Page 65 of Only Pleasure Will Do

“Of course, Alethea. Yes, Miss Forrester, please do call me Violet.” Lady Trevor’s cheeks pinkened, but she managed a smile.

“I would be honored, Violet, if you would call me Maddy.” Perhaps with that awkwardness behind them, the afternoon would not go too badly. Given that they would be discussing an event she was loath to attend, Maddy couldn’t raise her hopes too high.

Surprisingly, over the tea and cakes, the ladies managed to ease Maddy’s worries about re-entering Society. Kat assured her that, with a few little tricks, her appearance would be so different it was unlikely anyone would recognize her. “And if they do, my dear, you simply look puzzled and deny, deny, deny.” Kat nodded her head with authority. “Then call one of us and we will make certain they are thoroughly convinced.”

“If you are concerned with meeting and talking to large numbers of people, be sure to stand by one of us at the beginning of the evening.” Alethea smiled sympathetically. “I always hated that most of all when my cousin and her husband trotted me out, trying to find me a husband.” Her lips thinned then she seemed to relax. “Any of us can take over a conversation and keep you from having to converse, at least at this first ball. Afterward, it will likely be the same people over and over, which is less terrifying. At least it was for me.”

That was the most encouraging word spoken to Maddy all day.

“Always remember who you are now, Maddy.” Violet took her hands and squeezed them. “You must think like a young woman who has been in the country. Try not to seem too knowledgeable about current affairs or people.”

“That may be the hardest thing.” Maddy shook her head. She knew so much about so many of the gentlemen in Society. Things they would not want known about themselves and their tastes in woman. She would need to have on an inscrutable face at all times.

“You have done quite well at concealing Aimée Forrester these past years. You will do equally well hiding Madam Vestry.” Violet sank back on the sofa, her gaze holding Maddy’s. “You—or, rather, she—was truly concerned with the welfare of her ladies. I know now that was actually Maddy breaking through the façade of the madam. If you give your true nature free reign, you will be the most sought-after woman this Season. A young woman who is known to be sweet and kind, giving and caring will attract any number of gentlemen who will wish her to be the mother of their children.”

Not that she wanted to attract that sort of gentleman, or any gentleman save Reginald. But Violet’s words had brought a question to mind.

“Katarina, what has become of the women at the House of Pleasure?” She should have asked earlier because, as Violet had said, she was genuinely concerned about the women who had been under her charge. With all the planning for her debut, however, they’d been shunted away from her attention. “Lord Dalbury deposited funds in the amount of my inheritance into my bank account, which means he now holds the deed to the property. Has he said what he intends to do with it?” Surely, he would not let it continue as a brothel. That scandal had driven him from England a little more than two years ago. Dread formed around her heart. They were her charges and she had literally abandoned them. “Have the girls been turned out?”

“No, my dear. Do not distress yourself.” Katarina grasped her hands and peered into her face. “They are at this moment as they have been since you left in March. Duncan said that the girl called Jenny was still running the house.”

“Do they know that I am safe?”

Kat’s gaze slid away from her own. “They know that Madam Vestry has gone to the Continent. Duncan sent word to them just after he gained the property.”

“So they will think I have abandoned them.”

“They believe Madam Vestry has,” Kat said gently. “They know nothing of Miss Forrester.”

That was the truth, of course. She’d made sure they’d never seen anyone but Madame Vestry, a woman to be feared and respected so they would obey her without question. Her reputation as a sharp dealer in the business with a love of money would likely give credence to the news of her escape to the Continent. Still, she hated that the women she’d tried so hard to aid would never know that she had not forsaken them.

Maddy looked from one friendly face to another. “For a long time I have had a castle in the air that I might change the property from the House of Pleasure to the House of Hope.” This had been her plan all along for herself and the ladies who’d found their way to her door over the years. “Despite its rather dubious location, I had hoped to turn the place into a house for ladies who had, through no fault of their own, become destitute and would be driven into a nefarious life without such a haven to shelter them.” Violet gasped, and Maddy nodded at her. “You might be surprised how often it happens.”

“Then you may be interested to know that Duncan is giving the keeping of the House of Pleasure over to me.” Kat grinned as Maddy’s jaw dropped.

“To you? But why?”

“He knew that I wished to form a charity of some sort and thought I might make use of such a large house in a charitable endeavor.” Kat continued to smile at her. “I had originally thought to make it an orphanage, but now I see what its true purpose should be. Your House of Hope.”

The other ladies murmured while Maddy sat stunned. “Truly? You would set up a charity for my girls?”

“And others like them, yes, indeed. It would be most similar to the new Magdalen Hospital established by Sir John Fielding. We can make plans to help retrain the girls, to find them new lives, perhaps even husbands.”

“We?” Maddy held her breath.

“You and me and all our friends here.” Kat waved her hand at the little circle around them. “A charity takes organizers, someone to oversee it and raise funds for it. I think our little group would get a certain personal satisfaction from helping those unfortunates who have also been a part of the House of Pleasure.” She paused, perhaps remembering her own brief sojourn there. “And even more, ensure that any woman who has nowhere else to go will not need to make such a dreadful choice.” Meeting the eyes of each of her friends, Kat asked, “Will you join me, ladies, in this most worthy cause?”

“Yes, of course, Kat.”

“What a splendid idea.”

“Of course, Katarina, I would love to be a part of your plan.” Maddy’s eyes grew moist.

“Even though the ladies will not know, Maddy, you will have the satisfaction of caring for them still.” Kat embraced her, the simple contact seeming to welcome her officially into the circle of friends and even more, into the upper echelons that would hopefully find Miss Forrester one of them.

* * * *

Next afternoon, Maddy was playing with Pearl in the nursery when Grayson appeared, a piece of folded paper in his hand.