Invitation by Burke, Darcy (book club reads txt) 📗

why they will be unknown. Just know that I cannot start this club without them. They are wholly trustworthy, and they understand and support the spirit of the Phoenix Club.”

“The Phoenix Club? I think it does matter to me when you conceived of this club, but I won’t press you about it.” Her gaze met his, and for the first time, the flutter she felt in her belly when she looked at him was not sexually charged. There was gratitude, respect, and friendship. “Thank you.”

Lucien leaned forward again, his dark eyes sparkling. “Does that mean you’re accepting the position?”

“Yes.” They hadn’t discussed wages, but that was one area in which she trusted him implicitly. If anything, he would probably try to pay her too much. “Where is the Phoenix Club to be located?”

“On Ryder Street, between Bury and Duke.”

“So near to the St. James’s clubs?”

“I liked the property.” He lifted a shoulder, and the edge of his mouth ticked up. “And perhaps I appreciate the taunting nature of the proximity.”

Mirabelle shook her head. “You would cock a snook at the entire ton if you could.”

“I try every day. They deserve mockery—and that includes me.” He slapped his palms on his thighs, then vaulted to his feet.

“I suppose you aren’t rid of me, then.” She looked up at him. “We will, however, just be friends.”

“Yes.” He went to her chair and took her hand. “I shall count myself very lucky to be your friend.”

“And my boss,” she added with a laugh.

“I fully expect you to be the boss, not me.” He let go of her hand and straightened. “You must leave London for some months. Mirabelle Renault needs to disappear long before the English widow arrives. Where do you want to go?”

She thought for a moment. “I’ve always heard Cornwall is fair.”

“It is quite lovely. Your employment includes a stipend while you are reinventing yourself.” Mirabelle opened her mouth to object, but Lucien held up his hand. “That is nonnegotiable, I’m afraid. I think you must arrive in Bath in the fall, where you will make the necessary friends before they persuade you to come to London.”

His plan really was precise. Overcome with appreciation, she merely nodded.

“Excellent. Enjoy your time away, Belle.” He started to turn.

“Evangeline.” The name tumbled from her lips the moment it entered her head. “Evangeline Renshaw.”

Lucien pivoted and offered a bow. “Mrs. Renshaw, I’m delighted to make your acquaintance.” His eyes sparkled with mischief before he turned and quit the room.

“You may call me Evie,” Mirabelle murmured as she pressed her hands to her cheeks. Fortune had smiled upon her at last.

Chapter 6

March 1814

The Phoenix Club

Ryder Street, London

“I don’t think rake is a strong enough word. Wastrel is perhaps more fitting.”

Lucien wiped his hand over his face, unable to dispute Evie’s assessment of poor Tobias. His reputation had taken a hit the previous spring, and not because Lady Bentley, the former Lady Priscilla, had overlooked him in favor of her husband. It was because she’d told everyone that he’d wanted to kidnap her to Gretna Green. Her story concluded with her talking him out of it, but Lucien and their friends knew the truth.

Nevertheless, he’d become a pariah, and since Society thought him a rogue, he’d embraced their assumptions wholeheartedly. He’d spent the last several months drinking, gambling, and womanizing his way to the top of the list of London’s Most Scandalous.

He lounged in his usual spot this evening, an oversized chair in the corner of the gaming room, a glass of some spirit dangling from his fingertips. Yes, wastrel was a more apt description. His father was horrified by his behavior, and the more he pressed upon Tobias to tidy himself up, the more deeply Tobias plunged into ignominy.

“He’s fine,” Ada Treadway, the club’s bookkeeper, said quietly. She stood beside Evie, a delicate daisy next to Evie’s brilliant, lush rose. They didn’t spend a great deal of time on the gentlemen’s side of the club, but on Tuesdays, this side welcomed women into their members’ den.

Evie snapped her head toward Ada. “You don’t have a tendre for our resident profligate, do you?”

A light tremor passed over Ada’s shoulders. “No. I simply like him. I like everyone.”

Lucien smiled warmly. “Indeed you do, which is a lovely trait.” Evie had brought Ada back to London with her. Lucien did not know the entire story of what had brought her here, other than she’d been a governess and decided that work didn’t suit her. She’d needed to begin anew, and there was no better place for that than the Phoenix Club.

“I’ll go and speak with him,” Ada said. “He really just needs a friend.” She took herself off toward Tobias.

Lucien looked about the gaming room, where several members played cards and others billiards. He turned to Evie. “Is everything ready for our first ball next week?”

When they’d designed the renovations that had split this one house into the two distinct parts of the Phoenix Club, he’d come up with the idea to have a removable partition on the ground floor that would allow them to open up a large ballroom between the two sides. On Fridays, they would host a ball, which would be the only time young, unwed ladies on the Marriage Mart could enter the club. They were still not members, of course, but they could attend a ball with a sponsor who was a member.

“Yes. I’m rather nervous about it. If the food and drink is not regarded as superior to Almack’s, I will consider it a failure.”

He chuckled. “As will I. But rest assured, that will not be difficult to achieve.”

Evie put her hand on his arm, and they walked through the parlor to the stair hall. As they entered, he heard a commotion from the next room, the entrance hall.

Glancing at Evie, whose expression had grown concerned, he took her hand from his arm and said, “Wait here.”

Lucien stalked into the entrance hall as a gentleman’s voice rose. “I’m a new member.