Chapter 16
The gaming hell was not what Estella had expected.
She'd imagined something dark and sinister. Low ceilings, smoke-stained walls. That sort of thing. What she found instead was a surprisingly well-appointed establishment with good lighting, clean floors, and a proprietor who looked less like a villain and more like a good-natured young lord.
Mr. Gage was tall, broad-shouldered, and wore a crooked smile that seemed to be second nature. Though, up close, she realized the smile was at odds with the quick cleverness in his eyes as he’d studied her.
He'd shown little surprise when two young women appeared at his gaming hell.
The servant who’d opened the door, on the other hand, had blinked down at them, clearly at a loss as to what to do with them. So he’d called for his boss.
Mr. Gage had merely flashed that amused little smirk as he’d taken in Estella and Thea and the footman who’d insisted on tagging along behind them. "Well. I suppose you'd better come in, then."
Now they sat in his office, which was a small, orderly room behind the main floor, and the gaming hell owner staunchly avoided answering every one of her questions.
Well, that wasn’t quite true. He’d answered a good many questions—particularly, Thea’s inquiries about the logistics and odds at play in various card games—but not the main question. The only question that Estella actually cared about.
"The debts were settled in a single payment." Mr. Gage leaned against his desk, arms crossed. "The full amount, plus interest."
"Yes, but by whom?" Estella asked. For what had to have been the tenth time.
"The payment came through a solicitor," he said.
Estella drew in a deep breath and prayed for patience. The man had a way of answering her questions without actually answering her questions at all.
"Does this solicitor have a name?" Thea smiled when Mr. Gage turned her way.
He’d been avoiding their questions quite elegantly for far too long.
So now Estella and Thea were making their questions more pointed, but even so, the man had a way of evading even the most direct of inquiries.
Like right now, for instance, when one corner of his mouth hitched up higher as he narrowed his eyes on Thea. "Do you know, I believe he must have had a name. Most solicitors seem to these days, I’ve found. Have you found the same?"
Thea fixed him with a look of such exasperation, Mr. Gage didn’t even try to hide his amusement.
"You are very humorous, Mr. Gage," Thea said evenly.
Estella huffed. "Who hired the solicitor?"
He unfolded his arms and reached for a glass on his desk. "That, Miss Hale, is information I'm not at liberty to share."
"Can't share, or won't?" Estella pressed.
"Won't." He took a drink. "The gentleman in question was very clear about his desire for anonymity. And I make it a policy not to betray the confidence of men who pay their debts promptly and in full. It's good for business."
Beside her, Thea leaned forward. "The house operates on a percentage system, I presume? The odds are weighted to ensure a consistent margin of profit regardless of individual outcomes?"
Estella turned to look at Thea. Mr. Gage did too.
It wasn’t the first time Thea had gotten distracted from their mission.
Mr. Gage’s lips twitched. Estella fought a groan.
Thea glanced over at Estella and caught her wide-eyed stare.
She straightened, her expression sheepish before she turned back to Mr. Gage.
"Perhaps you could just give us the name of the solicitor.
" She arched her brows expectantly in Mr. Gage’s direction.
"That way you will not have broken your promise to the mysterious benefactor, and we will have a new lead to pursue so you can be rid of us. "
Mr. Gage’s eyes danced with mirth. "Why would I want to be rid of you? Clever, beautiful young ladies are in dreadfully short supply in my humble little establishment."
Estella just barely held back another sigh. But Thea looked thoroughly perplexed by the man’s incorrigible flirting.
Thea’s head tilted to the side as she frowned at Mr. Gage. "How are we amusing, sir? We’re merely inquiring about a debt payment."
Mr. Gage studied her, lips still twitching with amusement, though not at Thea’s expense, which Estella appreciated. Many gentlemen might have laughed at her—at both of them, really—but he seemed to be truly enjoying this odd exchange.
To Thea, he said, "You know about house margins."
It wasn't a question, and Estella couldn’t tell if he was confused, delighted, or concerned.
"I know about mathematics," Thea said. "The application to gaming is merely practical." She pushed her spectacles up. "Your tables are arranged to maximize throughput while minimizing dealer error. And—"
"Er, Thea," Estella interrupted.
Thea snapped her mouth shut. The silence that followed was a peculiar one. Gage was staring at Thea with an expression Estella couldn't quite decipher.
"Thea," Estella said gently. "Focus."
Thea blinked. "Right. Yes. The solicitor."
Estella turned back to Gage. "You say you won't share his client's name. But can you tell me when the arrangement began? How many debts were settled? Whether the same person was behind all of them? Did this gentleman cover other men’s debts or just my father’s, and—"
"Miss Hale," Mr. Gage interrupted gently. "You're very persistent. I suppose you’re aware of that."
Estella dipped her head. "I've been told, yes."
"And you've come to a gaming establishment, without a chaperone—"
"I have a chaperone." Estella gestured at Thea, who had wandered over to examine a ledger on the corner of Gage's desk with undisguised fascination.
It came out perhaps a tad too defensive, because while Thea seemed convinced that she was “practically a spinster” and “as good as an elderly aunt,” the truth was—she did not seem nearly old enough to be on the shelf.
Gage looked at Thea, who was now murmuring something about double-entry bookkeeping. He looked back at Estella, and she suspected he’d come to the same conclusion. "Right."
He rubbed his jaw, stealing a glance at Thea, who’d wandered over to his bookshelf.
Then he seemed to come to a decision. "I'll tell you this much.
The debts were settled by a single benefactor, beginning approximately two years ago.
The same individual has been responsible for every payment.
And—" He hesitated. "He was very specific about keeping it discreet. "
Estella’s mind raced. Who else could it be but Sebastian? And it couldn’t be him, could it? What reason did he have to lie?
She shook her head, more confused now than when they’d arrived.
But no. She wasn't going to think about Sebastian. She was here to find answers, and if those answers led somewhere other than the Marquess of Blackwood, then good. Fine. She didn't need it to be him. She just needed the truth.
"Can you describe him?" she asked. "The man who—"
The door slammed open, making all three of them jump before turning to the door.
Sebastian stood there, and he…
He was furious.
Estella blinked rapidly as she took him in. She'd seen him angry before. Most notably, the cold, controlled anger he'd directed at Fairchild. But this was different. This was a raw, unfiltered fury that made his eyes blaze and his scarred jaw clench.
But what was more startling was his disheveled appearance. He wasn't wearing a coat. His cravat was loose, his hair disordered, and he looked as though he'd run the entire way here.
Good, some petty, wounded part of her thought. Let him be discomposed for once.
His gaze swept the room, and when his eyes found hers, the fury in them was so intense she nearly flinched.
Nearly.
But she was done flinching for this man.
"Miss Hale." His voice was ice. "A word."
Miss Hale. So they were back to that, were they? Well, she supposed she'd started it. “Lord Blackwood,” she'd said on the terrace. Apparently he'd taken the hint.
"Lord Blackwood." She said the name with deliberate calm. She even managed a polite smile. "What a surprise."
His nostrils flared. "Outside. Now."
"I'm in the middle of a conversation."
"You're in the middle of a gaming hell." He took a step into the room. "Without a chaperone—"
"The footman is waiting outside, and—" She gestured at Thea, just as she had with Gage.
"Outside," Sebastian repeated. This time his voice was lower, rougher. "Please."
The please was what did it. Not because it softened her, but because it cracked the ice in his voice just enough for her to hear the fear underneath.
He was afraid. Not angry. He was afraid…for her.
She didn't want to feel this pang of…whatever this was. No, she wanted to be cold and composed and utterly indifferent to this man who had kissed her and pitied her and was apparently marrying someone else.
But she couldn't quite manage indifference. Not when he was standing in the doorway looking at her as though she'd taken ten years off his life.
She stood. "Excuse me, Mr. Gage. I'll return shortly."
"Take your time," Gage said mildly.
Estella walked past Sebastian and into the narrow corridor beyond the office. She heard him follow, and heard the door close behind them. The noise from the gaming floor was muffled here—a distant hum of voices and the clink of glasses.
She turned to face him and crossed her arms, prepared for the lecture.
"Do you have any idea—" He stopped. Started again. "This is not a place for—" Another stop. His hand was doing its tremor, and he shoved it behind his back. "You cannot be here, Estella. If anyone sees you—"
"Then my reputation will be ruined and I'll be unfit for polite society." She held his gaze. "Rather the same if anyone had seen us on the balcony together, don’t you think?"
The retort had his head jerking back as if she’d slapped him.
"After all, you have an understanding, and I am unmarried, and—"
"You put yourself in danger," he interrupted once he’d recovered.
She folded her hands together. The angrier he got, the more calm she felt. "But I was not seen, and I have taken every precaution."
Before he could argue again, she took a step forward. "Someone has been meddling in my life, Lord Blackwood. And I’d like to know who. After all, perhaps it was Lord Alderton. Or Mr. Fairchild. If that is the case, that would inform my decisions going forward, would it not?"
His eyes narrowed on her. "This is not a joke."
"No," she agreed. "It isn't. But my father's debts aren't a joke either, and someone has been paying them. And since you've assured me it isn't you, I thought I'd find out who it actually is." She tilted her head. "Unless you'd like to revise your answer?”
She didn’t even know why she said it. It wasn’t as though she believed he’d lied. And yet…
And yet maybe she still held out the tiniest bit of hope.
Drat. She was such a fool.
But her question still hung between them until he finally muttered, "I've told you the truth.”
"Then you have nothing to worry about.” She smiled. It was not a kind smile. "I'm simply gathering information.” A new thought came to her, so obvious and so sudden, she blurted it out without stopping to think. "Lord Blackwood, how did you know I was here?”
He shifted with a little huff of exasperation. It was then she noticed that the corridor was too narrow and he was too close and she could smell him—that warm, maddening scent that made her want to lean in and rest her cheek against his broad chest.
"Go home, Estella,” he said quietly. "Please.”
It was silly that the words stung. He wasn’t being cruel. Not intentionally. But he’d evaded her question and his weariness made her feel like the burden that she was.
She swallowed hard against a wave of humiliation and sadness, and managed to speak in an even voice. "When I'm finished."
He drew in a breath. "Then I'll wait outside."
He turned and walked toward the door without looking back.
She watched him go and felt the knot in her chest tighten.
He'd come for her. Did that mean anything? Or was it just more evidence that even Mr. Gage knew that she was under Blackwood’s protection, and he was only putting up with her out of guilt?
She went back into Gage's office. Thea looked up from the ledger. "Are you all right?"
Estella nodded. Gage's gaze lingered on the door through which Sebastian had vanished. Then he looked at Estella, and his expression held a hint of sympathy. And maybe just a touch of admiration.
"Pemberton and Associates," he said. "That’s the name of the solicitors. Fleet Street. They open at nine." He paused. "Tell them Gage sent you. It won't make them talk, but it'll get you through the door."
"Thank you." Estella straightened. She had a name, an address, and a thread to pull. It wasn't much, but it was more than she'd had an hour ago.
She gathered Thea, who left the ledger with visible reluctance, and they made their way to the door. Outside, the night was cold and the street was dark, and Sebastian was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
He didn't speak as they climbed into his carriage. He didn't speak as they dropped Thea at her home. In fact, he didn't speak for the entire ride to the duchess's house, either.
When the carriage stopped, she reached for the door handle.
"Estella."
She paused. His voice was quiet, strained.
"Don't go back there," he said. "Please."
She looked at him over her shoulder. His look gave nothing away.
Her throat grew so tight, she could hardly speak. But finally, she managed, "Good night, Lord Blackwood."