From The Ashes (The Ministry of Curiosities #6)(22)

I patted her hand. "I'm sure he'll agree to come home tonight."

She blinked hard. "Thank you, Charlie. If you will employ all your powers of persuasion, I would be most grateful."

I smothered a smile. "I'll do my best."

Lady Vickers emitted a small gasp as we entered the tavern then pulled out her handkerchief again. She coughed into it and muttered something I couldn't make out over the voices and laughter. I'd wager it had something to do with the stink of urine and sweat, a combination that reminded me all too much of the dens where I'd lived alongside other boys in my gang.

"You get used to it," I told her.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"Do it in the corner where no one will notice."

Gus forged a path through the patrons and the broad sweep of Lady Vickers' skirts widened it. I trailed behind and only had to hiss once at a man who tried to pinch my cheek. He snickered but didn't try again.

Gus asked the keep behind the bar if Seth was "down below". The keep nodded, then turned his squinty gaze onto Lady Vickers and myself.

"Who're they?" he asked.

"Seth's mother and my friend," Gus said. "They're all right. They know to keep their mouths shut."

The keep looked dubious, but a few coins passed across the counter by Seth's big paw changed his mind. The keep jerked his head and we followed him to a door that led to a storeroom lit by a single lamp. It stank of ale, a pleasant change from the rest of the tavern, although Lady Vickers didn't lower her handkerchief.

The keep lifted a trapdoor in the floor hidden behind barrels and Gus descended the steps without a word. I indicated Lady Vickers should go next. She peered through, but didn't follow.

"Why is Seth in the cellar?" she asked, pocketing the handkerchief.

"Dancing lessons," the keep said with a chuckle.

"He's already an excellent dancer."

"Get a bloody move on," he growled. "I'm busy."

I urged her with a nod and a smile. She wrinkled nose, lifted her skirts, and stepped through the trapdoor. Not many women of her station would have. I admired her fortitude.

I followed them down the staircase into the room. It was a vast space and mostly empty except for tables and broken chairs stacked along the walls. A shirt and waistcoat hung on the leg of an upturned chair. Four lengths of rope marked out a large central square in which Seth stood, his bare back to us. He spoke with another man dressed in a yellow cravat and a green and gold waistcoat. His dapper attire and oiled moustache were at odds with his protruding brow and thick neck. The men were alone.

"Seth!" Lady Vickers cried, her voice managing to be both shrill and trembling. "Seth! Come here, at once."

His shoulders slumped as if all the breath had suddenly left his body. "Gus, I'm going to kill you."

"She ain't the only one I brought, if you care to look, Dolt," Gus said, grinning.

Seth turned and I drew in a gasp at the sight of his cut lip and bruised cheek. I suspected his knuckles would be in a worse state but he'd tucked them behind his back so we couldn't see.

Lady Vickers whimpered. "Oh, my dear boy. Your beautiful face."

Seth didn't seem to have heard. He broke into a grin. "Charlie!"

He came toward us, but his mother intercepted him. She grasped his chin and twisted him this way and that. After a thorough inspection, she let him go. "What is the meaning of this? Why are you naked? Cover up at once. There's an innocent young woman here."

"And thank God that she is!" Seth bypassed his mother and scooped me up into a hug. "Avert your eyes, innocent young woman, before my nakedness corrupts you."

I laughed and hugged him back. "Put me down before your mother faints," I whispered.

"She never faints. Her constitution is much too strong, unfortunately. A fainting spell every once in while would give me peace." He put me down, still grinning from ear to ear. The cut on his lip opened and began to bleed, but he didn't seem to notice.

His mother swooped in with her handkerchief in one hand and Seth's shirt in the other, her lips pursed tight. She reserved her scowl for me, however. "Remember your promise," she whispered.

Seth was too busy dressing to have heard. "You escaped!" he said, tucking in the shirt. He did not complete the task and left half of it out. His mother finished the job while he buttoned. "I knew you would. Good girl."

"What are you doing down here?" Lady Vickers asked before I could respond. "And don't tell me it's dancing lessons." She looked around, taking in the rope marking out the boxing ring, the thug who stood watching us with an impatient tap of his foot, and finally, the blood-stained floor.

Seth quickly tucked his hands behind his back again, but not before I noticed the cut and bruised knuckles. Poor Seth. Why had he taken up the brutal sport again? Not only was bare-knuckle fighting illegal, it was utterly inhumane. The toffs loved it as much as the low-lifes upstairs. It was one of the few activities that crossed the class divide. That and whoring.

"I'm, er…" Seth swallowed and stared at his mother.

I tried to think of something to tell her, but couldn't. Gus came to his rescue. "Meeting his tailor." He nodded at the brute. "Who else would dress like that but a man of fashion?"