Page 76 of Seduced By a Scoundrel

“I can do it,” Keir said. “I’m a member of Fortingham’s, remember?”

“But I think we should see the other betting books in Town as well,” Sybil said. “They might also be marked. Either way, it will tell us something more.”

“Marked?” Keir asked. “Marked how?”

Sybil glanced at Priya, then the others. They only looked back at her, waiting for her verdict. She nodded once. Priya nodded back. Whatever else was happening between them, Sybil trusted Keir. And he was right, they could use his help. Sybil was obviously not allowed inside the club anymore, and Lord Singleton was not a member. Neither was Pierce.

“This is not a finishing school,” Sybil admitted.

“You don’t say,” Keir replied, dry as decade-old tinder. “I am shocked to hear it.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “Do you want to know or not?”

“Go on.”

“We protect the women of Mayfair.” When he frowned, she pointed at him. “And if you are about to suggest that is the job of a husband or a father, I will let Priya make you a cup of tea.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“Clever man,” Emmeline approved. “Have more coffee.”

“There are too many fortune hunters and lecherous lords in London,” Sybil continued. “And very little recourse left to the rest of us.”

“No argument there. Men like Eastbourne?” His jaw clenched.

“Exactly.”

“Is that why you were in his cellar?”

Sybil nodded. She smiled widely at her friends. “Keir burned it down.”

Peony looked impressed for the first time that morning. “Well done, you.”

“Eastbourne and Portsmouth and Chiswick do as they please, and it is always the women in their lives who pay. They never pay.”

“Until now,” Keir guessed.

“Until now.”

“And the abduction, the rock through the window?”

“We are very effective, my lord,” Priya said. “If not quite as secret as we once were.”

“And they do not appreciate us.” Sybil shrugged. “Which is no great surprise.” She used leftover jam on her plate to make the symbol of three dots. “Have you seen a mark like this before?”

Keir studied it a moment, then shook his head. “Should I have?”

“Someone marked Eastbourne and Portsmouth and Chiswick and a few others with this symbol in the betting book. None of the men are good ton. It is the only thing they really have in common.”

“Right bastards,” Pierce agreed grimly.

“Have you heard of a secret society calling themselves Minos?” Sybil asked.

“I’m afraid not,” Keir said.

“I am not surprised. You are not the type they are recruiting.”

“I can ask around.”