Page 36 of Until I’m Safe in Your Arms

“Of course you cannot go off and leave poor Emma for five years. Have you truly taken leave of your senses?” Uncle Jack climbed through the ropes to stand beside him.

“No, uncle. I don’t wish to leave Emma, but the army is my profession. What else am I to do if I resign my commission? Once the commission fee is spent, how will we live?”

“Well, there’s Grandfather’s wager,” Julius broke in. “After next August, you could be set for life with money and an estate.”

“Only if everyone else does their part. To date it’s only me and maybe Sandy.” Alex nodded to his cousin. “Have we heard what happened with him?”

“I haven’t.” Julius shrugged. “The whole thing was rather bizarre, but I’m hoping for the best.”

Alex closed his eyes. The family wager wasn’t turning out as much of a certainty as he’d hoped. “So you see, uncle, there’s nothing assured about my future if I resign.”

“If that’s the only obstacle, I’ll be happy to deed one of my small estates over to you. There’s one in Shropshire with about a thousand acres, and a few tenant farms for income.” His uncle wiped his brow on his towel. “It’s unentailed, so I may do with it what I wish. Let me give it to you, nephew, as a belated wedding present. Then you may put your poor wife’s mind at ease.”

The offer was both generous and tempting. He and Emma could live comfortably in the country on his commission fee once it was returned to him. Between that and Emma’s fortune and the income from the farms, they could have a wonderful life together. However, it wouldn’t be money earned from his own labors. If he inherited property, or won it as he might from Grandfather if the marriage wager was eventually completed, that would be different. But a gift, after his uncle had already been so generous, didn’t set well with him. He’d be giving up his profession, giving up his promotion. By God, he wouldn’t give up his pride as well.

“I thank you for that most generous offer, uncle. But I must decline it.”

“What?” Uncle Jack’s head snapped around so quickly his neck cracked.

“What?” Julius stepped back he was so startled.

“Neither of you is looking at this from my perspective. What kind of husband would I be if I couldn’t provide for my wife and children on my own?” He raised his hands to still their objections. “Don’t worry. I’ll transfer to another regiment so I can remain with Emma, then all I’ve lost is my chance at the promotion. Maybe in five years or so, there’ll be another opportunity. I just hope Colonel Bray won’t take offense. He wants me to go to India very badly.” Alex clenched his jaw. Everything seemed set against him. “He could make the transfer extremely difficult.”

“What about a wager?” Uncle Jack thumped him on the chest.

“A wager about what? Whether or not I can transfer to another regiment?” His uncle wasn’t making sense. Of course, gentlemen wagered on everything, but this seemed frivolous at best considering the circumstances.

“No, on a boxing match between the two of us.” Uncle Jack nodded to Julius, who pulled out his book and pencil.

“Why, uncle?” Perhaps his last bout had jiggled the man’s brains.

“So that you will accept my offer and settle down with Emma. She deserves to not be dragged from one post to another for the next twenty or so years.” Uncle Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “And you will have a new profession as a landowner where you will be your own man, rather than having your superiors tell you what to do.”

“Then what is the wager?” Not that he wished to leave the army, but he’d hear his uncle out.

“If you win, you get the property in Shropshire free and clear and become a landed gentleman.”

“And if I lose?”

“Then you will give me half of Emma’s fortune…”

Alex’s brows shot up. That was a substantial amount of money. And Emma’s money to boot. Not something to take lightly.

“And you will transfer to the AGS.” Uncle Jack stared at him, unwavering.

“What’s the AGS?” That seemed like an odd stipulation. He didn’t think his uncle was overly familiar with the army’s regiments.

“The Army Gymnastic Staff, a new corps created by an old friend of mine, Colonel Fredric Hamilton. Their sole purpose is to train the troops in gymnastics for their physical fitness. Currently, they focus on teaching fencing and gymnastics, but I’m trying to persuade Hamilton to include boxing.” His uncle looked positively gleeful. “With you on staff, I might just get my way.”

Mind whirling, Alex tried to remember all his options. He could take his uncle’s generous offer of the estate in Shropshire and be done with it. The easiest solution by far. To do so, however, he knew would stick in his craw forever. He wasn’t one to take charity, no matter how kindly meant.

He could resign his commission and try to find employment elsewhere. A solution fraught with peril as his skills were limited. The simplest solution would be to transfer to another regiment, which although easy enough, had begun to pall on him. If he couldn’t remain with the 30th—and he understood well that he could not—or have the promotion he deserved, he’d begun to think he didn’t wish to remain in the army at all.

And then there was his uncle’s outlandish wager.

Certainly, Uncle Jack was counting on the fact that Alex couldn’t resist a wager. Undeniably true, because if he would wager he could meet and marry a woman in less than a fortnight, he’d take any wager that came along. Exactly why Alex was now considering his uncle’s proposal very, very seriously.

Pitted against his uncle, this match would scarcely be a fair fight unless he set himself to training immediately, which he could do right here at Langham’s. And considering the side wagering he could do with his cousins and grandfather, he could come out very wealthy indeed if he won. It was, in a word, irresistible.