Page 61 of The Pleasures of Passion
Sir Oswald slapped down a card. “I told you when I introduced his lordship that I invited him to join us because he’s going to be my son-in-law.”
“I’m afraid I wasn’t paying attention,” Sir Kenneth said. “I was trying to catch the taproom maid’s eye.”
That only slightly mollified Sir Oswald. “Well, you can be sure that my daughter is too good for the likes ofyou,sir.”
The vehemence in Sir Oswald’s voice took Niall by surprise. Perhaps the man wasn’t as heedless of Bree’s welfare as it seemed.
“Forgive me, Sir Oswald,” Sir Kenneth said in a tone that showed he was clearly unrepentant. “To be honest, I thought you were childless. You never mention your daughter or even your wife.”
“My late wife.” Sir Oswald hunched over his cards. “And a man don’t have to go on and on about his family all the time, you know. It don’t mean anything.”
After that, Sir Oswald was cranky, Sir Kenneth was embarrassed, and Raines was concentrating on his cards, so Niall had trouble turning the conversation back toward anything that might give him an idea of who the counterfeiter might be.
But he did surreptitiously mark with tiny creases or tears the banknotes used for wagering, so he’d know who’d used what to pay. Then he set about trying to win—no small feat with Sir Oswald as a partner—so he’d be able to scrutinize the banknotes later.
About halfway through the evening, their luck turned, thank God, and Sir Oswald apparently paid closer attention to his cards, as if determined to impress Niall. Which made sense, given that the man had just practically admitted to never speaking of his own daughter to his friends.
Some hours later, Niall and Sir Oswald were doing so well that they already had the pot of two hundred pounds in the bag. And since his friends had agreed that this was to be the final game, Niall and his partner were going to be leaving with money in their pockets.
“Well, well,” Sir Oswald crowed as Niall took the final trick. “I should haveyoufor my partner from now on, Margrave. You’ve clearly got the devil’s own luck.”
“To be fair, Sir Oswald,” Sir Kenneth drawled, “there wassomeskill in the man’s playing.”
“All the better,” the old man said. “A skillful playeranda lucky one.” He leaned toward Niall. “Promise me you’ll partner me again tomorrow night, sir. Pitford will play with Whiting anyway.”
“What about me and Dunsleigh?” The question came from Raines. “You’re choosing Margrave over one of us?”
Sir Oswald shrugged. “Pitford has been choosing his cousin over me. Seems only fair that you two sit out and give me and my future son-in-law a chance. Eh, Margrave?”
“I wouldn’t wish to intrude,” he lied.
“Ignore Raines,” Sir Oswald said. “It’s no intrusion. If he don’t want to sit the game out, then he can play with Sir Kenneth again, and the other two can watch. Serves them right for abandoning us tonight.”
Raines looked irritated. “Fine, old man, Margrave may join us again if you prefer. It’s better than listening to you grouse about not winning.”
This whole conversation grew more interesting by the moment. Was Raines simply annoyed to be pushed out by Niall, or annoyed to lose his chance at passing off some counterfeits?
Niall wouldn’t know for sure until he could get a good look at their winnings. Despite the paltry sum, the pot contained a variety of notes for Niall to examine later. It included some of everyone’s money, along with at least one fifty-pound note and several twenty-pound notes.
Unfortunately, Niall had to split the winnings with Sir Oswald, but he’d come prepared for that. With a little sleight of hand, he was able to switch out notes he knew were genuine for the ones they’d won in the card game, before giving Sir Oswald his winnings.
Niall watched all the gentlemen to see if they noticed, but none seemed to, not even Sir Oswald, who shoved the genuine notes into his purse without looking at them. That made Niall wonder even more if the man had realized he’d been using counterfeit currency all this time.
On the other hand, there might not be any counterfeits among the currency at all. In which case, Niall would be no closer to the truth than before.
But he wouldn’t mind it if this investigation took a while. The longer it lasted, the longer he got to court Bree, and he needed all the time he could get.
Ifshe would even let him court her. Because right now she didn’t seem that keen on it.
That worried him. Most women would jump at the chance to be courted by an earl.
But Bree had always been her own person. So perhaps he’d assumed too much about her feelings yet again. Perhaps her marriage, flawed as it had been, had still made her too cautious to wed.
It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t let it. Somehow he must change her mind, make her see that theirs would be a good match. Because he was beginning to think that the only match he wanted was with Bree.
The next morning, Niall headed for his brother-in-law’s, praying that Edwin had risen early as usual. Having tossed and turned half the night remembering his argument with Bree, Niall was determined to find out how the couple felt about his revealing the truth about Clarissa’s past.
But the moment he entered the Blakeborough town house he was informed that Clarissa and Edwin were both gone.
