Lord Ashford's Wager (5 page)

“Not yet, Tony.”

This time she reached her arms up and pulled him down to her. Their kiss was long and deep, and when Claudia felt him run his thumb gently under her breast she thought her insides were dissolving.

When they finally broke apart, she laughed shakily and reached up to straighten his cravat.

“Yes, well, you look a bit disheveled too, my lady.”

Claudia reached up again, this time to smooth her hair.

“Your gown too,” said Tony, with a wicked gleam in his eye. “Here, let me,” and he pulled the bodice of her gown back in place.

“Claudia, I want you to know that I do not make a habit of attacking young women on balconies.”

“What about older women, my lord?” she teased.

Tony blushed. “Truly, I never think of you as older, Claudia, although I know you are by a year or two.”

“Five.”

“Why, that is nothing, my dear. And you don’t look a day over—

“Thirty-four. I am thirty-four, Tony, and you are twenty-nine.”

“Age does not matter, Claudia. Not when there is affection and attraction. Do you really care what other people think?”

“Not about our ages, Tony, but there is other gossip,” said Claudia hesitantly.

“You mean that I am a desperate young man with a ruined estate, pursuing you for your wealth,” Tony replied, his expression set and serious.

“Yes.”

“Is that what you think me, Claudia?”

“I
am
a very wealthy widow, Tony.”

“I am not going to pretend that your money does not matter to me, Claudia. You know my family’s situation. But there are at least two other available widows this Season, my dear. If I were only interested in money, I would be spreading my charms around to see whom I could trap first. The truth is, I have felt a special sympathy between us, my lady.”

Tony said “My lady” not as though it was merely a courtesy. He said it caressingly as though it were true: that she was his lady.

“As have I, Tony. We both know what it is to lose someone we love. And although you are not that much younger than I am, you remind me a little of my younger self, too early saddled with responsibility.”

“Twenty-nine is hardly comparable to seventeen, Claudia. I am not a boy, but a seasoned soldier,” said Tony, sounding mildly insulted.

“I do not mean to offend you, Tony. I am not sure I can explain it myself.” She could, but she feared he would not want to hear that she sensed that a part of him was still seventeen or so, carefree and dreaming about freedom and the glory to be gained on the battlefield. As a younger son, he had always been somewhat in limbo, with nothing to be committed to or responsible for except himself.

“I care very much about you, Claudia. I want to—”

“And I care for you, Tony,” Claudia interrupted. “And I also find you impossibly attractive. But may we leave it there just for now?”

“As long as you know that my intentions are honorable.”

“I know they are, my lord,” Claudia replied softly. She had stopped what was surely a proposal because she was afraid she would have said yes before he even finished. She wanted him that much. But although she was quite desperately in love with him, she wasn’t ready to give her life over into his hands. Not until she found out how hopelessly he was entangled in his gaming.

Mark Halesworth had seen them go out onto the balcony and had completely ignored his dance partner as he watched over her shoulder. When Tony pulled the doors partly closed, his hand tightened convulsively around his partner’s and she winced with pain. “I apologize, Miss Hall, I was distracted.” And when Claudia and Tony emerged, looking no cooler than when they had sought the fresh air, Mark knew that the time had come to take some action.

* * * *

The next evening, Mark left his office when it closed, a very unusual thing for him to do. Although he had hired someone to take his place as manager when he’d inherited the title, he found it hard to give up control. He visited two or three times a week, often not leaving until eight or nine. In fact, he had even had a small dressing room and wardrobe set up in his office so that he could dress and go directly to a ball or the theatre without having to return home.

What was even more unusual was that he headed for the Crown, a small pub a few blocks away. When he got there, he took a seat in the darkest corner and surveyed the bar. When the barmaid approached him, he ordered an ale and also bought a drink for one of the young men at the bar.

When the young man turned to thank him, Mark waved him over to the table.

“Why, your lordship, it is you! Thank you for the drink, my lord.”

“Come, sit down, Jim.”

Jim looked flustered. “Oh, no, I couldn’t do that, my lord.”

“I insist,” said Mark in a voice that no one who was in his employ ignored.

“Thank you, sir,” said Jim, and sat.

“How long have you been with the business, Jim?”

Jim’s heart sank. As a relatively new clerk and lowest on the totem pole, he felt quite vulnerable. He had made his share of mistakes. Perhaps Lord Fairhaven had only bought him a drink to make a dismissal less painful.

“Only seven months, my lord.”

“And you are happy with your position?”

“Oh, yes, my lord.”

“Although an assistant clerk is unlikely to get rich.”

“No, my lord. I mean yes, my lord, I
do
like it. And I hadn’t intended to stay an assistant forever,” Jim added boldly.

“Your parents were in service, I understand?”

Jim was surprised. He hadn’t thought Lord Fairhaven the type to care where his lesser employees came from.

“Why, yes, my lord. They worked for Lord and Lady Summers.”

“A very refined household. And they sent you to school?”

“They didn’t want me to follow them into service, my lord. They wanted me to get on further than they had.”

“And here you are, at Halesworth Limited.”

“Yes, my lord. And hoping to be there for a long time.” Why not say it, thought Jim. If he was going to be dismissed anyway, it couldn’t hurt. Maybe it would help.

“I certainly hope so. In fact, I have a proposition to make to you that would ensure you a promotion.”

Jim took a great swallow of ale. He wasn’t going to be dismissed? He was going to be promoted? But so soon?

“I would be happy to do anything I could for you, my lord.”

“Good lad,” said Mark, smiling over at him.

The ale and the relief combined to make Jim very relaxed. Until now, Lord Fairhaven had seemed a hard man of business. Maybe they had all misjudged him, however. Maybe his harsh exterior was only—

“I want you to leave the warehouse.”

Jim’s heart sank again. Lord Fairhaven was playing a cruel joke. He had only raised Jim’s hopes to crush them entirely.

“Temporarily, of course, Jim. And when you return, you will be a senior clerk.”

“I don’t understand, my lord.”

“I still want you in my employ, Jim, but it will be rather indirectly. I want you to apply for the position as under-footman in Lady Fairhaven’s household.”

“Your rich widowed cousin?” Jim realized what he’d said and blurted out an apology.

“That is quite all right, Jim. She
is
a rich widow. And that is exactly why I need someone there to keep an eye on her. My cousin was very fond of her. Well, so am I, for that matter. She is my only family, aside from my mother. And she has been spending a great deal of time with a very inappropriate—nay, dangerous—young man. I need someone in her household whom I can trust. Someone who can tell me exactly what her relationship to the Earl of Ashford is.”

“The Earl of Ashford? Aren’t his pockets completely to let?”

“You have heard of him, then?”

“Well, my lord, my parents are retired, but they still hear all the town gossip from their old friends. I know that the earl recently inherited the title.”

“And a bankrupt estate. I am afraid he is a fortune hunter, only after Lady Fairhaven’s money. And he is desperate, because he has foolishly been trying to recoup his fortune in the gaming hells. I believe he owes a great deal of money. You can see why I am concerned about my cousin?”

“Oh, yes, my lord,” Jim answered, feeling sympathy already for Lady Fairhaven.

“Now, if you were in the household, you would be able to tell me whether Ashford is getting anywhere in his suit. Even whether he spends the night. You understand?”

“Yes, my lord. You need a sort of domestic spy.”

“Exactly.”

Jim frowned. “I don’t like invading a lady’s privacy,” he said hesitantly.

“Neither do I, Jim. But it is for her own good, isn’t it? I only want to keep her from making a disastrous match, in which she might have her fortune drained away and her heart broken.”

“I do admire your motive,” Jim admitted.

“And you are the perfect man for the job. A young man whose parents were in service, so he needs very little training. And a talented clerk, who will be rewarded with a raise and a promotion. How can you refuse?”

Indeed, Jim could not. So it was agreed that he would leave the warehouse in a few days and apply at Lady Fairhaven’s household. Jim went home dazed by his good fortune, thinking what a happy coincidence it was that there was an opening for a footman in Lady Fairhaven’s household precisely at the time his employer needed him there. And Mark went on to his next errand, which was to give Lady Fairhaven’s under-footman a substantial amount of compensation for leaving his position the next morning.

Tony lifted his shirts and gazed at the leather bag of guineas which he had hidden in the drawer. One hundred guineas, which he had promised himself were untouchable. Proof that he was in control, not the cards. Then he looked at his shirts and smiled humorlessly. He could sell one, like young Lindsay, he supposed. After all, it was not his last and would not be off his back.

There was no possibility of convincing the bank to advance him any money. He had already spent his allowance from the rent of the townhouse, which was ridiculously meager for an earl. But Ned, God damn him or God bless him, Tony wasn’t sure what he felt this evening, had set things up so that the little that was left of the Ashford fortune went right back into the estate. Of course, as the new earl, Tony could have overridden his brother’s actions, but not without alerting Farley and his mother to their situation. He pulled out the bag and counted out twenty-five guineas. The cards had been so bad for these past few nights that things had to get better. He would only take twenty-five. Seventy-five would stay untouchable. And he would win tonight, he was sure. And go on winning. After all, if fortunes were lost at the tables, they could also be won. And he didn’t see why he shouldn’t be the winner.

* * * *

He
was
lucky that night. He came home with a hundred and thirty pounds. Twenty-five went back in the bag and the rest would be his seed money for the next night. But the next night he lost all, and had to sign vowels for fifty-three pounds. Well, fifty-three guineas still left forty-seven. Except that he needed at least twenty-five to start winning again…

By the end of the week he had seven guineas left in the leather bag, which lay there as shrunken as an old cow’s udder. He was beginning to feel desperate. He had already touched his friends for twenty pounds here and there and owed them as well as tradesmen all over town.

He could ask Claudia for a loan, but he hated to do it. Their friendship was in the process of evolving into something more intimate. He had kissed her again, and her response was so gratifying that he was beginning to think he could be very happy as her husband. And from what he could see, she was already in love with him.

If he hadn’t liked her so much, hadn’t been genuinely drawn to her ripe beauty, he would have felt like only another fortune hunter. But he
did
like her and was sure he could make her a good husband. Perhaps even give her a child, which Fairhaven had never been able to do. No, marrying Lady Fairhaven for the money to save Ashford did not make him feel guilty at all. But to ask her to clear up his gambling debts did. She didn’t really know the state of his pockets and he didn’t want her to.

But if he proposed within the next few weeks and she accepted, then he wouldn’t need to return to 75 St. James
again. After all, he had started that before he had met her, when he thought the only way to clear the estate was through the cards. He would assure her of that, obtain a small, one-time-only loan, and then make her his betrothed.

It was only one, a bit early for a morning call, but Tony decided to take care of things right away, and so he dressed carefully, brushed his wayward curls into some kind of order, and set out for Lady Fairhaven’s.

He was admitted by the new under-footman, a slim young man who hadn’t quite mastered the haughty demeanor of a town servant yet.

“Would you please give my card to Lady Fairhaven and ask if she will see me, James.”

“Yes, my lord.” Another visit to report, thought Jim, who had been there for over a week. A little early, but Jim had already reported that Lord Ashford was visiting almost daily. And that a few evenings he had escorted Lady Fairhaven home and stayed for longer than a nightcap called for, leaving Lady Fairhaven looking as though something other than brandy had made her cheeks flushed and her eyes slightly dazed.

He announced Lord Ashford and watched his mistress’s face light up. “Thank you, James,” she said warmly. She was a nice woman, Lady Fairhaven, thought Jim, as he opened the door for her. One who seemed to care for her servants, even the newest ones. For the first few days, Jim had felt guilty indeed about his spying. Then, as he began to get to know her better and feel a real affection for her, he began to see himself less a spy and more her protector. After all, the whole reason for this was to make sure she didn’t succumb to the wiles of a handsome young fortune hunter like Lord Ashford. Who was even more badly dipped this week than usual, if downstairs gossip was to be believed.

He led the way to the drawing room and opened the door for Lady Fairhaven. He saw Lord Ashford get up and approach her, taking her hands in his, and then had to close the door behind them and resume his post in the front hall.