“I will pay her doubly for any lost business I caused.”
“Very good, sir.”
Maggie strove to create an air of sophistication by dressing her men in finery and tutoring them in proper speech, but just as in every brothel, the men were employed to keep order. If a gentleman were to forget his manners, Maggie’s men would give him a refresher lesson in the back alley.
Sebastian had always been a gentleman through and through when he’d visited the brothel in the past, which afforded him special treatment. He would be wise not to jeopardize his position as one of the madam’s favorites. Not that he had been there in years or intended to return after tonight. Brothels were a young man’s playground.
Charles moved to a sideboard and poured two fingers of brandy into a tumbler before carrying it to him. “Is there anything more I may do for you, my lord?”
Sebastian raised his glass to him. “You’ve been a great help already.”
The man hadn’t been gone long before a side door opened and Maggie swept in with four girls trailing in her wake. “Lord Thorne, how lovely to see you again.”
He rose in deference to her and kissed her hand as he would with any lady. Her spicy lavender perfume burned a trail up his nose and he rubbed it absently. She smiled, her face more handsome when she was happy, and motioned him to take a seat.
“Come along, girls.”
The hired girls hustled to do her bidding and lined up in front of him.
“I have selected only the best for you, my lord. You may choose whichever pleases you.”
Sebastian fought to keep a frown from showing on his face. He wouldn’t want Maggie to mistake his displeasure as any of the girls’ fault. “They are all beautiful, madam, but I was hoping for an audience with you.”
Her mouth puckered and her green eyes appeared as dull and hard as malachite. She obviously felt slighted by his request.
Maggie had always been touted as a tasty morsel, and with her flaming tresses and voluptuous figure, she had collected many admirers. But she had given up whoring when she became a madam. It must have been around the time he’d stopped wearing short pants, he imagined.
“I only wish to talk, madam, and I will pay well for your time for I know how valuable it is.”
Her expression didn’t alter. For a moment, he wondered if she intended to call Charles in to teach him a lesson in manners. She snapped her fingers, and the girls scrambled to leave the room, two bumping into each other. Once they had cleared the room, she sat in a chair across from him and folded her arms. “I don’t do dirty talk no more either, Lord Thorne. What is this about?”
Ah, there was the streetwise woman she kept hidden from most.
“I’m looking for a girl.”
She glowered. “I just showed you four. Did you find fault with all of them?”
“I am looking for a particular girl. Rumor has it she was traded from a brothel in Whitechapel.”
A tiny tic showed at her eyebrow.
“Her name is Lavinia. Perhaps you’ve heard of her.”
She shook her head.
“Come now, Mags. You are not a good liar. Is she under your employ?”
She hopped from the chair and strode to the sideboard to pour herself a brandy. Her back was rigid. “There are no girls by the name of Lavinia working for me. What do you want with her?”
“What concern is it of yours if you don’t know the girl?”
She turned with the tumbler in her hand. As she sipped the drink, she watched him carefully.
“She is important to someone who is important to me,” he said. “All I need is to know how to reach her. My, uh…friend would like to reconnect with her. They were childhood playmates.”
The hard lines around her mouth eased. “You have a mistress. Now I understand why you’ve been away so long. I suppose they became close friends working together. That happens, but it’s best for your ladybird to say farewell and forget her friend.”
He would let Maggie think he was doing his mistress’s bidding. It seemed easier than explaining about Helena and her connection with one of the madam’s girls, not that he fully understood it himself. “It’s not for you to decide what is best for my friend,” he said.