Chapter 13
“This is madness,” Gabriel murmured.
Agnes looked over at him. “I thought you said you wanted to be a part of it?”
“That wasn’t what I said at all,” he corrected her.
“What I told you was that I wanted to stand by our agreement. That doesn’t mean I think this is a good idea.
Are you sure there isn’t anything you’d rather be doing?
There are plenty of improper ideas that we could explore without entering a place like this. ”
“You speaking that way is making me want to do it more.” She adjusted the cap on her head.
Her hair was tucked beneath it. She also wore a waistcoat and trousers.
There had been nothing to be done about her smooth cheeks and angular face, so Gabriel had decided that he would pass her off as a young cousin.
“Of course it’s making you want to do it more,” he grumbled. “Of course you couldn’t ever just be sensible. I can hardly wait to learn what else is on that list of yours…breaking into the chambers of Parliament, no doubt.”
“Oh, don’t be silly,” she said. “Of course that isn’t on the list.”
All right—maybe it wasn’t. But what was on that list? He had been wondering about it ever since she had described her desire to come to this club. That wasn’t anything he would ever have guessed she would want…so what else would she have come up with?
Eventually, he was going to have to find out.
But he put that off. He would ask another time. Right now, he had other things to focus on.
“You need to stay close to me while we’re in there,” he said firmly. “It might be dangerous, and if anyone finds out who you are it will be even more dangerous.”
“No one is going to find out,” she said. “No one will be looking at me that closely.”
Gabriel was less than confident. “I hope you’re right about that,” he told her. “But we can’t be sure. If we’re going to do this, you have to follow my lead. You have to do as I tell you. Otherwise—if you won’t agree to that—I won’t take you in there at all. It wouldn’t be safe to try it.”
“I’ll do as you tell me,” she said. “But you are too worried about this. You act as if I’m a gazelle going into a room full of lions.”
His mood darkened. “Just stay close,” he warned her.
Gabriel had no faith in his own ability to be deceptive.
He was a terrible liar and always had been, but that had always been all right in the past because there had been no need to lie.
This was different. Her safety depended on their ability to sell the story they had come up with.
It would be very bad if anyone realized a lady was in the gentlemen’s club.
The best-case scenario would be that they would be thrown out in disgrace, but something much worse might also happen.
He would keep very close to her.
Once inside, they looked around. He had deliberately suggested a weekday afternoon, knowing that it wouldn’t be overly crowded. But if she realized that, she didn’t comment on it. “What do we do first?”
“This is your list item,” he said. “I assume it isn’t enough for you to simply come in and look around.”
“I want to get a drink,” she decided.
“There’s the bar. Shall I order for us?”
She bit her lip. “Will it be all right if you do? That won’t give us away?”
“No, not since you’re pretending to be my younger cousin. It won’t be hard to convince people that this is your first time in a club like this.”
She smirked at him.
Gabriel sighed. He wished he hadn’t done this. But they were here, and the best thing to do now was to see it through. Soon enough, they would be out of here and on their way.
He approached the bar and ordered two whiskeys. When they arrived, he placed one of them before Agnes and leaned close to her.
“Don’t drink this too quickly, Jack,” he said. “And don’t finish it. Your constitution isn’t up to the task.”
He should have known better—of course, she would hear that as a challenge. She tipped her head back and took a long swallow of whiskey.
Gabriel sighed again.
She looked at him. “Don’t you worry about my constitution,” she said. “I’m going to be just fine.”
Then she turned, looking around the room. Her gaze fixed on a group of men who sat at a table with playing cards in their hands.
“Are they gambling?” she asked keenly.
He picked up on what she was thinking right away—perhaps he had spent too much time around her. “Absolutely not,” he said. “No.”
“Oh, come on,” she wheedled. “We’re here anyway. I’ll never be in a place like this again.”
“Do you even know how to play vingt-un?”
“No,” she said simply. “But I’m eager to learn.”
“The moment they realize you don’t know what you’re doing, they’re going to descend on you like wolves,” he told her. “They’ll do whatever it takes to strip you of every penny you have.”
“I haven’t got much,” she said mildly. “And what I do have, I don’t really mind if I lose. I just want the experience. But you don’t know I’m going to lose. Maybe I’ll do well.”
It would be sheer luck if she did well at a game she had never touched before, he reflected. But there was no stopping her. She was already on her way over to the table. So much for that agreement to follow my lead and do as I say!
She pulled out a chair and sat down. The men around the table watched her, clearly bemused.
“Good afternoon,” she said brightly, lowering her voice a little. It was still pretty high-pitched , which made Gabriel feel nervous, but what could he do about it? Forbid her to speak? Throw her over his shoulder and drag her away.
“I don’t believe I know you,” one of the men said, looking her up and down with a frown.
“I’m new in town,” she said. “My name is Jack.”
“No surname?”
“Oh, perhaps first names will do for now.” She smiled in what Gabriel hoped would be taken as a winning manner. They hadn’t come up with a surname for her. She could give his, but it hadn’t been discussed. He hoped she would be able to think on her feet.
“All right, Jack,” the man said. “My name is Stephen. These two are William and Michael.”
William and Michael grunted out greetings.
“It’s lovely to make your acquaintance,” Agnes said. “Would you mind if I joined you for a hand?”
“Do you know the game?”
“It’s vingt-un, isn’t it? I admit I’ve never played before.” She gave a light laugh. “But you can certainly teach me, I’m sure. I’m an eager student.”
Stephen narrowed his eyes at her.
Did he suspect? From his vantage point across the table, Gabriel felt it was impossible to see her as anything but what she was. He couldn’t forget that he was looking at a lady. To imagine that anyone else could fail to see it seemed foolish, bordering on insane.
But they didn’t know her as well as he did.
Maybe they didn’t recognize it. Maybe they took the story at face value.
Michael dealt out the cards, and William gave a brief summary of the rules of the game. Stephen kept his eyes on Agnes as she sorted through her cards. Was he watching her with such scrutiny because he wanted to make sure he won the hand? Or was he looking for something else?
Gabriel’s skin crawled.
This had been a bad idea.
They should never have come in here. When she had offered him the chance to abandon his promise, he should have taken her up on it.
But then…she did say she was going to do this with or without me. And I know how tenacious she is. If I weren’t here, she would have done it on her own, and that would be a great deal more dangerous.
She played the hand and lost, as he’d predicted she might, but she took it with good grace and laughed as the pot was collected.
“That was a mighty good time,” she said.
“Thank you so much, gentlemen. I’m glad I had the opportunity to try this game.
But I’m afraid my cousin over there will want to be moving on now.
He isn’t a big supporter of gambling, and I think he’s unhappy with my choice to sit down at the table at all. ”
“Well, you don’t have to do as your cousin tells you,” Stephen said. “Stay and play a few more hands with us while he finishes off that drink he has. He won’t mind waiting.”
“No, I really ought to go,” Agnes said. “You’ve been very kind.”
She began to get to her feet.
Quick as a snake, Stephen shot out a hand and closed it around her wrist, holding her in place.
He looked at her arm—slim and delicate in his grip—and then back up at her face.
He frowned.
Gabriel was around the table and by his side so quickly that he almost didn’t know what had happened. He grabbed Stephen by the collar and hoisted him up out of his chair, a snarl ripping from his throat.
“You keep your hands to yourself,” he growled.
“Hey!” Stephen protested. “I didn’t do anything!”
“I saw you put your hand on my cousin. Don’t you dare touch him again, or this will come to blows.”
“I didn’t hurt him,” Stephen snapped, pushing at Gabriel’s hands.
Gabriel let him go, and he staggered back.
“I was just trying to get him to stay for another round! It’s his first game of vingt-un, and he lost the hand—I thought he might like to try again!
I didn’t realize he was related to a madman, or I wouldn’t have bothered! ”
Rage coursed through Gabriel—
But Agnes was moving in front of him, putting herself in his way. Right in between him and Stephen. “Stop this,” she said firmly. “Gabriel—I’ll play another hand. Stephen is right. I had a good time, and I’d like to see if I can win one before I stop.”
“Jack, come over here. I’d like to speak with you.”
“Is he bothering you?” Stephen asked Agnes.
Gabriel looked back at Stephen. “If you try to prevent me from speaking privately to my cousin, we will have a problem. I hope that’s clear.”
“I’ll just be a moment,” Agnes said, and stepped to the side with Gabriel.
Gabriel lowered his voice. “I think he might recognize…what you truly are.” That moment, when Stephen had had his hand on her wrist, he had seemed to notice something. Perhaps he’d realized she was too delicate to be a man.
“He doesn’t know anything,” Agnes said.
There was a hint of nervousness on her face, but only a hint.”
Gabriel shook his head. “You really do enjoy making things difficult.
“Just a few more hands.”
“Very well.” He went back to the table. All three men looked up at him as Agnes resumed her original chair, clearly waiting to see whether he had accepted the situation or if he was going to try again to intervene.
It’s both, you scoundrels. She wants to play, so I’ll let her play. But don’t think for a moment that I’m not going to involve myself in this.
He reached out to another table, grabbed a chair, drew it over, and sat down next to Agnes.
“Deal me in,” he said.