Tempting a Sinner (29 page)

As far as he remembered, one of the houses was vacant. The other, he recognized immediately. He’d wager his weekly stipend that the woman had entered into a world he knew all too well. Not many of the patrons of the house of pleasure realized that the mansion they visited extended into the building behind it. Which happened to be the very one he was standing in front of now on Barrington Square.

Not only did he know how to get into the house, but he also, courtesy of Jack Lennox, another Sinner, had a key. Sleep forgotten, he strode forward, went down the basement steps, and unlocked the door. The scent of lavender lured him on as he passed through the deserted scullery, out into the passageway that connected the two houses underground, and into the main kitchens of the pleasure house.

A passing footman stopped to wish him a pleasant evening, and Alistair paused. “Did you see a woman pass through here about a minute ago? She was dressed in black and wearing a bonnet.”

“No, sir. I haven’t seen anyone in the last half hour, but then I’ve just come up from the cellars, so I might have missed them.”

“Thank you.”

“Mr. Delornay is in the kitchen, if you want to ask him, sir. I’ll also inquire of the other staff.”

“Thank you.” Alistair forced a smile and went through into the homely kitchen, where several members of the staff sat eating and drinking around the large pine table.

“Mr. Maclean.” An elegantly dressed blond man stood up and inclined his head. “Were you looking for me?”

“Good morning, Mr. Delornay.” Alistair bowed. “I was looking for a woman who just came in through the Barrington Square entrance.”

Christian Delornay frowned. “Through the Barrington house? That shouldn’t be possible.” He came around the table to Alistair’s side. “Do you know who it was?”

“It was not someone I recognized.” He hesitated, but Christian Delornay, the owner of the pleasure house, was the soul of discretion. “Actually she held a gun to my head and threatened my family.”

“Obviously an enterprising female. Come and speak to my wife, Elizabeth. She knows everyone who comes here and works here.”

Alistair followed Christian out of the kitchen and into the offices on the ground floor. He was quite familiar with the layout of the more practical areas of the house, having learned that if he wanted to fulfill his duties to provide entertainment at the Sinners, the Delornay family could offer him everything he needed.

As they walked, Christian spoke to every member of staff they encountered, asking after the woman in black, but to no avail. He knocked on a door at the end of the corridor and went in. “Elizabeth, we have a mystery on our hands.”

His wife looked up from her perusal of the account books. She was one of the most beautiful and serene women Alistair had ever met. “Good morning, Mr. Maclean. And whatever do you mean, Christian?”

The smile Christian gave his wife was almost too intimate for Alistair to bear. It reminded him of how he’d felt about Gelis when he’d persuaded her to marry him.

“A mysterious woman in black gained entrance into the premises through Barrington Square. Mr. Maclean followed her inside, but there’s no sign of her now.”

“What did she look like?”

Alistair sighed. “I don’t really know. She wore black, and her bonnet shielded her face from me. Whoever she is could simply take off her pelisse and hat and I’d never recognize her again.”

“What did she want?”

Alistair hesitated for a second and then reconsidered. Anything he said to Christian and Elizabeth Delornay would remain between them, and they already knew the worst about his brother. “She’d been paid to give me a message concerning Harry. That I need to bring him under control.” He met Christian’s amused gaze. “As if I could.”

“Oh dear,” Elizabeth said. “I must confess to being worried about your brother. Christian and I were speaking of him only the other day.”

“He seems intent on finding his way to the devil’s very door,” Alistair agreed. “And I don’t know how to stop him.”

Christian sat on the edge of the desk and took his wife’s hand in his. “Perhaps you could ask Adam Fisher to speak to him.”

“I wish I could. He was the only man that Harry ever
did
listen to. But he wants nothing to do with my brother anymore, and as he is my employer, I can hardly start meddling.”

“Agreed. Perhaps it is time to let your brother face up to his responsibilities.”

“But he’ll fail and . . .” Alistair tried to swallow. “I’m afraid he’ll end up dead and I’ll never forgive myself.”

Silence followed his confession and was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Christian called.

A footman entered and bowed. “Mr. Delornay, the doorkeeper reports that about five minutes ago, a woman dressed in black came through from the back of the house and went straight out the front door without acknowledging him at all.”

“Why on earth would she do that?” Alistair asked. “Why come in here and leave straightaway?”

“Well, perhaps she did it to show she had the ability to get into the pleasure house, which I don’t appreciate at all,
and
she found out something about you.”

“And what might that be?”

“That you had the ability to get in here, too.” Christian raised an eyebrow. “Now why do you think she wanted to know that?”