“All right. Then I shall get busy.”
Dante hesitated for a minute, then turned on his heel and left.
About two hours later, Dante arrived back at the office just when she was thinking she desperately needed a break. Her eyes were burning from focusing on numbers for so long.
He held his hand out. “Come, I will show you where you can observe the gaming floor.”
She hopped up, happy for the break as well as seeing the club in action. He walked her to a glassed-in area where she could observe almost the entire floor.
“We use this to watch the players on occasion. Sometimes to make sure everything is going well in general, other times to watch for cheating or other signs of nefarious behavior.”
* * *
“This is incredible.” She leaned her fingertips against the glass and gazed through the window, taking in all the activity. Shouting, cheering, and groaning rose above the general hum of the crowd. Like ants busily working. Except these people were playing. “I never would have thought that players needed to be watched.” She turned to him. “What of your employees? It seems to me they handle quite a bit of money. Are they scrutinized as well?”
“We like to think all of our employees are honest and wouldn’t cheat us, but there are occasions.” He stopped and thought for a minute and shook his head. “We do watch the new employees for a while, but there’s only been one time when we had to let an employee go for cheating.”
Since he didn’t elaborate on what that occasion had been, she dismissed it.
He checked his timepiece. “I have to go back down to the floor. If you want to continue observing, feel free to do so. I also suggest you take a break and avail yourself of some of the food and coffee set up in the dining room down the corridor.”
She perked right up. “Certainly. I think that is a wonderful idea.”
* * *
Lydia glanced at the clock on the wall. She had been working on the books for two more hours since her break. Driscoll had stopped by and showed her a few things about his method. His system was very straightforward and easy for her to follow.
She stood and stretched deciding it was a good time to take a stroll down the corridor and avail herself once more of the clear glass area where she could see the gaming floor.
The amount of activity stunned her. There must have been over a hundred people milling around the floor. She took special note of the women since Dante had told her ‘ladies’ were not welcomed at the club. There were no more than a handful, but ‘twas obvious they were not the sort of women she would see while riding in Hyde Park in the afternoons twirling their parasols.
Like a small child, she pressed her nose against the glass so she could see more of the room. Just as she was about to pull away to look in another direction, she drew in a sharp breath.
She stopped for a minute, then spun around and raced to the end of the corridor and down the stairs. Keniel stood at the bottom of the stairs, apparently just having left the gaming area.
“Is something wrong, Miss Sanford?”
“No. Yes. Well, actually can you get a note to Dante? It’s very important.”
“Certainly. Is there anything I can do to help?” He studied her with concern.
“No. Thank you anyway. Do you have a paper and pen?” She was anxious to get word to Dante.
Keniel took her by the elbow and walked her through a maze of rooms of various sizes until they reached a small office. “This is my office. Please make yourself comfortable at my desk. You will find paper in the top drawer and the pen on the desk. I will return in a moment.”
She hurried to the desk, pulled out the drawer and quickly penned her note. Unable to sit still, she left the office and attempted to find her way back through the room.
Eventually, she ran into Keniel on his return to her. She held the folded missive out to him. “Please see that he gets this immediately.”
Keniel bowed. “Of course.”
Lydia took a deep breath and returned to the glass area above the gaming floor.
Dante pushed himself away from the wall where he stood speaking with one of the club members, Lord Hathaway. The man was in his cups as well as light of pockets. He’d spent the last ten minutes trying to convince Dante to extend him more credit. The fool even offered up one of his country homes as collateral.
Although they were in the business to make money, the brothers had made it a policy to refuse anyone who began to offer properties. Other clubs were not so fastidious, but for the Rose brothers it was a matter of honor. They made enough money without beggaring its members and leaving families with no roof over their heads.
Keniel wove his way through the crowd, apparently heading to Dante. The manager had just left to take a well-deserved break, so it was odd to see him returning so quickly.