Chapter 16
Ambrose looked at his sister, who now stood in the entranceway with a stern-faced woman buttoned up to the neck in a dark grey dress.
“I would rather be strapped to a chair listening to you read Wordsworth endlessly while I am having a tooth pulled than step inside this club, Violet, unless it was a necessity,” he said.
“Margaret, forgive me for bringing men into The Iris, but I fear we’ve had a situation arise. These men are Lords Talbot and Seddon, and they are friends,” she said. “Margaret is the stewardess here,” Tilly added.
The woman dropped into a curtsy, and Ambrose and Leo acknowledged her.
“Do you remember me mentioning Ruby, Margaret?” Tilly asked.
The older woman nodded.
“She is here and unwell. We need to tend to her. Also, there is her dog, Barnaby. I’m sorry, I don’t think I mentioned him.”
Tilly was looking flustered now, not a state she was often in, or not so Ambrose had seen.
Margaret, the stern-faced woman, looked from Ruby down to the dog, and then her entire face softened. “He’s a fine fellow. Hello there, Barnaby.” She bent to pat the dog as he came to greet her. “What a lovely boy you are. Once we have your mistress sorted, we’ll find you something to eat.”
Barnaby’s tail wagged slowly, as if uncertain these words could be true, but willing to go on a little faith.
“There’s that small room next to mine. Miss Ruby will be good there where I can watch over her,” Margaret offered.
“Thank the Lord there are no other ladies in here right now, as they would not be pleased to find you standing in their club. Now tell me, what is going on?” Violet demanded as Ambrose reached her side.
“As to that, I’m not entirely sure, but it has to do with this club, your annoying, troublesome friend, and a large brute called Dill, who has fists like anvils.”
“Why are you with Tilly? Have you been fighting, Ambrose?” Violet demanded. “Your face would suggest as much.”
“He has, actually, and acquitted himself adequately,” Leo said, handing Ruby over to Margaret.
She and Tilly then took her away, heading through a door to their left.
“Adequately? That man was huge, and I bested him,” Ambrose said and then winced as his lip gave a vicious tug of pain. In fact, after last night and what happened today, his body felt like one big ache.
“And took your time doing it,” Leo said. He then wandered over to study the writing on the wall.
“I will get something to clean your face,” Violet said.
“I don’t need...” But his sister had gone, disappearing through the door Tilly had.
“May I ask what has you all standing in the entrance of The Iris Club, a women-only place, as I understand it.”
These words had come from Gray, who had just arrived at the door.
“Why are you here?” Leo demanded.
“I want to speak to Tilly about what I learned regarding the compliance orders, and how they were wrongfully executed,” Gray said. “So, I thought to see if I could lure her outside to talk with me. But I heard male voices so here I am, inside a women’s only club.”
“Do you think we should leave? After all, Gray’s right—this is their club,” Leo said. “Cyn loves it here, as do the others. It’s nice, and less severe than ours. If feels more comfortable,” he said, looking around him.
Ambrose knew what Leo meant, as the place did have a nice feel to it. The wall color and the general scent of the space was soft and welcoming. There were no loud voices or men trying to be heard.
“Shall we find this room that leads to the tunnels and up to our club?” Leo asked.
“Tunnels?” Gray asked.
Leo relayed the story for Gray, and Ambrose tried to ignore the throbbing in his jaw and focus on what needed to be done.
Should this club stay open with so much trouble surrounding it? No one knew what was happening below, and clearly someone wanted The Iris closed, which was why all these things were happening.
“I leave you alone for half a day, and this is the trouble you get into,” Gray said with a weary sigh. “You people are exhausting. Now I want to see this room below.”
“My concern is that whoever gathered down there was up to no good,” Ambrose said. “Something evil lurks below, and I’ve been wondering if the things that have been happening here—the flooding, the broken windows, and a fire—are attempts to get The Iris Club to relocate or close.”
“Clearly they don’t know our women if they believed that would run them off,” Leo added.
“Agreed. But there is more. Now I know Ruby’s sister, Fern, worked here when it was a gentleman’s lodging house and she went missing two years ago. I wonder if her disappearance is in some way involved with what is happening too. Plus, there was what happened to me last night,” Ambrose said.
“What happened to you?” Gray demanded.
Ambrose told them about the man who attacked him last night.
“Good Lord, it could have been a great deal worse for you, Ambrose,” Leo said. “And what of the Solomon’s Seal that I need to find?”
“It is on a book down there, and some kind of circle has been cast on the floor too.”
He watched Leo shudder. “We need to bring the others in here. Ellen, Alex, and Charles. They will feel and see things, Ambrose, and you know exactly what I mean.”
He did know. He had seen what they could do.
“Does it feel evil down there, Ambrose?” Leo asked.
He nodded.
“I will send for them now, then, as I believe they will aid us in finding out who is behind it,” Gray said.
“Of course.”
Leo rose and left with Gray as Violet returned with water and salve. She led him to a small parlor, which smelled of something floral and reminded him of Tilly, and made him sit. Ambrose put up with it because otherwise she’d just follow him around until he yielded.
“Ouch!”
“Don’t be pathetic,” she said lathering his face in salve that felt like it was burning his skin off.
“Ruby is sleeping,” Tilly said, appearing in the doorway, still looking uncertain. “I, ah—would you like tea?”
“You don’t mind three men drinking tea in your club?
” Leo said returning with Gray. “Before you answer that, can I just say, you have done a remarkable job with the interior of The Iris. It’s really something to be proud of.
I can see why my family like coming here. I think your charter is excellent too.”
Tilly’s smile was small, but it came from within and lit her lovely eyes. It transformed her from sweet to stunning in seconds.
She was becoming a problem in so many ways for Ambrose, and he wasn’t sure what to do about that.
“Tell Violet about what is below the stairs, Tilly,” Ambrose said as he rose, thereby ceasing his sister’s ministrations. “Leo has asked his family to join us, as their gifts may help us uncover more of what is going on.”
“I think that is wise,” Tilly said, surprising him. “After someone attacked you and what has been happening in The Iris, we must get to the bottom of things.”
“What? Who attacked you?”
“If you’ll be quiet, she will tell you, sister,” Ambrose said, rolling his shoulder, which had started aching.
“I found a secret door,” Tilly said.
“No!”
“This could take forever,” Ambrose said.
Violet poked out her tongue, which made him laugh.
His eyes went to Tilly. She wasn’t smiling. He wouldn’t apologize for what he’d said to her today. She’d deserved every word and needed to understand that she couldn’t just walk into danger and expect everything to go well. Someone had to caution her. He wondered why her parents weren’t.
She told the tale, interspersed with questions from Violet. By the end of it, Ambrose’s head was pounding, as was his jaw.
“I can’t believe someone attacked you!” Violet shrieked.
“Pixie, I am right here before you, hearty if a little less hale. No need to shriek, sister.”
“A lady has arrived and wishes to speak with you, Miss Wilson,” Margaret said, appearing in the doorway. “Miss Ruby is sleeping peacefully, and I have fed Barnaby. He is now slumbering beside her on a blanket on the floor.”
Barnaby, it seemed, had landed on his paws, Ambrose thought.
“What is her name?” Tilly asked.
“Lady Hardacre.”
“Isn’t she friends with that loathsome Lady Crisp?” Violet asked, wrinkling her nose like she had since childhood.
“Perhaps she is here to beg Lady Crisp’s case?” Leo said.
“It’s all very odd. I thought women like those would never want to step foot inside The Iris,” Tilly said. “At the musicale, Lord Crisp told me I should let his wife join, even though she was rude to me. I can’t understand why, as they believe a man’s word is law, and this is a women-only club—”
“Well, who is to say that way is wrong?” Ambrose asked. “It is the way of things and—”
“Oh, do shut up, Ambrose,” Violet said. “Like those others, you just don’t want change because you’ll realize that women are in fact far more intelligent than men.”
“Hardly—”
“Exactly, Violet,” Tilly said, shooting daggers at him. “Excuse me, I shall speak with Lady Hardacre, and then we shall go to the secret door.”
“You could tell us where it is,” Ambrose said.
She ignored him and walked away, angry with him again, which was the constant state of things between them.
“I’m going with Tilly. She may need my help dealing with Lady Hardacre,” Violet said. “You’re an idiot, Ambrose.”
“Charming,” he muttered.
He, Gray, and Leo moved closer to listen to what was being said.
“You and Tilly have a lot of animosity toward each other. I wonder why?” Leo said into his right ear.
“Because she is infuriating.”
“Or, there is another scenario,” Gray drawled.
Ambrose glared at the two men, not liking their smug expressions one bit.
“That woman is nothing more than an annoyance to me, now be quiet so we can hear.”
Leo snickered, and Ambrose refrained from jabbing him with his elbow.
“Lady Hardacre, how may we help you today?” Tilly said.
“Miss Wilson, your club refused entrance to my dear friend. I wondered if I could change your mind in that, and you will allow her and me to join?”
Lady Hardacre was one of those women who had a great deal to say about everything, even if it did not concern her. She looked down on others she saw as beneath her and held herself up as a bastion of society, just like her husband. Ambrose had never liked the woman but managed to tolerate her.
“I’m not sure why you would want to join, Lady Hardacre, considering your husband’s words to me outside the day after we opened The Iris,” Tilly said.
“Well.” The woman paused, clearly not knowing how to respond to Tilly’s directness.
Ambrose swallowed his smile. Tilly never walked around a subject, but went directly to the point. He liked that about her.
“I—ah, he has now realized the error of his ways, and in fact urged me to join your club. My dear friend Lady Crisp would also like you to rethink her membership. She was most upset you denied her entrance.”
“She did not like me questioning her reasons for joining, Lady Hardacre, and said she no longer wished to be part of our club, and that we should be honored that one such as her would even grace our doorstep here. She then insulted my appearance.”
Following Tilly’s words, there was silence for long seconds.
“So you can see why I am trying to understand why it is you both wish to join, Lady Hardacre,” Tilly added.
“Well,” Lady Hardacre said. “Perhaps if you were nicer and had elegant manners, my dear friend would not have spoken as she did.”
“It is not I who have no manners, my lady. I asked a simple question, and it was Lady Crisp who retaliated,” Tilly said. “And I will add that your husband’s manners were seriously lacking when he attacked me on The Iris Club’s doorstep.”
“How dare you speak like that about my husband!” Lady Hardacre shrieked.
Ambrose shot Leo a look. He was wincing.
“I will see that everyone knows of your shabby behavior!”
“I don’t think the shabby behavior is coming from Miss Wilson, my lady,” Violet said, speaking for the first time. “In fact, I think it’s obvious who is without manners in this encounter.”
“How dare you! I shall make it known exactly how I was treated here! Why, your pathetic little club will have no members when I’m finished!”
“If that is your wish, Lady Hardacre, then of course we cannot stop you,” Tilly said. “But I highly doubt you will succeed in your endeavors.”
“Lady Hardacre, what has you here at The Iris Club?”
He knew that voice. It belonged to Ellen Fletcher. Looking at Gray, Ambrose saw he was smiling now.
“I am leaving!” the woman declared theatrically.
“Probably for the best, as we only want members who understand what a privilege it is to have such a wonderful club like The Iris. A place for women to talk without interruption from men. A space to be and do exactly as we wish,” Ellen said.
“Well, that is not what I wish!” Lady Hardacre said.
“One wonders why, then, you came to The Iris Club,” Tilly said once again.
“You do not understand who you have wronged, Miss Wilson,” Lady Hardacre shrilled. “Be warned, we will not take this lightly.”
“And we don’t take your threats lightly, my lady. Please remember that too,” Ellen said.
“Bitch,” Leo hissed.
Ambrose wanted to step out from his hiding place and tell Lady Hardacre exactly what he thought about her behavior. As if sensing his intentions, he felt Leo’s hand on his shoulder.
“No, you won’t help if you confront her and will only create a scandal that men are in The Iris.”
He knew what his friend said was true, but it chafed. Ambrose hated anyone insulting his sisters, and Tilly as well, who he… What, exactly, did he feel for her? He stomped on the thought because what he felt for that woman was many things, and he could make sense of only a few of them.