if I had a word with him?” She beseeched him with her eyes.
This, in fact, was the information she’d been angling for all along. She knew the odds were very long of getting it from Marchand. But her chances of persuading a man of her own station—a man who might even have a daughter, who hada dowry—to take pity on her and her family were infinitely greater than budging the man in front of her.
Mr. Marchand was now studying her curiously.
And then he smiled faintly.
It wasn’t a pleasant smile at all. He looked impressed and oddly... satisfied. No: vindicated. As if some unspoken suspicion had been confirmed for him.
“It seems you and I are not too different, after all, Miss Woodville,” he said gently. The kind of “gently” that made the hair prickle on her neck in alarm.
He’d clearly chosen that sentence for maximum offense.
That’s when she realized that not only did he recognize her tactics, but they were child’s play to him. As simple as carrying the two.
“I expect you already know that if your brother were to violate any of his agreements regarding repayment of debt and confidentiality, it would mean the destruction of his reputation. I don’t need to tell you that this, of course, would influence how his entire family is perceived. This”—he pushed another document over to her—“is his signed acknowledgment of his debts, which he also recorded in the book of wins and losses we keep. As a gentleman should.”