But this was Viola. Not just any woman. And he had to convey her home before she lost all her money.

“I can’t believe you just did that,” she huffed.

He climbed in beside her and thumped his fist on the carriage ceiling to signal they were ready to leave. “Said I would, didn’t I?”

Viola fluffed her skirts around her. “It was most undignified and wholly unnecessary.”

“I did it to save you from your wild, self-destructive impulses.”

“And you’re the expert on curbing your cravings for pleasure?”

“I didn’t want you to fall victim to my failings.”

“Such a reversal of our roles. You’re acting the chaperone.” She tossed her head, sending pins tumbling. “I don’t require chaperoning.”

“You’re going to thank me for this tomorrow.”

“I’m not drunk, you know,” she said frostily.

“Not on spirits. You’re drunk on gambling.”

“It is quite thrilling. You ruined my fun.”

“You were going to place one wager too many and lose it all, and then some.”

“Or maybe I would have kept winning and become wealthy.”

“The odds of that happening are so small as to be nearly nonexistent. We’re making a brief stop and then I’m taking you home. To your father.”

“Where are we?” she asked as the carriage drew to a halt.

“Lord Rafe Bentley’s house. Ravenwood delivered a letter from Rafe asking me to find something in his house and mail it to him.”

“Why you?”

“Because I have the key to the location where it’s hidden.”

“This is all very mysterious.”

“Rafe’s a mysterious fellow.”

“I’m coming inside with you.”

“Stay in the carriage.”

“I’ve wanted to see the infamous pleasure chambers of the notorious Lord Rafe ever since my friend Mina, who, as you know, married his brother, the Duke of Thorndon, told me about a most impolite chair she saw once.”

“A what?”

“You’ll see . . .” She grabbed the key from his hand, let herself down from the carriage, and sashayed up the front steps.

West swore under his breath and followed after her.

Lord, save him from wallflowers gone wicked.

Or at least grant him the strength to resist her.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“I wonder where the impolite chair is?” Viola asked, searching through the rooms. She found the door that led to Rafe’s naughty sitting room.

“Don’t go in there!”

She opened the door. “I can’t credit it.”

“What?” West came to stand beside her.

“There’s red silk on the walls, just as Mina described, but no impolite chair with levers, no low velvet-cushioned stool for administering punishment. Ah! There’s the lacquered cabinet of curiosities.” She flung the doors wide, only to make a disappointed noise. “It’s only filled with books.”

“What did you expect it to be filled with?”