Page 11 of The Hood and his Thief

“They’re not working you too hard, are they?”

Paul shook his head. “I mostly use my Talent to help Mrs. Gower sleep—she suffers from insomnia—and lend a hand at parties like this.”

Rhosyn opened her mouth to tell Paul to reach out to her if he was mistreated, but a hand on her elbow interrupted her.

“I think some of the other guests might be offended you prefer the footman’s company over theirs,” Joseph murmured in her ear.

The heat of annoyance flared in Rhosyn’s chest, but she knew Joseph was right, and her irritation was further soothed by the apologetic look Joseph gave Paul. As Rhosyn let Joseph guide her into the thick of the party, Paul resumed his initial posture against the wall, looking like a decorative statue.

They picked their way through the assembled guests, looking for their host, the only person Rhosyn expected to recognize in there. The thick aroma of expensive perfumes mixing in the air threatened to overwhelm Rhosyn more than the cacophony of smells down at the ports ever did. Some women had already congregated near the piano where a lady much more well-bred than herself was picking out a cheerful melody. Rhosyn couldn’t help but think that Scarlett played much better.

Joseph spotted Mr. Gower in a knot of gentlemen at the far end of the room and jerked his chin, indicating they should head in that direction. Just as they stepped into the circle surrounding Mr. Gower, a familiar voice sounded from Rhosyn’s right.

“Why, if it isn’t Ms. Walsh.”

Rhosyn’s eyebrows rose at the sight of Mr. Blakely, this time dressed in eggplant purple silk, a silver cane with some sort of animal head at the top balanced loosely in his hand.

“I see you are familiar with my guests of honor, Officer Walsh and Police Chief Thorne.” Mr. Gower puffed up as he spoke, as if having such a collection of people in his drawing room was a momentous accomplishment. “I invited them after they returned some of my wife’s most valuable jewels to her.”

“Did they now?” Mr. Blakely asked, his tone impressed even as something inscrutable passed over his face.

“They did, although I wish they would apprehend the scoundrel that stole them in the first place.”

Joseph stiffened beside Rhosyn, but Mr. Gower plowed ahead as if oblivious to the sore spot he obviously struck.

“And after the ball at the palace, I simply had to have Mr. Blakely to one of our soirees. Mrs. Gower was so taken with his contortionists that she insisted I invite him over at once.”

“I’m afraid I missed the contortionists,” Rhosyn admitted to Mr. Gower, although her eyes kept darting to Mr. Blakely.

“I heard you were drawn away by a commotion,” Mr. Blakely commented. “It’s a shame, I would have liked another dance.”

Rhosyn usually tried to avoid blushing at all costs, as the flush clashed terribly with her flame-red hair, but she felt heat climbing up her chest to her neck. For the first time, she understood ladies’ urges to carry a fan.

“I’m afraid there won’t be any dancing tonight to remedy the situation,” Mr. Gower said apologetically, “but maybe a game of cards would suffice?”

“I certainly wouldn’t mind a hand of Whist,” Rhosyn offered, a sly smile inching across her face. “Chief Thorne and I will be a team.”

“Then, Mr. Blakely and I will play against you,” Mr. Gower offered as he ushered them over towards one of the tables set up around the edges of the room for just such a purpose.

As they walked, Joseph grumbled in Rhosyn’s ear, “You know I’m terrible at Whist.”

Indeed, every time a deck of cards came out at the Woodrow’s occasional dinner party, it became a tight race between Rhosyn and Benedict to see who would win the most hands, with Joseph losing trick after trick.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m good enough for the both of us,” Rhosyn murmured back.

“I don’t think fine society takes kindly to cheating.” Joseph spoke low enough that only Rhosyn could hear.

She grinned.

“Then they won’t find out.”

And so, Rhosyn found herself seated at a small square table with Joseph directly across from her and Mr. Gower and Mr. Blakely to her left and right. Before anybody could offer, Rhosyn snapped up the deck of cards and began shuffling.

Out of habit, she showed off a bit, making the cards flutter down in a perfect bridge before tossing them back and forth from hand to hand. Joseph cleared his throat and Rhosyn looked up, finding Mr. Gower glaring at her with undisguised disapproval. She might have expected as much, as the ladies of breeding he was used to would not have spent their youths among sharps in gambling dens.

More disappointing, though, was the scowl Mr. Blakely shot towards her hands as her fingers deftly controlled the cards through their acrobatics. Rhosyn resisted the urge to duck her head and dealt four even hands. After all, who was Mr. Blakely to judge her for knowing her way around a deck of cards, when he owned a circus?

The match began with Mr. Gower, as he sat to Rhosyn’s right, and Mr. Blakely promptly took the trick with the queen of spades. Joseph lost the next trick by playing the ten of diamonds, but it was worth it to find out that Mr. Gower did not have any of the correct suit. On the next trick, Mr. Gower played the queen of hearts, already confidently reaching out to sweep the cards onto his side of the table when Rhosyn stopped him by slapping down the ace of hearts.