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lane. Vienne had purchased the lot on the west side as well and turned it into stables for herself and her guests so that the street wasn’t constantly congested with carriages.
    The coachman delivered Sadie to the front door before crossing the neat cobblestones to care for the horses. Though the club was closed at this time of day, Sadie’sfriendship with Vienne gave her certain liberties, so she was able to enter the neoclassical mansion without raising any eyebrows.
    Sadie had read Vienne’s leaves once—when they first met. Since then the Frenchwoman had never once requested a second reading. She didn’t take it personally. Vienne was one of her staunchest supporters, and Sadie knew that at least two of the things she’d seen in Vienne’s cup had come to pass. She assumed that Vienne believed in her abilities and simply didn’t want to know what the future held.
    Or perhaps Vienne simply didn’t want Sadie to know any more of her secrets.
    To be honest, it really didn’t matter. Part of what made her hold Vienne and Indara so dear was that neither woman held her responsible for their lives. So many of her regular patrons seemed as though they couldn’t get dressed in the morning without consulting her. It was nice to have at least two people who didn’t thank or blame her for the major events of their lives.
    She walked briskly across the polished marble floor, with strides as long as her narrow skirts would allow; but she was not in so much of a hurry that she forgot her manners. She said hello to several club employees who were busy readying the facilities for the coming evening, and nodded to a few others, but she did not stop to chat as she normally might. Instead, she hurried up the broad staircase to the first floor, rounded the corner, and continued up to the second, where Vienne’s private apartments were located.
    She knocked on the wide, white-washed double door and waited impatiently to be received. Fortunately, she did not have to wait long. Vienne’s maid greeted her with a friendly smile and quickly ushered her inside the main sitting room where Vienne sat at her desk, reading correspondence. She looked up as Sadie approached.
    “You look like you could strangle a puppy,” her friend remarked dispassionately.
    Sadie made a small grunting sound as she pulled free her hat from her head and tossed the damn thing aside. She couldn’t bear to have it on her head one moment longer.
    Vienne—still in her silk dressing gown, her fiery hair tumbling down her back—had risen and was in the act of pouring them both a cup of hot, fragrant coffee. A fine brow arched at the discarded hat, which had landed upon her sofa. “Did your meeting with your new landlord not go well, ma petite chouchou ?”
    Sadie scowled at her. Vienne rarely spoke French when they were alone, unless it was to poke fun. “Did you just call me your ‘little cabbage’?”
    Vienne grinned, and came toward her with a cup of coffee on a delicate saucer. “You know, I believe I did. Forgive me. Sit.”
    Sadie did just that, seating herself on the well-padded, cream brocade sofa where she’d lobbed her hat. It lay beside her, ignored like an unwelcome guest.
    Vienne took a seat in the matching chair across from her. Again, she glanced at the hat with sharp blue eyes. “Poor Monsieur Chapeau tossed aside like garbage.”That acute gaze shot to Sadie, all teasing gone. “Do not make me wait. What’s happened?”
    Sighing, Sadie took a sip of her coffee. Her eyes closed in bliss. Strong and sweet with too much cream—just the way she liked it. How much should she tell Vienne? She couldn’t lie to her friend, especially not one who had done as much for her as Vienne had, but if she revealed all it could affect Vienne’s business with Jack, and she didn’t want that on her conscious no matter how Jack deserved to have his plans stomped upon.
    Still, Vienne was a business woman. She wouldn’t make a decision based on