Page 12 of An Affair with a Notorious Heiress
“Ha!” Downie exclaimed, loudly enough that people at other tables looked over at them. “Mathilda is hardly suitable for the role of ensuring a young lady behaves. She knows nothing at all about proper behavior.”
“She served well enough,” Rexton said. “Kept me on a short leash.”
“Don’t be a fool, Rexton. My former wife had no idea how to conduct herself in order to make me proud. To be quite honest, I was glad to be rid of her.”
And I’m glad she’s rid of you.The sentiment came fast, without thought, the protectiveness accompanying it surprising him. No, it was more than that. He felt a low simmering rage, slowly becoming cognizant that his free hand had fisted on the table so tightly it ached.
“I’ve never seen her before,” Lady Edith said pensively. “She’s quite beautiful.”
“Beauty is as beauty does, my girl,” Downie insisted. “I assure you nothing about that deplorable woman comes close to beauty. She is a conniving, vindictive whore.”
Lady Edith gasped.
“Watch your language, Downie,” Lord Somerdale said before Rexton could deliver a scathing retort while giving his clenched fist the freedom to deliver a solid blow to the offending man’s jaw. “We have a lady present at the table.”
“This is a gambling hell, not a parlor where tea is served. She can move elsewhere if she’s offended.”
“You can move elsewhere, Landsdowne,” Rexton said in a low voice that shimmered with threat. Although in truth, he didn’t want the man to leave the table, as it would make it more difficult to take his last farthing if he did. “Or you can remember that Drake Darling expects his members to behave with civility and good manners. Apologize to Lady Edith or take yourself elsewhere.”
“You can’t order me about, Rexton.”
Rexton knew the smile he bestowed upon the man was somewhat chilling since Somerdale moved back slightly as though he expected a fist to come flying in his direction while the other gent began studying his cards as though they might run off if they weren’t watched carefully. “Have you forgotten Darling is my brother?”
“Not by blood.”
“By all that matters, so I’m compelled to remind you of the rules of this club. All I have to do is snap my fingers to have two gents come over and escort you out. Lady Luck might not smile on you as beneficently elsewhere. Now apologize.”
Landsdowne glared at him for all of a heartbeat before turning his attention to the young woman. “Lady Edith, my sincerest apologies. Talk of my former countess always brings out the worst in me, because it was a very difficult time in my life. I hope you will forgive my slip of the tongue.”
“Of course, my lord.”
Being a generous sort, Rexton let Lady Edith win that hand. Then he took Landsdowne for every penny he’d brought to the table. The thing about being a member of a family of pickpockets, thieves, and swindlers was that one became very skilled at cheating without getting caught.
Drake Darling could spot a cheater from a mile away. Standing in the balcony of the Twin Dragons, he watched with astonishment as his brother raked in his winnings, time and again, occasionally allowing the lady to take the hand but ensuring the Earl of Landsdowne never again felt the satisfaction of adding chips to his pile but rather was reduced to watching the wooden disks dwindle away.
He was accustomed to Rex using underhanded means in an attempt to prevent their sister from winning, but that was sibling rivalry, and Drake had yet to see Rex outsmart Grace. Drake had never known anyone—man or woman—with such nimble fingers. It was understood that when the family played cards, they were all likely to use questionable means to win. The object was not to get caught doing it. But on Drake’s gaming floor, they were supposed to behave.
He made his way downstairs and out into the thick of the games, his stride casual while his mind whirled, striving not to judge or get angry until he understood the facts. As he approached the table where Rex sat, he watched as Landsdowne shoved back his chair and marched toward the library reserved for gentlemen who were in need of drink or conversation. The ladies had a corresponding library. When he’d decided to open his doors to the fairer sex, he’d recognized that private areas were needed for each gender so they didn’t have to always display the best of themselves.
He was nearly to Rex’s back when he heard him say, “Lady Edith, might I bother you to donate my winnings to your favorite charity?”
Another unwritten rule among his family and friends: ill-gotten gains could not be kept, but were to be bestowed upon someone in need or in a manner that benefited charitable works. So he’d been correct in his assessment: his younger brother had been manipulating the cards.
The lady beamed at his attention. “I would be most delighted, my lord, to see it put to good use. Your generosity is inspiring.”
“Thank you, but it’s the least I can do.”
Truer words may have never been spoken. Drake curled his hand around Rex’s shoulder. “Join me for a drink.”
His brother didn’t flinch. Merely met his gaze head on. When Rex was younger, he fairly worshipped Drake, but with age had come the realization that the lad his parents had taken in and raised as their own wasn’t so very special after all.
Rex signaled for one of the nearby footmen to handle trading his chips for coin and instructed him to deliver the funds to Lady Edith. Drake might have thought he had an interest in the young woman except he’d seen him be as solicitous to any number of ladies, so he didn’t think she meant anything special to his brother. If not to impress someone he might wish to woo, then why clean out another gent?
Drake didn’t say anything until they were safely ensconced in his office, with the door closed and drinks in hand. “I didn’t teach you to cheat so you could fleece my members out on the gaming floor.”
Rex took a sip of the whisky, walked over to the widow, and glanced out. “He deserved it.”
Drake sat on the edge of his desk. Black-haired and swarthy-skinned, he more closely mirrored a devil while his adopted brothers reminded him of angels with their blond curls and fair eyes. Yet at that moment, he didn’t think he’d care to run into Rex in a darkened alley. “Care to tell me why?”
