Hardly a Husband (Free Fellows League 3)

"I'm the Marquess of Shepherdston." Jarrod introduced himself to the clerk stationed behind the registration desk at Ibbetson's Hotel. "I believe you have Lady Dun-bridge and her niece, Miss Eckersley, as guests."

"You are correct, Lord Shepherdston," the clerk acknowledged. "We are delighted to have Lady Dunbridge and Miss Eckersley patronize our hotel for another season."

"Would you inform the ladies that I have come to pay a call?"

"It would give me great pleasure to do so, my lord, but the ladies have asked that they not be disturbed until breakfast."

Jarrod glanced toward the public dining room. It was crowded with clergymen and academics, easily recognizable in their somber black clothing, enjoying a hearty morning meal. "Then it appears that I've come at an opportune time. I'll order coffee and wait over there." He nodded toward a vacant table.

The clerk chuckled. "I beg your pardon, my lord, but we are currently serving first breakfast and ladies aren't permitted."

"What the devil is first breakfast?" Jarrod demanded, frustrated by the delay and the almost certain knowledge that his visit to Ibbetson's would be a waste of time. "And why aren't ladies permitted?"

"First breakfast is restricted to the male members of the nobility, senior clergymen, and senior academics."

"Is there a second breakfast?"

"Yes, sir, but it's restricted to junior fellows, vicars, curates, deacons, laymen, and clerks."

"Are ladies permitted at second breakfast?"

"The senior clergy and academics discourage the practice of inviting them, but ladies are permitted if they are in the company of their husbands or other male family members."

"How much longer until second breakfast?" Jarrod asked.

"I'm afraid you've missed it, sir," the clerk told him. "Second breakfast begins an hour before first breakfast; and third breakfast, for employees and servants, is a half hour before that one."

Jarrod wanted to laugh at the irony of calling the current meal first breakfast when it was, in fact, the third. "What of your female guests who aren't accompanied by husbands or other male family members?"

"Our unaccompanied female guests generally have tea or hot chocolate and toast sent to their rooms."

"What if your female guests desire something more substantial than tea or hot chocolate and toast? Is there a time when ladies are permitted in the public eating areas?"

"Yes, of course." The clerk nodded enthusiastically. "The ladies' breakfast begins promptly at one."

"In the afternoon?"

"Of course, sir. Before the ladies begin paying morning calls."

Damnation! Female guests accustomed to country hours might be hungry for half the day before they were allowed to eat in the public dining areas of the hotel in which they were paying guests. Jarrod had been born into a society of wealth and privilege and had lived within its confines all of his life, yet he despaired of ever understanding it. Sometimes it seemed as if everything was upside down. He glanced at the clock on the wall behind the desk. He had a meeting with the Free Fellows at White's in a quarter of an hour, a pair of meetings at the War Office, and he'd invited Lord Dunbridge to join him for coffee at the Cocoa Tree before luncheon.

"Will you deliver a note to Lady Dunbridge and Miss Eckersley?"

"Most assuredly, your lordship, and at no charge to our registered guests."

"Thank goodness," Jarrod muttered.

"Are you registered as a guest here, Lord Shepherdston?"

Jarrod glared at the clerk. "No, I am not."

"Then I'm afraid I must charge you sixpence."

"Fine."

"In advance, sir."

Jarrod reached inside his jacket for his change purse. He removed sixpence and placed it on the desk.