Page 65 of The Danger of Desire
“He told me so shortly before he...”
“Drowned.”
She swallowed hard. “My aunt revealed that, too, did she?”
“Actually, I’d already heard that at St. George’s. I also heard he was drunk at the time.”
“There’s some question of that,” she prevaricated.
But that was all she said. Her soon-to-be husband didn’t need to know that Reynold had thrown himself into the river purposely. Because if Warren realized he was about to marry the sister of a man who’d committed suicide, he surely wouldn’t want to risk being tainted by such a scandal. He might even refuse to marry her.
And she needed Warren to marry her. If she were honest with herself, shewantedhim to marry her. How strange that it became more natural by the hour to think of him as her future husband.
He now watched her with that curious intensity that always both thrilled and worried her. “And you’re certain your brother was cheated out of the money.”
“Utterly. Didn’t you hear my aunt the day we had luncheon together? Reynold and I have always excelled at piquet. So while I could understand his losing a small amount if faced with a truly superior player, I can’t believe he would lose enough to require mortgaging the estate. Why would he risk so much? Until that visit to London, he’d sworn off gambling completely.”
“Or so he said. And if he really had been cheated, why didn’t he confront the man there and then? Demand that the man give him his money back?”
“First of all, he couldn’t see exactly how the man was doing it, which would have made it difficult to confront him. Second, Reynold was afraid to risk the wrath of a man far beyond him in station. Reynold was sure no one would believe him, and thenwe’dall be ruined. That’s why he wouldn’t tell me the fellow’s name, either.”
She wrapped her arms about her waist. “Reynold said he was thinking of me, of my future in society. Of his son’s future. He didn’t want me to make a fuss about it and bring trouble down upon all of us.”
“No, far better to leave his family without the funds to survive.”
She’d thought the same thing, many a time. Some of Reynold’s actions made no sense to her.
Frustration lit his features. “So finding the tattooed man has been about what? Revenge for the death of your brother and the possible loss of your estate?”
Chewing on her lower lip, she debated whether to reveal everything. But since she fully intended to keep up her search, it made no sense to hide it from him any longer.
“Actually,” she said, “I was hoping to entice the card cheat to playmeat piquet.I knew I could beat him, and that losing might prompt him to try cheating again. Then, once I caught him at it, I would have threatened to expose his actions to the world unless he returned the money he stole.”
The color drained from his face. “Because he’s a lord. And you figured that revealing his cheating—the way your brother had not—would ruin him in society.”
She bobbed her head.
Eyes glittering, he snapped, “You were going to blackmail a man you don’t know, a man who might be of such consequence that he could ruin you or even hurt you physically. How the hell did you think to manage that? If you called him out for cheating, it would have been over. He would have been ruined, and thus have no reason to pay you. Or worse yet, he would have denied it, and—as your brother feared—people would choose to believe him over you.”
“Owen and I had a plan. Once I caught the man cheating, I was going to signal Owen, who would ask the fellow if they could speak privately. Then Owen would have told him I was a cousin of Brilliana’s bent on retrieving the money her husband was cheated out of.Owenwould have been the one to make the threat, not me, and he would have acted as a second witness. He could have handled the fellow. You see? My plan would have worked.”
“A plan that assumed this lord wouldn’t try to shoot you or Owen, or have you thrown out of the club bodily. Or just bluster his way through it.” He snorted. “Why not just ask around about the fellow?”
“We did. No one knew who the man was. And we couldn’t be too bold in our questions or we’d risk scaring off our quarry. If he’s a card cheat, he must be used to avoiding angry players who want his blood.”
“If he’s a successful card cheat, no one’s caught him at it.” He gazed coldly at her. “I’m not entirely sureyouwould have done so.”
She tipped up her chin. “If Reynold could tell, I certainly could. Which is one reason I had to be the one to do the gambling. During my first months in London, when Owen was merely asking around, he couldn’t learn anything. If Owen had been able to play cards as well as I, he would have been taking the risks for me there, too, but he can’t. So I was forced to go into the hells myself. This devil is clearly very sly.”
“Or, as that fellow said at Dickson’s, he’s simply a naval officer, which means he might have returned to sea recently. Did you consider that?”
“I’m considering itnow, but when I started gambling at Dickson’s I didn’t know about the sun tattoo being common to sailors.”
“Yes, you clearly made a number of problematic assumptions when you embarked on your scheme.” He stared her down. “You, my dear, were utterly mad if you thought such a hole-ridden plan would work.”
“Not mad. Desperate.”
That seemed to give him pause. “I can see that,” he said, a hint of sympathy in his voice. Then his eyes hardened on her. “But there’s no need to despair anymore, now that I’m involved. So this nonsense of searching for the card cheat at Dickson’s must end. At once.”
