A Season for Scandal by Golden Angel

Chapter 28

Elijah

My Lord,

I urge you to visit the Tramp’s Den with me this evening. I have received word our elusive Frenchman will be there. I will be there at half-past midnight.

~Mitchell

Anticipation and excitement rose in Elijah’s chest. Finally, after days of frustration and a lack of leads, he may be able to find the Frenchman who had set Josie up. Not that he regretted the events as they happened—he did not think he would be married to Josie otherwise, and his life would be the sadder for it—but if the villain had succeeded, it would have caused great unhappiness for his family and him personally. Not only that, they could not rely on the traitor’s future machinations to have such happy endings.

The ton’s entertainments would still be in full swing at half-past but would have gone on long enough, no one would think it amiss if he stepped away.

“What is that?”

Elijah’s first instinct was to hide the letter from Josie, but he did no more than twitch when he heard her voice. He did not mean to keep things from her anymore, not after he had promised to keep her informed.

Lifting his head, hiding his reaction, he smiled when he saw her standing in the hall with his father, both of them looking at him curiously.

“Exciting news?” his father asked amiably, though his eyes were alight with sharp curiosity, knowing no invitation or social note would cause Elijah such elation.

“Mitchell believes the Frenchman will be at the Tramp’s Den tonight,” Elijah said simply, striding forward to pass the note to his father. Josie leaned in to look, and Elijah saw his father hesitate for a moment before tilting the paper to accommodate her. Including Josie would take some getting used to, but if it kept her happy and from following Evie’s example, it would be worth it.

His father straightened, a grin spreading across his face, just like Elijah. They had both been in the game long enough to have a sense for when there was going to be a break in the case, and this was it. Elijah knew it. It did not hurt to see his father had the same presentiment.

“What is the Tramp’s Den?” Josie’s confusion made Elijah wince. She, of course, did not possess the same intuition, nor did she have any knowledge of the Tramp’s Den. Discussions about gaming hells were not for ladies’ ears, but he had promised to keep her informed.

“It’s a gaming hell in one of the worst parts of London.”

A little scowl furrowed her brow, and she looked up at him, opening her mouth to say something before glancing to the side at his father and dropping her head. Elijah realized she had almost revealed how his last trip through the streets of London had gone, then remembered he was keeping that particular incident from his father. She was keeping his secrets, even from his father, proving she could be trusted. A happy warmth spread through his chest.

They truly were a partnership.

“Well, you cannot go alone.” Josie’s scowl deepened, her lips pursing together.

He knew keeping of his secret would only go so far if she felt he was in danger, and though it was frustrating, that warmed him in a different manner.

“I will not be alone. I will meet Mitchell there.” This time he would also be more on guard instead of lost in his own thoughts. “I will be careful.”

“I should come with you.”

“Absolutely not,” he and his father said in unison, horrified by the very idea. They exchanged a quick glance, and Father grasped Josie’s arm.

“The Warrens are no place for a woman unless she’s… well, suffice to say, the only women there are the ones…” Father floundered to find a genteel way to tell Josie the only women in the Warrens were lightskirts and not the best quality of those. Since Elijah did not have any suggestions and was perfectly happy to let Father explain to Josie why she could not join him, he kept his mouth firmly shut.

Josie rolled her eyes at both of them. “The whores? I am not entirely naïve, you know.”

Josie

Men… always thinking they knew better than everyone. She enjoyed seeing their expressions when they realized she knew exactly what Elijah’s father was referring to.

She would spare both of them the knowledge it had been Evie who had educated Josie and the others about the occupations available to women who had fallen on hard times and did not have the skills or opportunity to find other avenues of work. There were not many opportunities at all for women, especially women on their own. Evie had explained the different levels of selling oneself, from the mistress of a wealthy man all the way down to the three-penny-uprights.

Josie knew about the Warrens and gaming hells. She might not have heard of the Tramp’s Den, but it was hardly the only gaming hell located there.

Uncle Oliver coughed.

“Yes, well, it is no place for a lady and not at all safe. Elijah will be far safer without your presence since he would have to protect you.”

“I am not sure an armed guard could protect a lady like her traveling through the Warrens,” Elijah muttered.

“A lady like me?” Ready to be indignant over the perceived insult, her feathers were soothed by his answer.

“A beautiful, wealthy one.”

Hmphing, Josie subsided, looking between father and son. They were two peas in a pod, nearly identical in their expressions and looks. It was a little disconcerting if she was truthful, but Josie would not wither under their combined censure. She was made of sterner stuff.

However, she also recognized when to make a retreat.

For all Elijah’s talk about including her and treating her as his partner, it was clear he had only meant in a very limited sense.

“Very well.” Her waspish tone did not need any pretense to achieve. While she fully planned to work around their dictates, she was still peeved what she thought she and Elijah had agreed to was clearly not what he thought they had agreed to. “I shall expect your report later.”

The glance the two men exchanged before she whirled away and stomped upstairs did nothing to cool her temper. Wisely, Elijah did not follow her. She would have sent him away with a scathing retort, no matter how good his apology was.

She needed time to think and plan, to also find the only pair of breeches she’d brought to London. Although she had known she could not use them to ride in the city, she had still brought them, unable to imagine being without at least one set.

A good thing. She was going to need them tonight.

While she should avoid the Warrens as herself, there was nothing to say she could not venture there in disguise. Going as any kind of woman seemed far too dangerous for her liking, but there was another option.

Making another hmph, she shook her head. Men. Sometimes they had so little imagination.

Her bottom cheeks seemed to tingle as if in warning of punishments to come, but there were some things that were worth a little pain.

Elijah

Despite Josie’s anger at being left out, in the end, Elijah knew she would see this had been for the best. Hopefully, she would also be mollified by his full report when he returned. Why she had expected to be allowed to go into such a dangerous area with him, he did not know, but he expected it was a result of her worry over the injuries he had received the last time. When he returned unharmed, she would feel less anxious in the future.

She made things easier on him, claiming a megrim and canceling their plans for the evening. Now he did not have to slip away from the guests, leaving her behind. Everyone would assume they had decided to stay in together. It might cause gossip about whether they had become a love match, especially since there were already those who thought so, but that was hardly detrimental.

They were not wrong, though Elijah hoped the traitor still thought they were.

At midnight, Elijah left the house, his cane firmly gripped in his hand. He would hardly be the only tonnish gentleman making his way to the gaming hells in the Warrens, and it was early enough in the night, no one would think even a single gentleman was a good mark. Leaving was the greater danger when the ruffians would assume him tired, drunk, and distracted. The last time he had been two out of three. Still, he kept a weather eye out as he moved through the streets, feigning looking around lazily when, in fact, he was sharply aware of everything going on around him.

Which was why he quickly realized he was being tailed as he grew closer to the Warrens.

He wasn’t sure when he picked up the follower. All the streets, respectable and otherwise, were fairly crowded at this time of night, but he was still sure he was being followed. His pursuer was not good at hiding his movements, and Elijah caught more than one glimpse out of the corner of his eye. It might not have amounted to much, except the lad was clearly focused on Elijah rather than following the same path.

A few more turns and glimpses had Elijah more and more confused, wondering if the lad was a distraction from the real threat. Or just watching to see where Elijah was going? The flashes he saw gave him the impression of a slender youth, inept at following and certainly no real threat.

It was not until he glimpsed a blonde curl, peeking from beneath the lad’s cap, that Elijah realized he might not be a lad at all.

Shock.

Denial.

Fury.

The emotions assailed him, battering him like blows to his stomach and chest.

She would not.

The thought had no sooner flickered through his mind than another followed it, acknowledging reality rather than trying to reject it.

She would.

Just as when the letter from Mitchell had arrived, Elijah knew it deep in his gut, it was no lad trailing behind him through the Warrens—it was his wife.

Josie

Breathless, Josie grumbled under her breath as Elijah suddenly picked up his pace, turning a corner. She had to hurry to keep up with him.

Following someone was much harder than she had imagined, even in her comfortable breeches, where she did not have to worry about her skirts tangling or getting caught on anything. She thought Elijah might have glimpsed her once or twice, and she could only hope he did not realize she was following him. From the way he moved, his head turning this way and that, she knew he was keeping his promise to keep an eye out for any hint of danger.

The smells of the streets had grown worse as they’d moved along, the people on them rougher. Josie had taken the time to dirty her appearance and her clothing as she moved along, noting her surroundings and the people she was passing, and no one gave her a second glance. Most of them were too busy minding their own business. Their gazes skipped over her as being unremarkable and unthreatening, just the way she wanted it.

Now, she drew a few unwelcome glances as she picked up her pace, people curious why she was rushing. Elijah had turned the corner so quickly, she was worried he was close to his destination, and she did not want to miss it. There were few signs or indications of what was in each of the buildings she passed. Some were small, some huge, and everyone knew where they were going… except her.

Blasted Elijah knew where he was going, and the last thing she needed was him disappearing into some building and having no idea which one. She did not know if she could find her way back to more respectable streets without following him back.

Cursing under her breath, she rounded the corner at a near run and slammed into something both soft and hard. Hands gripped her arms, keeping her from falling over, and her head jerked upwards to stare into the dark, menacing eyes of her extremely displeased husband.

“Oops,” Josie said.