The Den Of Iniquity. Anabelle Bryant

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      ‘We’re padding the coffers. Every elbow crooker in London has come out to roll dice tonight.’ The voiced observation settled Sin’s agitation somewhat. His friend was accomplished at distraction. They stood in companionable silence, intensely assessing the scene below.

      Sin watched the fair-haired Mirabel as she delivered a drink and seductive glance to an attentive gentleman. She worked the floor better than any of the females in the hell’s employ; all the while she held her chin high despite the fact her services could be purchased and body shared. He’d accepted several of her alluring offers. Perhaps Mirabel would alleviate some of his caged frustration tonight. No sooner did the thought form than a beat of disapproval followed. Even she, a gentleman’s whore, deserved better than his empty detached rutting.

      Somehow over the years, anger had suffocated all other emotion until revenge consumed every corner of his soul. How better to be unfeeling and hollow until he saw the last of it done. He blinked, uncomfortable with the truth. Still he had no answers and had come to realize long ago God didn’t waste time on the prayers of a sinner.

Chapter Two

      Vivienne pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders, the persistent wind determined to wrestle against her hood. With gladness she’d read the missive from the Samaritan Saviours, a charitable organization favoured by her mother and a cause that Vivienne intended to continue in loving memory. Her stepfather held little opinion of her involvement and in that she was thankful. Answering the call for charitable work supplied a reprieve in twofold from the oppressive gloom found at Nettlecombe. She’d gently reassert herself into the flow of society and simultaneously soothe the pain in her heart by carrying forth her mother’s honourable work.

      Now with the hour growing late, the carriage stopped at a narrow avenue leading to Byward Street where the small chapel rested on a lazy hill. She exited, hurrying over the cobbles and through the iron gate. As if London mourned her efforts, clouds in various shades of grey threatened tears, not very different from the interior of home. She sent a small prayer skyward in hope that today she’d find joy in helping others. Something of interest was needed to deter her thoughts from loss and pain. In that much her stepfather’s words rang true. Her mother would never wish for her to continue suffering.

      The sombre knell from the church tower resurrected memories of the funeral and she bit her lower lip to maintain composure. At times it seemed the smallest things, the scent of a flower or mention of a particular meal, shattered her tenuous hold on emotion. She shook her head, at once irritated as the motion sent her hood backward. With a steady hand she righted herself inside and out.

      She’d almost reached the top of the hill where the nuns worked to replant annuals in the seasonal garden, the blooms then sold to raise funds for the poor. She gave a glance in each direction, disappointed the area remained vacant, and took the single-tiered staircase that led to the upper level of the property, closer to the tower and outreaching buildings. The railing, cold from the absence of sunlight, sent an unwelcome chill into her bones and she hurried faster. Beyond the church a small graveyard and priory stood quiet, a vigilant reminder life was fleeting.

      Pausing to discern where the nuns were located and whether she’d arrived at the correct area, she listened but not a sound could be heard. Something seemed wrong. She didn’t have the missive, her reticule left under the bench of the family coach. With planting to be done, she’d travelled with nothing more than a pair of gloves and coin purse in her skirt pocket. Now she wished she’d brought the information.

      Unwilling to remain stalled in the middle of the slates, she changed directions. With a disappointed sigh at the bleak emptiness of her surroundings, she moved beyond the gardens to explore the path that led to the priory in hope of meeting someone from Samaritan Saviours.

      As she accomplished a bend and approached the graveyard a disturbance wrinkled the quiet, causing her heart to lurch with fear. Stray dogs and assorted vermin were common in all parts of London, but a graveyard offered the ideal place for a dangerous stray. One pernicious bite would send a healthy person into a hellish and often uncertain sickness.

      A sharp bark sliced the air and her thoughts proceeded no further. In a blur of grey fur, a wolf appeared. The angry beast barked a rapid succession of complaints, bared its fangs and snarled, then set a direct line towards her. She whimpered, a tragic mixture of panic and fright, before her feet at last obeyed and she set into a run, the wind catching in her billowing black cloak to battle her progress. She should have taken a maid or footman, but out of consideration not to encumber a servant with boredom while she worked on the behalf of the poor, she’d foolishly come alone.

      Her slipper caught on the edge of a broken slate and she tumbled forward, her palms scraping the stone in a sting of gravel and regret. With a firm push for leverage she rose in a tangle of skirts, forcing her cumbersome cloak aside as she ran further to accomplish the short stack of stairs. The insistent bark of the mongrel and accompanying steady footfalls thrummed in her ears.

      Through a blinding sheen of tears she found the wrought-iron gate, the roadway clogged with carriages damning her to choose another means of escape. With a dodge to the left she angled her body behind a low-lying hedge where a stone wall blanketed with lush green ivy stood as a divider to the adjacent property. She pressed flat with hope the mongrel would continue its race to the street, past where she waited. Her lungs burst, but she hardly gave pause to inhale.

      Time stretched. Slowly the pounding in her ears receded. She heard the discordant melody of a songbird as a lonely ray of sunlight broke the cloud cover and she narrowed her eyes in trepidation until the hairs on the back of her neck pricked to attention. Two elongated shadows darkened the corner. She didn’t dare move. Trapped, fear clogged her throat as she stared at the growing outline of blackness. She willed her courage to surface, for her brain to master control.

      The wolf dog stood not two paces away, teeth exposed in a silent snarl that did more to her frantic pulse than the race across the churchyard. She had not a moment to consider it before a looming form appeared behind the animal. A man with a serious expression, hair left too long and wide shoulders tapering to a strong physique stepped closer to align with the dog as he looked straight into her eyes. For a half second, her soul quaked. Somehow, for no reason she could explain, the stranger’s piercing gaze seemed to look inside her. She could barely catch her breath, yet he appeared completely composed.

      ‘Settle.’

      The sharp command calmed the animal and it withdrew to a place of quiet obedience at the man’s feet.

      With great relief and a bit of awe, she raised her chin and matched eyes with the stranger who’d controlled the fierce animal with nothing more than a word. He didn’t appear dangerous, but then neither did her stepfather and of late, she possessed an unspoken wariness whenever they shared company at Nettlecombe.

      This man demanded control with his presence, exuded power by silent force. He was handsome even with a scowl holding his jaw tight, his face harsh angles and sharp corners, as if he’d been carved not born. Add to that his impeccable attire, a brown cashmere greatcoat pulled taut across his muscular build, dark trousers and shiny boots, put her clothing to shame. Yet something told her he was no gentleman. She braced herself for an outlash of disapproval and accusation, the cause unknown.

      ‘My apologies.’

      It was the last thing she expected him to say and her exhalation whispered free.

      ‘My dog grew agitated by my behaviour at the other side of the churchyard. When he sensed your approach he meant to protect.’ His СКАЧАТЬ