As the room emptied, and Lady Carradine followed her guests to the front of the house to supervise various departures, Lily moved closer to the table.
“I congratulate you, Mr. Shine,” Lord Ashworth said stiffly. “It was a well-played game.”
Mr. Shine graciously nodded. “I have made piquet my study, my lord, and hope I have grown proficient.”
Lily picked up a card and said, “I beg to differ, Mr. Shine.”
Both gentlemen looked up, surprised.
“Lord Ashworth,” Lily said steadily. “These cards are marked.”
“What?” Lord Ashworth exclaimed, picking up some of the discards. He stared hard at them.
Mr. Shine had paled, but he did not falter. “Do not be ridiculous, Miss Farnsworth. As much as we have enjoyed your presence here, I am afraid an insult such as this must lead to an end to your welcome at our club. You may take your foolish notions elsewhere.”
Lily did not respond to this spirited defense. She only said, “See here, these small locks on the gates are slightly different shaped, they are the suits. And this rose here, the number of petals changes to match the number of the card.”
As Lord Ashworth bent over Lily’s hand to look closer, Mr. Shine rose and drew a pistol from his coat. He slowly backed away.
“Mr. Shine!” Lily cried.
Lord Ashworth laid a hand on her arm to caution her.
Mr. Shine had reached the door. Though Lily fully expected the man would make his escape, he ominously closed it and turned the lock. He advanced back to them in quick steps.
“One word from either of you,” Mr. Shine said, “and I’ll shoot one of you on the spot. There is a back way out and I can be on my way before anybody gets here with a key. Stand up, Ashworth.”
Lily was horrified at the specter of this new Mr. Shine, and she was horrified at herself. Why had she not thought it through? Why had she not realized that to corner a man who was willing to mark cards would be exceedingly dangerous? She should have bided her time and told Lord Ashworth privately, who then could have taken up the matter with Lady Carradine.
Certainly, Lady Carradine could not know of it?
Certainly, when Lady Carradine returned and found the doors locked, she would perceive that something was wrong.
Certainly, someone must come to their aid.
*
Lady Carradine hadbeen exceedingly surprised that Lord Ashworth had lost to Mr. Shine, but she did not have time to wonder at it. She had hustled out the last of the guests, but for the lord and Miss Farnsworth who had stayed behind. She supposed they would get up another game between them and she hoped Mr. Shine would be interested in viewing that game. She could not be certain of it, though, so she must hurry to accomplish her aim before Mr. Shine was upon her. Were he to discover her making off with the bank, she had no doubt she’d find herself buried in the basement.
She had dismissed the servants. They would not think it unusual, she did so on occasion, and they were happy enough to come early on the following day to tidy the place. She then hurried to the bank room. She emptied most of the bank into a satchel, laid bricks in the bank chest and covered the bricks with small notes. She locked it back up and prayed Mr. Shine would have no cause to count it until the morrow. She often retired as soon as the guests departed and she hoped that was exactly what Mr. Shine would think she’d done.
Earlier, when all eyes had been on the play between Lord Ashworth and Mr. Shine, she’d taken her portmanteau from the house. The porter had looked inquiringly but she had only hurried past him, declining his assistance. After the guests departed, she would send him home. He would not be asked whether he’d seen her with luggage until the following morning. Her jewelry had been sewn into her clothes that afternoon.
Lady Carradine, or Nancy Manton as she would go back to calling herself, pulled on a heavy traveling cloak and hurried out the door. She told the porter he might go, and she handed him a series of letters with direction that he was to take them home and then see that they were delivered on the following morning. She wished for those who might wonder where she’d gone to understand that she fled from Mr. Shine. In each of the missives, she claimed Mr. Shine was a cheat. She had no proof of it, but she was all but certain hewouldcheat given the slightest opportunity. In any case, even a whiff of an idea in that direction would shut him down for good. He might have the house, but she would not allow him to carry on with the club.
Nancy pulled her hood low and fled to a hired carriage waiting in the shadows.
Everything she would take with her, including the bank, was gone from the house. All of this must be left behind. She was bound for New Orleans and would never look back.
*
Mr. Shine hadforced Hayes and Miss Farnsworth out a door at the far end of the room, toward the back of the house. Hayes had deftly guided Miss Farnsworth in front of him so that he might remain between the lady and Mr. Shine. There was never anybody more dangerous than a man wielding a pistol he’d probably had little practice shooting. For every step they took up the flight of stairs, Hayes expected to hear the loud report of gunfire.
Even if Mr. Shine were not to shoot them on the stairs, whatwouldhe do? The man was deranged. Anybody finding themselves caught marking cards, and with a pistol in hand and a means of escape, would have taken the rational step of escaping. Instead, Mr. Shine had taken them prisoner.
Why? What was his plan?
They had gone up past the living quarters and were now in the attics. It should have been servant’s quarters, but as they passed the open doors, Hayes could see that the rooms were devoid of furniture. Apparently, Lady Carradine did not employ a live-in staff and Mr. Shine had been all too aware of it.
