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his lordship having warned us to expect you, I can’t let you wait in the one he hired for himself.”
    “No, no, I won’t ask that of you,” Sir Geoffrey said. “What I would like to do, however, is to seek him out, if you know where I might find him now.”
    “As to that, I can’t say for certain, sir, but I do know as how he’s partial—like so many other gentlemen—to what they call the Little Hell. He don’t like the food there, which is why I didn’t send you round before, knowing as I did that he meant to dine with his son, who arrived today from Oxford.”
    “Thank you, we’ll look for him there,” Sir Geoffrey said, reaching into his waistcoat pocket and handing the man a coin. “Back up the High Street, is it not?”
    “Aye, sir, in Kingston Passage. The entrance is on the right just before you reach All Saints Street.”
    Melissa watched the porter through her lashes and saw that he was regarding her with curiosity. Since he made no attempt to dissuade Sir Geoffrey from taking her with him to find Yarborne, she decided he believed her to be a strumpet.
    Out in the street, she said quietly, “Please, Papa, don’t make me go with you. A place with a name like that cannot be one where I ought to be seen.”
    “Then keep your hood up, and take a lesson from this, for it is all your own fault. Had you obeyed me earlier, you would not now find yourself in such a case.”
    “Please take me back. I’ll stay at the inn, I promise.”
    “I’m not letting you out of my sight until I’ve kept my bargain with Yarborne.”
    The passageway to which the porter had given him directions was a narrow, cobbled alley. When a man stepped out of the shadows to confront them, Melissa drew her hood more securely into place.
    “Beg pardon, sir, but this be no area to walk with a lady.”
    Sir Geoffrey said haughtily, “I am expected here, my good man, if this is the place known hereabouts as the Little Hell.”
    “It be that right enough, sir. I’m their orderly man, you see. No females admitted, I’m afraid.”
    “This one is expected just as I am, fellow, and I certainly cannot leave her out here in the street.” To Melissa’s dismay, Sir Geoffrey chuckled then and added in a conspiratorial way, “She is by way of being a gift for Lord Yarborne, you see.”
    The man grinned appreciatively and said, “Well, in that case …” He led them to where the passageway opened into a cobbled courtyard and light spilled from a number of windows, then ran nimbly up a set of narrow steps to open a tall door crowned by a lighted fanlight.
    Digging in her heels, Melissa said desperately, “Don’t do this, please!”
    Sir Geoffrey pulled her past the grinning orderly, into the house.
    They found themselves in a narrow but elaborate entry hall. It was unoccupied, but from a room ahead of them came a rumble of conversation, punctuated by frequent shouts and laughter. Sir Geoffrey hustled Melissa toward the doorway.
    Numerous chandeliers and wall sconces lighted the room. Melissa saw only men present, and tried again to pull away from Sir Geoffrey, but his grip tightened around her arm. Pausing just inside the doorway, he said in a carrying voice, “I say, Yarborne, I’ve been looking for you. I’ve come to deliver what I owe you, sir!”

Five
A Win Reveals False Play
    T OMMY EXCLAIMED, “WHAT THE devil?” Other men made similar exclamations, and play came to a halt when everyone in the room turned to look at the newcomers.
    Nick, too, had glanced up at the disturbance, and watched through narrowed eyes as Sir Geoffrey Seacourt dragged the girl past their table, through the crush of gamblers parting before them, to the opposite side of the room. He had recognized Seacourt’s voice at once, but he did not think he would have recognized the girl.
    The sable-trimmed hood of her blue cloak fell back as Seacourt yanked her along. Flying wisps of flaxen hair, loosened from the twist at the nape of her neck, framed her