Chapter 5
Colt followed Georgina into Solitaires just after eleven o’clock that evening. They gained admittance without difficulty, and within minutes, had divested themselves of their outer garments and were being ushered into the lively gaming room.
“I wonder what curiosity they have put in the book tonight,” Georgina mused.
Colt checked and rolled his eyes. “Some prize snails are set for a race. Do you think Mr Shelby or Mem Slicker will prevail?”
At that, Georgina erupted into an explosion of whispered profanities. Colt chuckled and scribbled their names, betting his own shillings on Mem Slicker. He put his hand on the small of Georgina’s back and moved her away from the offending table before she upended it.
His gaze swept over the room, noticing little out of the ordinary. He had never observed any underhanded methods being employed at Solitaires and had been surprised by Georgina’s accusations.
“What’s the plan?”
Georgina loosened her neckcloth slightly.
“I’m going to see if I can observe the attendants employing any more tricks, aside from simply encouraging people like Arthur to play deeply.
Perhaps if we can make our way into the back rooms, there might be more to see.
Then, I will ask to talk with Mrs Gardner and do what I might to persuade her to relinquish Arthur’s IOUs.
I will pay the full price if necessary, including interest.”
Colt grinned. From his experience, there certainly would be more to see out the back, though he doubted it would assist George in solving the puzzle.
“Colt, by Jove! You here?” a voice called out from a nearby table.
Colt turned. “Leggy!”
Colt approached the table. Leggy was an enthusiastic gentleman with fair skin, a smattering of freckles, and a wild crop of ginger hair swept roguishly to one side. He rose, his green eyes bright.
“Wonderful to see you, old chap.”
Colt shook Leggy’s hand. His friend was dressed impeccably as always, with beige pantaloons, shining boots, and a walnut-coloured coat that fit him well.
“Join us, will you?” Mr Samuel Leggett coaxed, gesturing to a chair.
A handful of acquaintances made up Leggy’s table, including one Lord Ravenscroft, Prudence’s new husband. Colt wondered if Ravenscroft knew his young wife continued to pursue Georgina. Colt glanced at Georgina, who gave him a slight nod and disappeared in the other direction.
Lord Ravenscroft acknowledged Colt frostily as he sat and was dealt a hand of cards.
Colt had once enjoyed a brief dalliance with Ravenscroft’s younger sister, Hester, much to the disapproval of her older brother.
While the affair ended amicably and without associated scandal, Mr Ravenscroft resented Colt’s unabashed lack of shame.
The other players showed no awareness of the tension between them.
Ravenscroft possessed dark, silver-flecked hair and gray eyes that shone in cool contrast to his olive skin, creased from age and many hours spent outdoors.
He wore spectacles and required a cane to walk.
A fine-looking man, Colt thought. And a formidable card player, too, as he relieved his opponents of the contents of their pocketbooks expeditiously.
“Ravenscroft, how is your sister, Hester?” Colt asked, hoping to distract Ravenscroft into an error with his cards.
Ravenscroft’s gaze snapped up, and a tell-tale muscle clenched in his jaw. “Mrs Spalding is well, thank you,” he responded in a clipped tone. His eyes focused back on his cards.
“Yes, I spotted her only yesterday, driving through the park. She looks to be quite heavy now,” Colt remarked. Hester was soon to be a mother.
“By Jove,” Leggy interjected with a frown. “Not good form, you know, Colt.”
Ravenscroft looked up in surprise.
“Nothing wrong with a bit of flesh on a woman,” Leggy continued. “I, for one, am most partial.”
Colt and Ravenscroft regarded Leggy in mutual confusion.
“She is heavy with child,” Ravenscroft offered.
“Even more reason not to take exception to it. She can’t help that.” Leggy directed an admonishing glare at Colt. “What have you got against women in the family way? I daresay you’ve been responsible for a number of them.”
Colt was no longer amused. “Oh, be quiet, Leggy.”
Colt studied the cards that Ravenscroft laid down. He had hoped to distract Ravenscroft with his remarks about Hester; he did not account for Leggy driving the conversation off on one of his famous tangents. Fortunately, Leggy’s intervention yielded the desired outcome.
Colt played his own card and hoped he did not show his eagerness to celebrate Ravenscroft’s mistake.
Ravenscroft peered over his glasses at Colt. With a sigh, he dropped his cards in defeat.
“Has Lord Coulthurst ended your run of good luck, dear husband?” a soft voice cooed.
A stunning redhead with piercing gray eyes, wearing a gown of emerald silk with a shimmering beaded overlay, now stood at Lord Ravens-croft’s elbow. She placed her hand on his shoulder and beamed at Colt.
He recalled dancing with Miss Prudence Atkins the previous year, at her very successful come out ball.
This critical—and often embarrassing—ordeal involved proud parents and guardians coercing their young lady, gentleman or electora into a social event in their honour, thereby announcing their introduction to London society.
Though Miss Prudence was cute, it had seemed she was not susceptible to Colt’s charm.
Georgina was more her type, it seemed. He rose from his seat and bowed.
“Lady Ravenscroft. Glad to see you! Allow me to congratulate you on your nuptials.”
She extended a graceful arm, and he kissed her bejewelled hand. “I am also a mother.”
Colt regarded her with an arched brow. The woman had only been married two months. Even Ravenscroft, as athletic as he was, would struggle to sire a legitimate child so efficiently.
Prudence giggled. “Practically a mother, at any rate. To my husband’s ward: His name is Mr Lawrence Dalrymple. At the Blakes’s ball, we shall perform an introduction. He has recently completed his studies and is now making his way into town. He would benefit from some new friends.”
Colt smiled uneasily. The last thing he wanted was to be saddled with a green cub to escort about town.
It appeared this notion did not sit well with Lord Ravenscroft either. He cleared his throat and tried to redirect Colt’s attention back to the table.
“Did you spot Miss Pace, my lady?” Colt said, regaining his seat and taking up the hand of cards the dealer had supplied him. He could not resist stirring trouble. Perhaps next time, Georgina would enlist Sarah to help her instead.
Prudence fixed him with an eager gaze. “Georgina is here?”
He shuffled the cards in his hands from front to back. “I believe she is milling around somewhere.”
Prudence cast a look around the room, feigning disinterest. “I might go in search of a port. I cannot abide this Burgundy.” She placed her glass on the table and swept away.
Leggy studied his own glass. “Rather fancied it myself. Pass it over here. Waste not.”
“Oh, Leggy.” Colt released an affectionate sigh.
***
After triumphing several more times against the good-natured Leggy and the surly Lord Ravenscroft, Colt grew bored and removed himself from the table. Thanks to several glasses of Burgundy, he felt ready to tackle anything.
He ambled through the main gaming rooms, scanning for any sign of Georgina. If she was spying on Mrs Gardner, she did so most furtively. He reached the back parlour, which exuded a dark and intimate ambience.
In contrast to Mem Lavigne’s club, however, this room did not provide a positive, sensual energy.
One could not be sure what was going on at the assorted tables.
Colt suspected fledglings would struggle to leave such a room unscathed, and he wondered if this was where Arthur had met his misfortune at Mrs -Gardner’s hand.
“Colt! You shit-sack!” Georgina’s voice hissed. “Where have you been?”
He swung around to find Georgina in a darkened corner, concealing herself from view. He knew laughing at her would only incense her further, so he pressed his lips together to hold back a smile.
She wrinkled her nose. “You reek of wine.”
“They held me up at the whist table. Why are you hiding?”
“Someone told Prudence I was here. I overheard her asking for me,” Georgina said, keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings. “I intend to avoid that sort of confrontation tonight.”
He hoped the guilt of his betrayal would not creep across his countenance. “What have you uncovered?”
“Aside from the fact that you are next to useless? Very little. I must speak with Mrs Gardner.”
Uneasiness gnawed at him. “Not one to interfere, George. But have you quite thought this through?”
It was one thing to try to settle a fellow’s debts for him. It was another matter to seek to dismantle a gambling enterprise like Solitaires. Some very influential—even dangerous—business partners sponsored this place. He did not want Georgina becoming entangled in that.
She shrugged. “I don’t have a choice, Colt.”
“What will you even say to her?”
“I will ask to purchase Arthur’s IOUs from her.
I shall even offer to pay her interest. My offer will be more than fair.
And after that . . . we shall see what is necessary.
” Georgina looked over her shoulder again.
“I also would like to escape without running into Prudence. Particularly if her husband is here. Husbands don’t tend to like me. ”
Colt did not want to alarm Georgina about Mrs Gardner or her associates, but she had to act cautiously.
Prudence needed to be the last thing on her mind.
He hoped, however, she would endeavor to be careful.
“Mrs Gardner is an enterprising woman, George. I doubt she has made herself so successful by giving easy concessions to people.”
Georgina tossed her hands up in the air. “I must try. Edmund landed Arthur in this mess, and they have applied to me to extract them from it.”
“And if she returns the notes to you, that will be the end of it?”
There was a stubborn set to her chin. “No. This has to stop.” Georgina gestured about the room with her hand.
Colt frowned. He could foresee little peace in his future while George participated in this self-imposed crusade.
“Now, if you cannot discover how to be more useful, I suggest you take yourself back to Leggy. Or, better still, go and observe the snail race.” Georgina strode away and accepted a glass from a passing attendant, pausing to exchange a few words.
She tossed her head back, laughing at something the attendant said.
Georgina leaned in and whispered a few words near her ear.
The woman’s cheeks flushed, and she winked in reply before continuing through the room with her tray.
Colt watched his friend. George had petitioned him to join her, ostensibly to keep her temper in check. And yet his headstrong friend had refused to heed his advice. He did not know whether to growl in frustration or smile with pride.