Page 64 of One Night with a Prince
“How did you do, my sweet?” Gavin asked her.
She shrugged. “I won more than I lost.”
“Good. That bodes well for my wager with Stokely.”
She watched a moment, then said, “I’m all done in, so I think I’ll retire.”
“You could stay and give me luck,” he teased.
She snorted. “As if you need luck. No, I believe I’ll go on. But do stay as long as you must.” She gave an exaggerated yawn and left.
Only then did it dawn on him why she’d been so eager to leave without him. She meant to snoop about Stokely’s house alone while their host was occupied at the card tables. Damn the woman. Didn’t she have the sense she was born with? Searching the place while everyone was still awake wasn’t only foolish, but downright dangerous if Stokely caught her. He couldn’t leave in the middle of a rubber without rousing suspicions, but that didn’t keep him from worrying. After Talbot dealt the cards, Gavin had to force himself to pay attention. They were halfway through the hand when the table next to them broke up. Stokely’s table. Gavin tamped down his concern. No reason to think Stokely would deviate from his usual practice of staying in the card room until the last guest had retired.
Two of the players at Stokely’s table went off to bed right away. Anna came to stand by Gavin. When he ignored her, she said good night and left. After Stokely circled the room playing the attentive host, he returned to Gavin’s table and announced his own decision to retire for the night.
“Perhaps I’ll see if Lady Haversham wants some company,” he said. The other players tensed, recognizing the blatant challenge to Gavin. Gavin didn’t care about Stokely’s strutting—he cared about Christabel not getting caught. “Go ahead.” Hiding his alarm, he played a card.
“But I warn you—once the chit is asleep, she sleeps like the dead. She won’t hear your knock.”
“We’ll see.” Stokely saluted the others. “Good night, gentlemen.”
As he sauntered off, a surge of rage seized Gavin. While he had to sit here and play the rubber out to avoid rousing suspicion, that arse meant to try seducing Christabel. He scowled. That wasn’t the point—it was the possibility that she could be caught that should concern him. Because if she were, their attempts to regain her letters would come to an abrupt end. Making sure that didn’t happen had to be his first concern.
Not Stokely’s interest in the woman. Not the fact that the handsome baron might try to put his hands—
Bloody hell, what was wrong with him? When had he begun putting a woman ahead of whatever scheme he was engaged in?
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlWell, no more. He would finish the rubber and win. Then he would find Christabel and explain in a calm, rational manner that she could not just go searching about the place willy-nilly. And if Stokely should happen to get in the way of his fist in the process, so be it.
Chapter Fourteen
There’s nothing more satisfying than
having two men fight over you.
—Anonymous,Memoirs of a Mistress
Christabel wished she could lock the door while she searched Lord Stokely’s study, but that would rouse suspicion if he happened to come along.
She had to be careful, as careful as the baron himself had apparently been. Twenty minutes of searching had so far yielded her nothing. The man’s desk drawers weren’t even locked, which of course meant there’d been nothing of importance in them.
She turned to examining the few bookshelves, hoping one of them might conceal a secret safe. But even as she made her slow way along every shelf, despair gripped her. She hadn’t realized how large his estate would be, how many places a man could hide something as small as a packet of letters. It could be anywhere. How on earth was she to find it in only a week?
Suddenly, she heard footsteps in the hall. She froze, then grabbed a book off the shelf and pretended to be reading it. Just in time, too, for the door opened, and a male voice said, “Ah, there you are. I thought you’d gone to bed. Then I saw the light from under the door and decided to check.”
Lord Stokely. Heart thundering, she pasted a bored smile to her lips and faced him. “I hope you don’t mind. I couldn’t sleep, so I came looking for a book.”
He stepped inside the room, and to her consternation, closed the door. “I’m glad you did. Now we have a chance to get to know each other better.”
A chill ran down her spine. “Oh, I think I already know you very well, Lord Stokely,” she said lightly.
“You’re the sort of man it’s dangerous for a woman to be alone with.” Tucking the book under her arm, she headed toward the door. “Now if you’ll excuse me…”
With a toothy smile, he blocked her way. “Come now, my dear, no need to be coy. We both know why you’re really here.”
Fear churned in her belly. “Oh?”
Stepping nearer, he took the book from her and tossed it onto his desk. “You’re looking for entertainment of a different kind. And since Byrne is too preoccupied with his cards to provide it…” He caressed her cheek with his forefinger in a move worthy of any fine seducer. “You came to find me. Poor Byrne should know that you’re not the sort of woman to be kept waiting.”
