The Trouble With Sin (Devilish Vignettes (the Devil DeVere) #2)(11)

"Ah, my darlings!" he exclaimed. "There is just the gent I promised you to find."

Jack Harris came forward at once, greeting Simon with a broad smile while his glittering gaze appraised the two young women. "Well, well, Mister Singleton. What have we here?"

"Jack, my friend, these delightful daughters of Erin are Brigid and Bronaugh O'Malley, just arrived from the fine city of Dublin.” Simon completed the introduction, "Ladies, I make known to you Jack Harris, a gentleman who could be highly instrumental in your successful establishment in our fine metropolis.”

"A pleasure, sar," the twins replied almost in unison and bobbed a giggling curtsey.

Harris swept a return bow. "I am doubly enchanted, ladies."

"Rightly so." Simon laughed. "And you are also much indebted to me."

"Is that right?" Harris raised a brow.

"'Tis, indeed! 'Twas quite a coup stealing these two Hibernian nymphs from under Charlotte Hayes' nose."

"I commend you, Singleton. Mrs. Hayes is not a woman to be trifled with. However did you accomplish such a feat?"

"It was a stroke of blind luck, actually. I happened through Charing Cross just as the Chester-wagons arrived from the north. Knowing her practice of impressing innocent maids into her den of iniquity, I swooped in as swiftly as any peregrine to snatch this most perfect pair of doves out of her grasp. Bold as brass, I embraced my dearest Irish cousins, whom I had come especially to meet."

"With a most un-cousinly kiss!" Brigid tittered.

Simon winked. "I assure you, our blood connection is the thinnest."

Harris gifted the sisters with his most disarming smile. "I welcome you to London, Miss Brigid and Miss Bronaugh. Might I buy you ladies a tankard?" Signaling the drawer, he led them to a corner table, where shortly a trio of frothy mugs swiftly appeared. "I presume you came south seeking employment?"

"Aye, sar," Bronaugh replied. "Thar be nothin' fer an honest lass in Dooblin."

Harris' smile hardened. "Honest lasses, are ye? So ye desire nothing better than to empty some nobleman's chamber pot?"

The sisters exchanged a wide-eyed look. Brigid then protested, "Mayhap not quite so honest, sar."

"Nay," Bronaugh chimed in. "But a Dooblin doxy chances a beatin' with every trick and is looky if she turns enou' coin to buy her meat. 'Tis why we come ta Loondon."

"Then you are not averse to keeping company with some of the fine gentlemen who habit this upstanding establishment?" Harris swept an arm to encompass the crowded tavern.

Simon raised his tankard. "Here buskin'd Beaus in rich lac'd Cloathes. Like Lords and Squires do bluster; Bards, quacks and cits, knaves, fools and wits, an odd, surprising cluster"

"That was lovely, Simon," Brigid gushed. "Be ye a poet?"

"I do my poor best. Which recalls me to my original purpose in coming here." Simon retrieved a bundle of bound pages from the capacious pockets of his frock coat. He handed them to Harris. "I've just returned from the Grub Street printer with the proofs for the new and improved edition of our infamous guidebook. Since I'm already late in meeting my friends, you may settle up with me later."

Harris nodded. "Demand is increasing. I may even request a second print run this time."

"All the better for both of us." Simon grinned. "Now as to my dear cousins…"

Harris raised a hand. "While one cannot deny their natural charms, sadly, my stables are quite full."

"Come now, Harris!" Simon chided.

"I am a man of business," Harris argued. "Taking them in as they are will cost me considerable upfront expense. Not only are they in need of clothes, they are in dire want of town polish. It would be weeks or even months before I could turn them out."

Brigid looked affronted. "The gents ne'er complained afore!"

"You are no longer in Dooblin," Harris mocked. "The standards are quite different in this establishment. Just look about you."

Twin pairs of wide blue eyes scanned the room, taking in the painted and powdered actresses, mistresses, and other women of pleasure, all begowned in silks and lace.

"Aye," Brigid replied. "There be a number of foin ladies and gents." The color deepened in her cheeks. She self-consciously smoothed her rough-spun petticoat.

"Every wench here is turned out in high style, yet they are all actresses and whores," Harris added, " albeit little separates the two. It is what the well-heeled now expect, a harlot who can mimic the manners of a duchess, but who conducts herself in private like the lewdest whore."

Bronaugh jutted her generous bosom and raised her chin. "Put us in such foinery and there be none to outshine me and me sister."

"You would soon become the reigning beauties," Simon agreed.

"But all comes at a price," Harris argued. "Outfitting you would require more than just painting your pretty faces and replacing your fustian and homespun with silk and lace. You require training in elocution and deportment."

"Locushun?" Brigid looked to Simon.

"You see, Simon? She demonstrates my point. Without town polish, they may as well walk the streets."

"Damn it all, Harris!" Simon furrowed a hand through his hair. "You know I can't keep a mistress—let alone two! But I won't leave them without any protection. Surely you can make some accommodation."