Almost absently, she claimed the last piece of toast, just as another hand came for it. Relieved to find she owed Ash nothing, Juliana turned to the second letter.
“Oh.”
Dear Sir Edmund,
Thank you for informing me of your marriage to Lady Juliana. I send you my warmest congratulations, and a request that your parents-in-law stop leaving their carriage outside my house. I have other guests that use the space.
You may recall a conversation we had recently about your wife and her dilemma. I instructed my secretary to arrange a meeting, and I’m pleased to say it met with success. You are to meet Sir James Corvid, or the man who goes by that name, at the Bull and Bear in Cheapside at three o’clock this afternoon.
I would advise you not to visit such an unsavory place, but I know you will not heed me. Nevertheless, do not go unarmed, and take a likely man with you.
Yours, etc
Newcastle
“I don’t know this place,” she said waving the letter.
“It’s close to King’s Coffee House,” he said absently. “Are you going to eat that toast?”
“I am.”
Juliana made her demand. “I’m coming with you.”
“You are not.”
There was no equivocation in his words, no room for negotiation. Nevertheless, Juliana made her play for it. “You’re going to be that kind of husband, are you?”
“What kind of husband is that?” No duke could have beaten Ash for frosty hauteur right now.
Juliana was not concerned. She had stared out the best. “The kind to keep me away from life, sheltered for my own good. I won’t have that, Ash.”
Now was the turning point. He could order her to behave and obey, as if she was a recalcitrant child.
He met her gaze straight on, which she appreciated. “I’ve never been a husband before, so I’m not sure what kinds there are. Or what kind I shall be. But I can’t allow you to go to the Bull and Bear. If you want the answer...” He glanced at Gregory.
Gregory made a soft noise by pursing his lips together and heaving a heavy sigh. “Very well, I’ll go.”
“Your tutor has arrived,” Ash said. “You should go up to him.”
At eleven, Gregory was well into his studies, but instead of living in, his tutor arrived every day. Gregory got down from the table, gave his older brother an exaggerated bow, followed up with a more suitable one to Juliana, and left the room.
Ash continued smoothly, as if he hadn’t interrupted himself at all. “The Bull and Bear is packed to the hilt with whores, pimps, pickpockets and cutpurses. Bullyboys go there to find clients, or just to amuse themselves by beating people into the dust. You can be stabbed in the heart for a few guineas or a gold watch. At King’s, men meet courtesans, ballet dancers and opera singers. And common whores. But no business is conducted there. For that, they’ll go to the Bull and Bear, or rut against the nearest wall.” He sighed. He must have seen the sparkle in Juliana’s eyes as she thrilled to the picture he was drawing. “I cannot ensure your safety and conduct my business. The duke evidently doesn’t know the full import of the place. He’s far above such considerations.” His lips moved in the beginnings of a smile but it never full appeared. “I know I promised you involvement, but I did not have the Bull and Bear in mind when I said it.”
Juliana saw two things, the first being that he was immovable on this. She had never seen Ash so solidly determined to prevent her before. Unlike her father, who would have ranted and raved, Ash made his point without raising his voice. Heaven knew what he’d be like if he shouted. Juliana couldn’t imagine it.
However, her resolve remained. This was her life, and her decision to make. This meeting was a turning point for her, and there was no way on earth she wouldn’t be there.
She would go anyway. She just wouldn’t tell him.
Ash set out for the Bull and Bear in an ambivalent frame of mind. Juliana had accepted his decision, but rather too quickly for his liking. Perhaps he’d made the wrong decision. Maybe he should have taken her so he could look after her personally. He took Freeman with him. Both men had dressed in down-at-heel, worn and stained clothing. Even their shoes were scuffed and old, the soles worn down to paper, with nails driven in to make them last longer. But they both had gold coins in their pockets, and they were armed to the teeth.
As they left, Freeman handed Ash the hat that completed his outfit. He crammed it on his head. The felted fabric was worn and shiny with age, the turned back brim not as crisp and jaunty as it should be.
Juliana had nothing like that in her wardrobe. She would never have fitted in, he mused as they flagged down a cab and climbed in.
The Bull and Bear was noxious. “You can smell this place half a street away,” Freeman muttered.
True, the reek of stale beer was redolent here, but it might not be all the fault of one inn. Plenty of them existed around here. Further up from King’s, closer to the rookeries of St. Giles, the Bull and Bear marked the limit of the places a respectable person could go without losing his life.
Bullies lounged outside the inn, their large paws making the tankards of beer in their hands look small. As they approached the inn, two men fell in behind them, but Ash had expected that. They were either out to scare them, or they worked for one or other of the bosses. Or even the Raven himself. While relatively new, built after the Great Fire, the inn contained materials salvaged from the fire. It had been thrown up overnight and somehow was still standing.
Inside, Ash
