Part of that time was also spent trying to figure out where she would go from here. She had to avoid her brother, as well as Mr. Lyons who would no doubt be searching for her as well.
Damn her stepbrother for making the stupid wager! It hurt to acknowledge that she was not surprised by what he’d done. Even though they had never been close, she didn’t think he held her in such low regard to wager her into a life of disgrace and degradation.
Driscoll pulled out a chair. “Please, Miss Pence. I would like you to join us, have breakfast and possibly allow us to help you in whatever way we are able.”
Dante Rose sat back, his arms crossed over his chest and watched her with all the warmth and consideration of a fox watching his prey. He was certainly nothing like his brother.
She walked to the sideboard and filled a plate with food while Driscoll fussed over her, showing her things she might like.
“Sit down, brother,” Dante said. “The woman can fill her own plate.”
Amelia sat in the chair Driscoll had pulled out for her.
“I thought you were anxious to change your shirt, Dante.” Driscoll glared at his brother.
“Yes. I do need to change, but I wouldn’t miss this show for the world.” He grinned, but not in a friendly way, and Amelia’s appetite vanished. She took a sip of her tea and tried to eat since she had no idea when her next meal would be.
“Please pay no attention to my brother, Miss Pence.” Driscoll scowled in his direction. “I know it’s hard to believe, but despite his glib remarks, underneath his façade he is a decent person. Most times.”
Amelia wasn’t so sure about that, but she tried her best to eat. Once she got started, she realized despite the meal she’d eaten the night before—in the middle of the night, actually—she was still quite hungry this morning.
Once she finished, with—thankfully—the brothers speaking about the previous night’s winnings with each other and ignoring her, she pushed her plate aside and wiped her mouth. That seemed to be a signal between the brothers to begin questioning her.
“Miss Pence, I understand if you do not wish to tell us why you find yourself in the position you are in. However, if we are to offer you any assistance, we need to know at least a bit more about you.” Driscoll pushed his spectacles up farther on his nose. “Please.”
Amelia gathered her thoughts and realized there was scant information she could provide since her life had been unexceptional. At least until she was offered as a wager, then got up the nerve to escape her stepbrother and climb a tree.
“Why don’t you start with why neither of us recognize your name?” Dante took the lead in questioning which immediately put her on edge. “We are familiar with almost all of London. Our patrons come from the nobility, the upper merchant class and the newly arrived American wealthy. Yet, Pence isn’t a name we’ve heard before.”
“I have spent most of my life in the country.” She was going to tell the truth as much as she could without them learning who her brother was. Her governess from years ago had been adamant that it was far easier to keep one’s story straight if it did not contain lies.
Driscoll nodded, seeming pleased that she at least answered one of their questions. “What brought you to London? Did you come for the purpose of joining Society and making your come-out?”
Amelia tried very hard not to laugh. A come-out? Should she tell these nice men her only come-out would be a forced introduction into the demimonde?
“No.” She could not tell them she’d been ordered by her stepbrother to vacate the lovely family home in the country that she’d lived in most of her life because he’d rented it out from under her. Had she known at the time about his evil plans for her, she would have attempted to secure a position as a companion or a governess. Even working in a shop would be preferable to what her future currently looked like.
“I don’t suppose you wish to tell us where you are currently living in London?” Driscoll leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. He was so very nice and comfortable. Just speaking to him made her feel as though nothing bad would happen to her.
Then she realized she was dreaming, and this man was in no way responsible for her well-being. For all she knew he had a wife and several children for whom he was currently caring.
She found that to be a depressing thought.
Besides, she’d stopped believing in fairy tales when she was a child. There was no knight in shining armor going to ride up to The Rose Room and sweep her away on his white horse to live happily ever after in his castle.
She shook her head. “No. I’m afraid I cannot.”
The brothers looked at each other, Dante Rose with raised brows and Driscoll with what only could be described as sympathy.
Unfortunately, that was her undoing. All the pent-up anger and fear she’d lived with since she had snuck out of her stepbrother’s house rose to the surface and decided to make its presence known in a torrent of tears.
“Aw, shite,” Dante said.
4
Driscoll looked frantically at his brother when Miss Pence covered her eyes and began to cry. Hell, wail was more like it.
“What should we do?” he asked Dante.
Dante shrugged. “Nothing. Let her cry it out. With your lack of knowledge and skill with the ladies, you haven’t learned that these fits come on once in a while. Mostly when they want something, and you’ve said ‘no’.”
“That seems a rather cruel assessment.”
“But true. If you’re disposed to do so, you can put your arm around her shoulders and pat her back a few times.”
“And that seems rather personal.”
Dante rolled his eyes. “Then
