Page 27 of Trapped with the Forbidden Duke
“It simply will not do,” Isabel muttered, looking around. “He is an earl. It has been a long time coming—he needed to grow up. I thought joining the army would help him, but he cannot neglect his duties. Or you, my dear Edwina.”
“He is not neglecting me,” Edwina corrected quickly. “I am perfectly cared for.”
Isabel’s gaze flicked to the Duke and back to Edwina. “I am sure.” She clapped her hands together. “Well, I am here now, and I intend to get you back on track—help you be the lady your mother was proud of raising. And no proper lady would stand for such a home. Your resources have been dwindling, but you still could have donesomething. Fear not, my dear, for I will employ some of my magic.”
She winked as if they were in on a secret, and Edwina barely got a chance to call after her before Isabel was walking around, already barking at the staff to move furniture to a different place.
Edwina looked at the amused smirk on the Duke’s face and sighed. It was going to be a long, long visit.
Chapter Nine
“Your Grace.” The guard at the door nodded to Lucien and gestured inside the Silver Gate, another gambling hell.
Lucien nodded back, stepping inside. His reputation preceded him, from other lords to ladies, to guards at almost every establishment in London.
His lips pulled in tightly at the corners when he saw a crowd of men gathered around a table.
He had much to think about. One, the financial affairs of Lord Herrington. Lucien had granted him an extension of payment that came with heavy threats if not met. And two, the case of his former friend, who disappeared at night in peculiar ways.
Nicholas was the owner of Montgomery Manor, so why did he sneak out? Why break a window and flee?
Unless he was hiding from someone.
His sister, perhaps?
That only led Lucien to more questions.
He turned his thoughts to other pressing matters. He had stayed awake most of the night, thinking of his kiss with Edwina. If they had not arrived at the townhouse, would he have continued it?
She excited and intrigued him, and yet the week he would spend at Montgomery Manor would be tainted by her aunt’s arrival.
Shaking away those thoughts, Lucien approached a quieter table and sat down. Three men looked at him, blinking, exchanging glances. One of them leaned forward.
“The presence of a duke honors us,” the man said, smiling, surprised. “To what do we owe the pleasure, Your Grace?”
“I am looking for information,” Lucien told them, spreading his hand of cards to examine them. He glanced over his cards, meeting the eyes of each man. “If I win, you will all share with me what you know about the Earl of Montgomery.”
Another man sniggered. “The Earl of Montgomery? Why would you need information about him? Were the two of you not friends? I am sure you were the last time we spoke.”
Lucien said nothing at first, only let the heavy silence linger. “I asked for information, not to be questioned about why I need it. It is none of your business.” He cocked his head. “Unless you’re stalling, afraid to lose to a duke.”
“I am not afraid,” the man said boldly. “Merely curious.”
“Perhaps turn that curiosity towards your hand so I might conclude this far quicker.”
“And if you lose, Your Grace?” another man asked, only to be elbowed and silenced by the last man.
Lucien gave them a dark grin. “I do not lose.”
Although he was not a gambling man, Lucien relinquished a small fortune in the center of the table, offering it up as an extra incentive. The men knew that if they lost, they’d lose the money, but if they won, they’d dishonor a duke, and that could bring far greater peril than losing a handful of gold coins.
He had them trapped. But if the money proved to be a bribe if they did not willingly offer up information, then so be it.
I have to blend in.I cannot keep investigating without frequenting the places I am investigating. Too many people will talk soon enough if I am only seen asking questions.
So he played his hand, and he watched the sweat bead on the men’s faces whenever their hands were too good. They quickly realized this and began to speak as they played.
“Stormhold, you are barely ever present at gambling hells and are never reported to be seen. Where did you learn to play?”
