Page 13 of The Virgin Duchess

“Good. Point value is fifty-six.”

Frederick nodded as she met his stare. He hadn’t been required to tell her the total of his own cards, only that she won the declaration of points. What was he trying to do by giving her that information?

Still, the subsequent declaration came back to her. Charlotte, unfortunately, was lacking a sequence of any kind, so she declared her set of aces instead.

“Set of three.”

“Equal.”

Charlotte was a bit surprised that they had seen two equals, but it wasn’t entirely unheard of. Still, three aces could be anything in his hand, so the points for the set would go to her.

“Aces for the set.”

Frederick nodded, the corners of his mouth turning down. “Good.”

Charlotte smiled. It was now on her to begin the tricks. She would start with her ace of diamonds, and by leading the trick, she would already claim a point. Putting the card in the center, Charlotte began the next phase. Still, she would have to wait for it to be acted on until after Frederick’s declarations.

“Sequence five.”

Charlotte was met with a tidy smirk as Frederick declared his sequence. She had none to dispute with, of course, so the score for that would go to him. However, there was the play of tricks to be dealt with now, and Frederick couldn’t play off her diamond, it seemed, choosing instead to play a nine of spades. The first trick with that would go to Charlotte.

She was winning.

Continuing on, Charlotte offered up her king of diamonds, which Frederick could also not play off of, and he instead laid a nine of hearts. The second trick would go to her as well. Starting again, Charlotte kept at the tricks, continuing to lay diamonds until it was no longer wise to use such a low card.

After the tricks were finished, they tallied up the final scores to determine the winner. Charlotte had hit two significant bonuses for the round. She’d reached thirty points before Frederick, and the point of six had gone to her. The tricks had made it a tight game, but as they reviewed the points—Frederick having brought with him a tiny notebook and pencil—it was clear who won.

“You’re the winner of round one, Charlotte. I will take your question.”

She smiled softly, raising her brows and keeping herself restrained as she asked the only question that truly mattered to her.

“What were you doing with the Baron of Halfacre?”

Clearing his throat, Frederick adjusted in his seat. He didn’t seem surprised by her question, more…uncomfortable. Charlotte knew he was hiding something, and it was impossible that Frederick’s secret was something silly or of no great concern. The way the man stiffened at the sound of the Baron’s name told Charlotte a great deal already.

“I have done nothing to the man that he does not deserve.” Frederick nodded once, sliding the cards across the table. “Your deal.”

Another round progressed, this time seeing Frederick as the winner. Charlotte was sure her husband would ask about where she was sneaking off to the night they ran into each other.

“Do you like the gardens, Charlotte? I have seen you eyeing the conservatory since you arrived.”

Her jaw dropped before she quickly snapped it shut. That was certainly not what she expected Frederick to inquire about. He was playing at more than cards with this little interrogation of his, but Charlotte wasn’t one to back down. She would answer his questions while keeping an eye out for a sudden shift in his approach.

“I do.” It was the truth, and Charlotte considered that Frederick had revealed that he’d noticed her admiring the plants. “Green things have always captured my attention. I find them…beautiful. More so than many other things.”

Frederick smiled, pleased with her answer, it seemed. It was on him to deal once again this time, and as they progressed through another hand, he came out the winner once more.

“Have you been to the Vauxhall Gardens, Charlotte? As a lover of greenery, I should expect that you would enjoy it very much.”

Charlotte stiffened. In truth, she’d wanted to go to them and asked Magnus several times to permit her to visit them. He’d refused, however, saying that they were too far a distance from the estate and in a part of town where she should not find herself.

“No.” She swallowed, arranging this next hand. “I was not permitted to visit them.”

Frederick didn’t push the matter, and it still struck Charlotte that he had yet to ask her where she had been going during the evening of their fated encounter. Worse, she wasn’t sure what that said about his current feelings about their arrangement. She had been allowed to go out when they first discussed their marriage. Would Frederick still be honoring that?

“Oh, that is quite a shame. Perhaps you will have the time to go now, seeing as you are not living with your brother anymore.”

Stumbling over her words, Charlotte chose to clam up and focus on the cards. The declarations began with Frederick, and he was forced to reveal a carte blanche. Play continued after that, and even with the bonus given to him, Charlotte still came out as the winner.

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