“Is he in?”
“He is, sir.” The doorman stood aside. “You will, of course, stand for your guest, sir.”
Simon gave the doorman a quick salute of silver-handled stick on hat brim, then ushered Kate and Hogarth into the hushed, dignified cool of the Mercury Club. A magnificent chandelier glittered over their heads and a grand staircase curved up to the second floor. Doorways opened into lavish parlors and libraries and smoking rooms. There was no sound save the footsteps of a valet who approached across the checkerboard-tile foyer. Simon placed a calling card on the man’s gold salver.
“I should like to see the Archdruid, if you please.”
Kate scoffed, which caused the valet to divert his attention to her before turning silently and departing.
Simon chided Kate. “Do try not to mock, Miss Anstruther. This is a serious conglomeration of very serious men. And Lord Argyle is the most serious of them all.”
“I shouldn’t expect anything less of an Archdruid?” Her eyebrow arched with bemusement. “Is he a real Archdruid? In that case, I apologize.”
“He’s a git with a magic fetish. But the Archdruid, or Lord Argyle as mere mortals know him, is a man of influence, and if you challenge his fantasy, he’ll never tell us anything.”
Kate clasped her hands behind her back, rocking on her heels. “Wouldn’t want to embarrass the Archdruid.”
“Archer!” A man descended the carpeted grand staircase, waving his arm enthusiastically. He was short and fat with wisps of white hair flying from his mottled dome. He wore a long, broad-sleeved silk robe embroidered with moons and stars. In his pudgy fingers, he clutched a crooked tree branch as a wand of some sort. The man trundled up and shook Simon’s hand with a sweaty grip and a jovial greeting. He eyed Kate with approval. “Splendid to see you again, Archer. I see you finally decided to take us up on our offer of membership. And you brought a guest!” He poked Simon like a naughty schoolboy.
Simon cast a baleful warning eye on Kate. “This is Miss Kate Anstruther. Miss Anstruther, I have the honor to present the Archdruid, Lord Master of the Mercury.”
Kate nodded politely though her impatience showed in the way her mouth tightened.
“I bid you welcome.” The Archdruid flourished his diminutive twig at her, causing Kate to suddenly peer over at the intricate woodwork around the door as if her life depended on it. The plump Lord Master looked a bit put off, but he regarded Simon. “Did you say Anstruther?”
“I did. Miss Anstruther is the eldest daughter of Sir Roland.”
“Ah!” the Archdruid exclaimed, bending slightly at the waist. “You do us honor.”
Simon gave Kate a surreptitious shake of his head to warn her off any argument.
The Archdruid took Simon’s arm. “When your membership is finally settled, we would even consider including you in the Inner Circle. Come now, Archer, you’re our kind of people.” He winked toward the woman. “Obviously.”
“I fear, your lordship, that my time is not my own these days. I will give it serious consideration, however. For now, I would like to ask a question of you.”
The Archdruid’s pleased expression faded but still remained courteous. “Of course, Archer. Shall we go into the Golden Grove?” He pointed his jagged branch toward what appeared to be a normal sitting room. “Your servant can wait outside, and we can have your guest taken to a room upstairs, where she can prepare herself.”
“Prepare myself?” Kate burst out, hands balled on her hips.
Simon coughed. “Now, my dear, your needs will be attended to presently.”
Kate shot him an angry glance. A very angry glance. The Archdruid looked her up and down quite shamelessly, and Simon took the opportunity to shoot the woman another silent plea, begging her restraint.
The fat druid elbowed Simon. “Fiery. I should think you’ll be in for it later.”
“I make the same prediction. But if we could briefly speak here. I am trying to find Colonel Boylan Hibbert, late of the East India Company.”
“You are? That gentleman is no longer a member here.”
Kate stiffened in alarm. “Since when?”
The Archdruid glared at the woman for speaking out of turn, and said to Simon, “A year perhaps. If I may trust you with a confidence, he was a bit too free with his behaviors. We have high standards here. Colonel Hibbert was beyond the pale, so to speak. We can’t have ourselves held up to scorn or scandal.”
Simon felt a cold dread seeping into him. If Hibbert was too peculiar for the Mercury Club, it spoke volumes about his potential danger. “You wouldn’t happen to know his current place of residence, would you? I’d take it a great kindness if you did.”
“He did recently ask for a room here. I refused him lodgings, of course. At that time, he reported that he could be contacted at the Boulware, room seven-B, if we changed our mind. We have not, and we have seen no more of him.”