Читать книгу Regency Reputation - Diane Gaston - Страница 13

Ned waited until almost noon for his father to rise and make his appearance in the breakfast room. He’d tried to confront his father on this issue before and knew he must catch him before he went out or he’d lose another day.

Hugh had waited with Ned most of the morning, but stormed out a few minutes ago, swearing about their father’s decadent habits.

Not more than a minute later Ned heard his father’s distinct footsteps approaching.

Wasn’t it always the way? When Ned needed Hugh, his brother disappeared.

The earl entered the room, but paused for a moment, spying his oldest son there.

He gave Ned an annoyed look. ‘I thought to have breakfast in peace.’

Ned stood. ‘Good morning to you as well, Father.’

His father walked straight to the sideboard and filled his plate with food that had already been replaced three times. The earl detested cold eggs. ‘Do you not have something of use to do? Itemising my bills? Recording my debt in a ledger?’

Ned bristled at his father’s sarcastic tone. ‘You ought to be grateful to me and to Hugh.’

His father sat down at the head of the table. A footman appeared to pour his tea. Ned signalled for the footman to leave.

His father waited until the door closed behind the man. ‘I am anything but grateful that you treat me as a doddering fool. Makes me look bad in front of the servants.’

Ned sat adjacent to his father. ‘You were the one to speak of bills and debts in front of Higgley.’

His father glared at him and stuffed his mouth full of ham.

Ned went on. ‘But I do need to speak to you.’

His father rolled his eyes.

Ned did not waver. ‘It has been a month since Rhysdale opened the gaming house and you have yet to fulfil your part of the bargain.’

‘You truly do not expect me to speak to that fellow, do you?’ He popped a cooked egg into his mouth.

‘Speak to him?’ Ned felt his face grow hot. ‘You gave your word as a gentleman to do more than that. We need to include him socially. You need to acknowledge he is your son.’

His father waved a hand. ‘I already did my part. I sent him to school. What more can he want?’

Ned gritted his teeth. ‘You agreed to this, Father. Rhysdale has already amassed the amount we invested to get the place started. But he will not release the money until you do what you are honour-bound to do.’

‘Honour?’ His father’s voice rose. ‘Do you call it honourable that he is holding my money? It is more like extortion, I’d say.’

‘I’d say it is more like sound business,’ Ned countered. ‘Rhysdale is no fool. The money is his leverage. You must do as he says.’

‘I do not have to do anything I do not wish to do.’

Good God. The man sounded like a petulant schoolboy.

Ned would not put up with it. ‘Father. You must do this. We are running out of time. No one will advance you more credit. The fields need tending. The livestock need feed. Our tenants need to eat—’

At that moment Hugh entered the room. ‘Your voice is carrying, Ned.’

So much for keeping this private from the servants—not that one could keep anything secret from servants for long.

‘Where were you?’ he asked Hugh.

Hugh looked apologetic. ‘I was going mad waiting for Father. I just took a quick walk outside.’

He sat across from Ned and poured a cup of tea.

‘Father is reneging on his word.’ Ned inclined his head towards their father.

Hugh took a sip. ‘I presumed.’ He slid his father a scathing look. ‘Your bastard son has more honour than you, you know. He’s kept his part of the bargain.’

Their father straightened in his seat. ‘I’ll brook no disrespect from you, you ungrateful cub.’

Hugh faced the earl directly, his face red with anger. ‘Then be a man I can respect, sir! Do what you agreed to do. Introduce Rhys to society as your son. You gave your word.’

‘Only to the two of you,’ their father prevaricated. ‘I never gave my word to him.’

Ned lowered his voice. ‘Your word given to your sons means nothing, then?’

Hugh rose from his chair. ‘Let him go, Ned! He is not thinking of us. Nor of the Westleigh estates. Nor the Westleigh people. Let him watch his creditors come ransack the house, carrying away our heritage and that of our own sons. He cares nothing for nobody. Only for himself.’

‘See here, you cur!’ the earl cried, jumping to his feet.

Ned stood and extended his arms, gesturing for them both to sit down. He had one more card to play. ‘Let us bring Mother into this conversation.’

‘You’ll do no such thing!’ his father cried.

‘Ned’s right.’ Hugh seized on this idea immediately. ‘Mother needs to know what a sorry excuse for a gentleman you’ve become.’

Ned suspected their mother already knew what a sorry creature her husband was. But she probably did not know the extent of his debt and the dire consequences that were imminent unless they could begin paying the creditors. This information would certainly shock her.

She, of course, knew of Rhys’s existence and Ned did feel sorry that she must endure the humiliation of having him welcomed into the family.

‘Very well,’ the earl snapped. ‘I’ll go the gaming hell and make nice to Rhysdale. I’ll do that much.’

‘You’ll have to do more,’ Ned warned him.

The earl nodded. ‘Yes. Yes.’ His tone turned resigned. ‘But first I want to see this place and ascertain for myself whether he is swindling us or not.’

‘He is not swindling us!’ Hugh said hotly.

Their father ignored him. ‘If all is as it should be, then we may plan how to divulge the rest to your mother.’

Rhys wandered through the tables of the gaming house, watching the gamblers, perusing the croupiers at their work. He wished he had more eyes, more people he could trust to check on the tables. To make certain the croupiers stayed honest and the gamblers refrained from cheating. With so much money changing hands every night, it was a rare man or woman who would not at some time or another become tempted.

Cheating was the great danger of a gaming house. Gentlemen could accept losing huge amounts in honest games, but the whiff of a dishonest house might swiftly destroy everything.

He also had to admit to watching for the masked woman to arrive. She’d been attending almost every night. Whenever she came, Rhys contrived to spend a few minutes alone with her.

The mystery of her sometimes filled his thoughts.

Where had she come from? Who was she? Why had she chosen gambling to make money?

She had a life outside the gaming hell, a life she wished to protect, that much he understood. Was she married and hiding her gambling from her husband? He hoped not. Married women held no appeal for him.

He’d had some opportunity to attend the Royal Opera House and Drury Lane Theatre. He and Xavier had joined Xavier’s parents in their theatre box. But Rhys had seen no one who resembled her. He knew he would recognise her without her mask. He’d memorised her eyes, her mouth, the way she moved.

He glanced up at the doorway, for the hundredth time. But it was not she who appeared.

He stiffened. ‘Well, well,’ he said to himself, looking around to see if Xavier noticed, but his friend was deep in play.

Earl Westleigh sauntered in with one of his cronies.

Rhys had spied the earl from time to time in the two years he’d been back from the war. He and the earl had sometimes gambled at the same establishments. At those times, though, Rhys doubted the earl noticed him. Even if he had, how would he recognise Rhys now from the scrawny fourteen-year-old he’d been when he’d begged the earl for help?

Rhys watched the earl survey the room in his self-important way. He leaned over to say something to his friend and both men laughed.

Rhys flexed his fingers into a fist, feeling as though the men were laughing at his youthful self, near-helpless and so desperately alone. He was not alone here. Not helpless. This was his place. Under his control. His to build into a success beyond any of the earl’s expectations.

He straightened his spine.

‘Where is the owner of this establishment?’ Lord Westleigh asked in a booming voice. ‘I should like to see him.’

Rhys turned to one of the croupiers and asked the man about the play at his faro table. It was the sort of surveillance he might do, but this time, of course, his motive was to avoid responding to the earl’s beck and call.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone point him out to Lord Westleigh. He also saw Xavier looking up from his play, his gaze going from the earl to Rhys. Xavier appeared ready to vault out of his chair, daggers drawn.

Rhys did not need his friend’s aid. He could handle the earl. He knew he was the better man.

He deliberately busied himself with checking the faro deck, but the hairs on the back of his neck rose when Westleigh came near.

‘Rhysdale!’ The earl made his name sound like an order.

Rhys did not respond right away, but finished replacing the faro deck in its apparatus.

Slowly he raised his eyes to the earl. ‘Lord Westleigh,’ he said in a flat voice.

‘I’ve come to see what people are talking about. A gaming hell and a masquerade.’ He made a somewhat disparaging laugh.

‘What do you wish to play?’ Rhys asked, treating him like any other gentleman—but with a bit more coldness.

‘I fancy some faro,’ the earl’s companion said. ‘Haven’t tried my hand at faro in an age.’

It was a game going out of fashion, but still making enough here to satisfy Rhys.

‘I do not know you, sir.’ Rhys extended his hand to the man. ‘I am Mr Rhysdale and, as the earl so loudly announced, I am the owner.’

The man clasped his hand. ‘Sir Godfrey’s the name.’

Rhys made room for Sir Godfrey at the faro table. ‘I hope you enjoy yourself, sir.’

He turned to Lord Westleigh. ‘And you, sir, what is your fancy?’

Lord Westleigh’s attention had turned to the doorway where the masked woman for whom Rhys had been waiting all night entered.

‘I’d fancy that,’ the earl said under his breath.

Rhys’s fingers curled into a fist again.

He stepped in front of the earl, blocking his view of the woman. ‘This is an establishment for gambling and nothing more. Do you comprehend?’ His voice was low and firm. ‘The ladies who play here will be left in peace. Am I speaking clearly enough?’

Lord Westleigh pursed his lips. ‘Meant no harm.’

Rhys narrowed his eyes.

Westleigh glanced away. ‘My sons tell me this establishment is making money. Is that true?’

‘It is true.’ Rhys guessed the earl wanted his share. Not a damned chance until he met his part of the bargain.

‘But you have not paid my sons a farthing.’ Westleigh had the gall to look affronted.

Rhys levelled his gaze at the man. ‘It is you who have held up payment, sir. I await you.’

‘Yes. Well.’ Westleigh looked everywhere but at Rhys. ‘It is complicated.’

Rhys laughed dryly. ‘And distasteful to you, I might imagine.’ He shook his head. ‘Matters not to me whether you do this or not. This place is making me rich.’ He walked away.

Rhys had begged once from his father, but never again. Let his father beg from him this time.

As soon as she walked in the room, Celia’s gaze went directly to Rhysdale. He stood with an older man, a gentleman, to judge by the fit and fabric of his coat. This man had not visited the gaming house before, at least not when she’d been here, and she had not seen him at the few society functions she attended with Adele and Lady Gale.

Whoever this man was, Rhysdale did not seem pleased at his presence. That piqued her curiosity even more.

She detested herself for looking for Rhysdale as soon as she walked through the door, for wondering about who he was with and how he felt about it.

As the days had gone on, she’d come to enjoy his attentions.

It felt almost like having a friend.

She turned away and made her way through the room, returning greetings from players to whom she was now a familiar figure. She no longer needed Rhysdale to find her a game of whist; plenty of men and some ladies were glad to play.

She passed by Xavier Campion. That man’s eyes usually followed her, not with the interest of other gentlemen. She swore he watched her with suspicion. Tonight, however, Xavier watched Rhysdale and his brow was furrowed.

Who was that man?

Rhysdale turned away from the gentleman and walked away, his expression one of distaste and suppressed rage.

She lowered her gaze and set about finding a whist partner.

Not too long after, she was seated at a table and arranging a hand of cards into suits. Still, she was acutely aware of whenever Rhysdale passed near.

She no longer feared he was trying to catch her cheating. She liked his attention. It seemed as if the air crackled with energy when he was near, like it might before a summer storm. She liked him.

Even though he made his living from gambling.

To her distress, the cards did not favour her this night. Even when she had partnered with Xavier, she lost hand after hand. Counting in her head, she knew it was not a trifling amount. She kept playing, thinking the next hand would turn her luck around. When that did not happen, she counted on the hand after that.

As the night advanced, her pile of counters grew lower and lower. She’d lost over half the money she staked. Still, the urge was strong to keep playing, to bet more, to keep going so she could change it all back to the way it had been before.

But still she lost.

Celia stared at her counters and came to her senses. Stop! she told herself. Before you return home with nothing.

She stood up abruptly. ‘I am done.’

Before the others at her table could protest, she hurried away and made her way to the cashier. She wanted the counters changed back to coin so she would not be tempted to return to the games.

It was only two in the morning, too early to wait outside for her coachman. Instead, after cashing in her counters, she walked to the supper room, not hungry, but greatly desiring a glass of wine or two to quiet her nerves.

Several of the tables were occupied, but her gaze went instantly to the table where she’d sat before with Rhysdale.

He was there, staring into nothing, a glass in hand.

She approached him, needing at least the illusion of a friend. ‘Hello, Rhysdale.’

He glanced at her with a look of surprise that turned into a smile. ‘The lady with the mask.’ He stood and pulled out a chair. ‘Would you care to sit with me?’

She sat.

‘What is your pleasure?’ he asked. ‘Shall I fix a plate for you?’

‘Wine.’ She sighed. ‘Just wine.’

He signalled a servant to bring her wine.

Now that she’d so brazenly approached him, she did not know what to say.

‘How was your night?’ he asked finally.

‘Not good,’ she replied.

What more was there to say? Losing called into serious question her whole plan to finance Adele’s come-out with winnings. Worse than that, it showed how easily she could slip into a gambling fever where nothing mattered but trying to win back her money.

The wine arrived and she quickly downed half of it.

His brows rose. ‘Bring the bottle,’ he told the servant and turned back to her. ‘I take it you lost.’

Her fingers drummed the tabletop. ‘I did.’

He reached across the table and quieted her busy hand. ‘Do you need assistance? Are you in distress?’

She glanced into his eyes, which conveyed only concern and earnestness. His hand was warm against hers, even through the thin fabric of her glove.

She slipped her hand away, shaken at how comforting his touch felt and how much she needed comfort.

‘I’ll come to rights,’ she said, although her voice lacked any semblance of confidence.

‘I can lend you money,’ he went on.

She shook her head. ‘I know better than to borrow from moneylenders.’

His eyes flashed. ‘I am not a moneylender. I offer as a friend.’

She took in a breath. ‘But … you do not even know who I am.’

He traced the edge of her mask with a finger. ‘Tell me, then. Who are you?’

She sat very still at his gentle touch while her heart fluttered in her chest.

‘I am nobody,’ she said, speaking with a truth that had been proved over and over. She had not mattered enough for anyone to care what the impact of their actions would be to her.

She raised her eyes to his.

His promise seemed so genuine, as if he was a man she could believe. Would he truly lend her money if she needed it? And then what? Without gambling she could not repay him. What would she do then? Turn to moneylenders?

She shivered as the memory of her father returned. He had to sell her pony, he’d told her. He had to pay the moneylenders. Life after that had been filled with more times of want than times of plenty.

Until the day her mother told her news even more horrible than losing a pony. Her father was dead. He’d been accused of cheating at cards and a man—an earl—had shot him dead in a duel.

‘I do not need a loan,’ she said absently, still caught in the memory of her father’s senseless death.

At every society entertainment she feared she would encounter her father’s killer. What would she do then?

Rhys spoke. ‘But you need money.’

‘I’ll find another way.’ Although she knew there was no other way.

She, Adele and Lady Gale would have to find a set of rooms that Celia’s widow’s pension could afford. She’d have to let the servants go and Adele’s chances of making a good marriage would become extremely slim. At least Celia would not have to encounter the earl who killed her father.

She finished her glass of wine as the servant placed the bottle on the table. Rhysdale poured her another.

‘Thank you.’ She lifted the glass and decided to push the attention off herself. ‘What of you, Rhysdale? When I came in you looked as if you were the one who had lost money.’

A corner of his mouth rose. ‘The house never loses, you know. We are doing well.’

She smiled. ‘I am glad of it. You seem to have more players each time I’ve come.’

‘More women, as well.’ Again he touched her mask. ‘The Masquerade seems to be working.’

She put her fingers where his had touched. ‘It has worked for me.’

He sat back. ‘Until now.’

She shrugged. ‘I shall have to consider whether to come again and try to recoup.’

He leaned forwards again. ‘Do you mean to say you might not return?’

‘I might not.’ She paused. ‘I should not.’

‘Do not say so!’

Her heart started pounding faster again. She took another sip of wine. ‘Does one gambler matter so much?’

His gaze seemed to pierce into her. He did not answer right away. Finally he said, ‘I believe there are men who come merely in hopes of playing with you.’

She scoffed. ‘Surely you are not serious.’ She supposed the men who’d partnered with her and those who played against her recognised her skill. ‘In any event, I doubt any man will want to partner with me after my losing streak tonight.’

She’d not only lost her own money, but her partners’ money, as well.

‘You place so little value on yourself?’ He continued to pin her with his eyes.

No one else had valued her.

She glanced down. ‘Who wants to partner with someone who is losing?’

He drummed on the table like she had done earlier, while his steady gaze began to unnerve her.

‘I have a proposition,’ he said finally. ‘Come work for me.’

Rhys did not know why he had not thought of this before.

Hire her.

‘What do you mean, work for you?’ She looked shocked. ‘Doing what?’

‘Gambling,’ he rushed to assure her. ‘Nothing more.’ The idea grew in his head as he spoke. ‘I would pay you to gamble. And to encourage others to gamble, as well.’

Her eyes through her mask grew wary. ‘Am I to cheat?’

He waved a hand. ‘Never! It is not cheating to pay you to gamble. You will receive no advantage.’

She glanced away, as if deliberating.

It gave him time to think, as well. Would he compromise the gambling house by paying her to gamble? He only knew he wanted her to come back. He needed her to come back.

She turned back to him. ‘How much would you pay?’

He threw out the first number that occurred to him. ‘Two pounds a night?’

‘Two pounds?’ She looked astonished.

Was that not enough? He paid his man only fifty pounds a year. ‘That is more than generous, madam.’

She sat very still, but he fancied her mind was calculating.

Finally she spoke. ‘I need money, sir, but if my task is to gamble, then, as generous as two pounds a night might be, it does not allow me to play for bigger stakes. What is more, I still stand a chance that I will lose as I have lost tonight. That I cannot risk.’

She had a point. In gambling there was always the possibility of losing it all.

He wanted her to agree, though. He wanted to see her again. If he did not offer enough to entice her, she might never return.

He tapped on the table again. ‘Very well. I will stake you.’ He thought for a minute. ‘Say, for one hundred pounds. At the end of the night, you return my stake to me but keep your winnings. If you lose, you make an accounting to me of the loss.’ If she lost too often, he’d reassess this plan, but his gamble was that she would bring in more money than she would lose.

Her eyes showed interest. ‘Do I still receive the two pounds a night?’

He was not that big a fool. ‘One pound. Plus your winnings.’

She calculated again, her eyes on his. What did she look like under her mask? He imagined lifting it off her face, discovering the treasure underneath.

In the back of his mind he could hear Xavier’s voice, questioning his motives, accusing him of succumbing to the first pretty lightskirt who’d caught his eye in a long time.

She was not a lightskirt, but Rhys would wager she belonged on the fringes of society as did he. His money was still on her being an actress.

She opened her lovely mouth and, God help him, all he could think of was tasting her lips. She was about to agree—he could feel it.

Celia was so tempted. He’d handed her a way to gamble without losing her money. What could be better than that? What did it matter, then, if she succumbed to the excitement of the game? Losing would not imperil her.

It was as if he was handing her the future she so desired. To see Adele well settled. To retire to the country and live quietly within her means with no one directing her life but herself.

Rhysdale did not press her. He poured her another glass of wine and waited.

She accepted the glass gratefully and took a long sip, but even the wine did not loosen the knots of panic inside her.

He’d offered her this help as a friend. When had she last had a friend? For that matter, when had she last been able to trust a man? Even her beloved father broke promise after promise.

What if she refused Rhysdale’s offer? Her mind spun with what she would have to do to economise. She’d have to try to pay back most of the creditors. She’d have to give up her coachman, her carriage, her servants. She’d have little left for rooms to let and food to eat. Adele did not deserve such a life. Even her mother-in-law did not deserve such a life.

Rhysdale’s gaze was patient and, she fancied, sympathetic. ‘You are not required to decide this minute. Come to me tomorrow, in the afternoon.’ He glanced about the room. ‘We can discuss it without anyone around.’ His voice deepened. ‘If you refuse employment, my offer of a loan still stands.’

She felt tears prick her eyes. ‘You are kind, Rhysdale.’

A smile grew slowly across his face. ‘Do not say so too loudly or you will ruin my reputation.’

She almost laughed.

Some gentlemen entered the room and she came to her senses. ‘What time is it?’ She fished into her reticule to check her timepiece. ‘I must take my leave.’

He stood and offered his hand to assist her.

As they walked towards the door, they passed the older man she’d seen with Rhysdale when she’d arrived that night.

‘Charming supper room!’ the man remarked to his companion.

When he spied Rhysdale, his eyes hardened to ice. He walked past them without a word.

Even the air seemed chilled as he passed.

Celia inclined her head to Rhysdale. ‘Who is that gentleman?’

Rhysdale’s entire manner changed into something dark and bitter.

‘No one you need know,’ he answered.

It pained her to see him so disturbed. ‘Does he come here often?’

‘Never before.’ Rhysdale’s voice rumbled with suppressed emotion. ‘But I suspect he will come again.’

He led her out into the hallway and down the stairs to collect her cloak. As had become his custom, he escorted her into the street to wait for her coachman.

Clouds hid the stars and made the night even darker than usual. Celia’s own woes receded as she stood waiting with him for her carriage, an overwhelming desire to comfort him taking over.

She touched his arm. ‘Rhysdale, it will not do for the both of us to be glum.’

He covered her hand with his and his typically unreadable face momentarily turned pained and vulnerable. ‘Come this afternoon. Let us talk more about my offer.’ His grip on her hand tightened. ‘Do not leave me entirely.’

She blinked and her throat constricted. ‘Very well. I’ll come.’

He smiled and his gratitude was palpable. He leaned down, his eyes half closing.

Celia’s heart thundered in her chest as the night itself wrapped around them and his head dipped lower and lower. She wrestled with an impulse to push him away and a desire to feel his arms around her.

The clop-clop of a horse team sounded in her ears and he stepped away. Her carriage approached from the end of the street. When the coach pulled up to where they stood, he put the steps down and reached for her hand to help her into the couch.

When she placed her hand in his, she suddenly turned to face him, her words bursting from her mouth. ‘I will do it, Rhysdale. I will come work for you.’

His face broke out in pleasure. ‘Indeed?’

She smiled, as well. ‘Yes.’

For a moment he looked as if he would pull her into his arms and kiss her. Instead, he gently cupped her cheek. ‘We will talk more this afternoon.’

‘Until then,’ she whispered.

She climbed into the coach and he closed the door. As the carriage pulled away, her heart raced. Had she been afraid he would kiss her or had she yearned to feel his lips on hers?