‘I suspect you will do very well, Madame,’ Morgana responded, avoiding a glance at Sloane. ‘Shall I take you to your students?’
Madame Bisou clapped her hands. ‘Oh, yes. The sooner, the better.’
Sloane stood. ‘I doubt you require my presence. When shall I collect you, Madame?’
Madame Bisou looked to Morgana.
‘In two hours, Sloane, if that would not be inconvenient?’ Morgana still did not look straight at him.
He bowed, but stepped to the open door of the library to say a brief hello to Morgana’s girls. Morgana hesitated a moment before ushering Madame Bisou into the room, pausing to watch Sloane head towards the hall.
Sloane walked out of Morgana’s house at the same moment his secretary approached his own door.
Mr Elliot looked greatly surprised, no doubt wondering why his employer called upon a single lady before noon, alone at that.
‘Good day, Elliot,’ Sloane said in a deliberate tone.
Mr Elliot blinked rapidly. ‘Good day, sir. I… I was just returning from town.’
‘Seeing to my business, I suppose?’ Sloane walked over to where Elliot stood.
Elliot still avoided his eye.
Sloane rather enjoyed the young man’s discomfort. It belied his usual efficiency. But Sloane also realised that Elliot was not a fool. Even if Elliot concluded he was making a conquest of Morgana, what Sloane suspected anyone would conclude, he believed he could count on the young man’s discretion. Still, it did not hurt to emphasise the point. ‘Is there something you want to ask me, Mr Elliot?’
‘Oh, no, sir.’ Elliot sputtered. ‘That is—it is none of my affair, I am sure.’
The two men walked together into Sloane’s house. ‘It is no affair of mine as well, but you will not speak of me visiting Miss Hart’s house.’
His secretary looked wounded. ‘Of course I will not, sir!’
Sloane nodded. ‘Very good.’
He headed to his library, thinking a small glass of port might pass the time while he waited to collect Penny.
To his dismay, Elliot followed him into the room. ‘There is something I ought to speak with you about.’
Sloane already had the bottle of port in hand. He gestured for the young man to sit and poured a glass for them both.
Elliot began, ‘Sparrow, your butler, sir, informed me that one of the footmen informed him that Miss Hart’s footman was talking of something havey-cavey next door. It seems there are some suspicious females present in the house.’
Sloane paused just as he was about to lift his glass to his lips. He tried to sound casual. ‘Havey-cavey?’
Elliot shrugged. ‘That is all I know. I shall discover more in time. I thought I ought to tell you of it, because you indicated reservations about moving next door to Miss Hart.’ He stopped and gave Sloane a considering look. ‘But perhaps you know of it…’
Because Elliot had seen him leave Morgana’s house. Sloane stared at his secretary a long time. It had taken only a day for news of Morgana’s strange guests to reach Elliot’s ears, something he must deal with post-haste.
Elliot regarded him with a steady look. ‘You do know of this,’ he said simply. ‘I beg you would instruct me how you wish me to proceed.’
Sloane appraised the young man. Elliot was alert and intelligent. Because the young man lived with him, it would be difficult to put much past him. Sloane was unaccustomed to trusting another person, but Elliot could be of great assistance. He could help keep an eye on Morgana when Sloane could not, an extra protection.
Elliot was beholden to Sloane, who, as a favour to a former smuggler, had taken on the man’s son as secretary, providing him with a chance at a respectable profession. Even if Elliot was disposed to be loyal in return, was it fair to ask him to share the risk of Morgana’s courtesan school being discovered?
Who was he fooling? If the courtesan school was discovered, Elliot would sink with the rest of them. Better for him to be warned.
‘Drink your port, Elliot,’ Sloane said. ‘And I will endeavour to explain.’
A quarter of an hour later, Sloane had told Elliot the whole story. When he finished, he refilled Elliot’s empty glass.
‘That young maid wishes to be a courtesan?’ Elliot asked incredulously.
Sloane sipped his own drink. ‘She is bent on some sort of harlotry, Miss Hart insists. That is how this whole courtesan school came about.’
Elliot stared into his port. ‘I wonder why she should wish to do such a thing.’
Sloane leaned back in his chair. ‘Living with her father, I expect. He was one of the King’s diplomats in Spain during the war. I suspect she pretty much did as she pleased in his house.’
Elliot looked baffled. It took several moments before comprehension dawned on his face. ‘Oh, you meant Miss Hart. I was speaking of the maid.’
‘The maid?’ It was Sloane’s turn to be bewildered. He took another sip. ‘In any event, if this business reaches the ears of the ton, it shall be the downfall of us all. I may find your assistance useful from time to time. May I depend upon you?’
‘Indeed, sir,’ Elliot responded, but in a distracted manner.
Elliot proceeded to inform Sloane of the financial business he had transacted in town. The complexity of the investments Elliot had set up were a bore to Sloane, but the profits continued to be gratifying. He kept watch on the mantel clock.
He returned to Morgana’s house early to collect Penny.
Miss Hart’s butler admitted him. ‘I shall announce you directly, sir.’
‘In a moment.’ Sloane handed him his hat and gloves. ‘What is your name, man?’
‘Cripps, sir.’ The butler placed his hat and gloves on the marble-topped hall table and turned back to him.
Sloane gave the man a steely stare. ‘It has come to my attention, Cripps, that the servants under you are passing tales about this household to my servants.’
Cripps returned his look impassively.
Sloane continued, ‘This will not do. You have shirked your responsibility to protect this lady’s privacy.’
A muscle in Cripps’s cheek twitched, but he remained stiff and erect.
The man gave away little. Sloane decided to increase the stakes. ‘I am a wealthy man, Cripps, but I can also be a dangerous man to cross. Treat this lady and her guests well and you and your staff will be rewarded. Bonuses to them all from me.’ He leaned forward menacingly. ‘Harm her with loose tongues or otherwise and you will incur my wrath.’ He paused for Cripps’s reaction.
The butler did not change expression.
‘I assure you, you do not wish to displease me,’ he emphasised.
Cripps finally responded in a low voice. ‘I will do my duty, as I always do.’ His face remained bland. ‘Shall I announce you now, sir?’
Once with the students, Madame Bisou dropped her French accent and her flirtatious ways. Oddly, she reminded Morgana of one of the Spanish noblemen her father had entertained in Spain. The gentleman had been incredibly shrewd, extracting from her father exactly what he wanted, and exactly what her father had originally refused to give him. Morgana discovered later that the nobleman had manipulated the French just as effectively.