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“You have no idea how naked I felt standing there in the park.Him, with his jaundiced eye, examining me.As if he knew some secret about me.So, no, I’m not afraid of one thing, I’m afraid of everything where he is concerned.”
“Rose, I am here.Sandhurst can do nothing to hurt you or us.”
“I’m tired, Matthew.I’m tired of being the Mrs.Hardy who still wants to be the Duchess of Sandhurst.I’m tired of worrying about this pregnancy and worrying about all those things that can prove me a fraud.”
“You?Good Lord, Rose.You are as true as North.Me and Sandhurst are the real frauds.”He lowered his hand over her stomach, probably the first time he’d done so.“Rose, I want to make plans to travel to Spain or Italy before the baby is due.I think you would be less worried, and the pregnancy would be less stressful, if we did so.”
“I can’t take you away from your fortune.”
He laughed lightly.“My businesses will go on whether or not I am here.I’ve already made sure of that.But I will admit that my plan involves coming back right after you deliver then returning for a few more months for the pretend birth.”
“What about servants?”
“Well, I will let a home that is already staffed.We will travel by boat to make the trip less painful.Then we’ll stay a few months afterward, so we won’t give gossip an undue chance to grow.In addition to the birth, we will declare that it is our long awaited honeymoon.”
“Oh.You have it all worked out then.”
He held her shoulders, then tipped up her chin so he could look her in the eyes.“I’ve been thinking about it, yes.When the girls are grown, when they will understand and keep confidences, you can tell them the truth.It’s your choice then, but for now, they are too young and too much under the influence of the adults around them.Some secrets are worth holding on to.
“And there are some secrets worth sharing.”He pressed a kiss to her lips.“I love you, Rose.I’ve never considered my life precious or especially valuable, but you’ve given me a hope and a happy vision for the future we can have together.”
“Another successful venture?I’m not a business transaction, Matthew,” she said, drained and unwilling to argue.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.“I should have made that declaration at a place other than my office.Someday, I hope you will feel the same about me or even a small fraction of what I feel.”
She gripped the back of his jacket and held tight.“No one will be in London for the next few months.Honestly, I could leave tomorrow and feel the better for it.Except for the girls.I don’t want to leave them alone yet.”
“Well, I can’t leave just yet either.”He had a date at Alice’s gaming tables.Was that why Sandhurst had approached Rose?Was he fishing for information about the Isis Diamonds?Or some other matter?
She didn’t proclaim any deep feeling for Matthew, but he did feel he had Rose’s loyalty.And somewhere in her statements, he felt he had approval to cut Sandhurst to pieces.
The love would have to come later.
But, he hoped, sooner rather than later.
* * * * *
Alice DuPuis livedby putting everything on the table, much like Jezzy had lived her life.Well, Matthew was just a little more careful.There were things Alice couldn’t control—things for which Matthew had planned contingencies.One winner taking everything at a gaming table left little room for error, so it was incumbent upon Matthew to stack the deck even though Alice had made promises.
Aside from having a set of fake Isis Diamonds made, he also sent the damming note of Cyril Elliston’s to Lord Liverpool, inviting him to a meeting, if he thought it necessary.
Both were burdens lifted.Sometimes, the dice just needed to be thrown.
Winner.Take.All.It was a foreign concept to a bastard.His entire life had been about getting as much as he could while no one was looking.Here, on Alice’s tables, it would all be in the open.And Alice hadn’t been the owner of her gaming hell so long that Matthew could believe the house had the strongest hand.
The hell was as much a crush as any ball in London.It had only taken a few days for word to spread in Alice’s circle and amongst the gambling set to hear about the high-stakes game to take place at her tables.The rooms below were charged with electric excitement and ribald jesting.There were beefy guards at every entrance of the hell, holding firearms in a show of force and providing a hedge around the large tables set up in the middle of the room.
Matthew escaped upstairs to Alice’s boudoir.
She was known for her unusual parlor games with her beautiful girls.Would she now be known as one of London’s premiere gaming hostesses?Winner take all plus the Isis Diamonds was an unprecedented prize, even by the most notorious standards.
“The game has changed somewhat.You wanted to take all Sandhurst has, but as I applied some thought to it, bringing it to fruition became too difficult to control.”
“I know.I got your note.I told you it was up to you,” Matthew said.And she was right—no matter his desire to punish Sandhurst for his treatment of Rose, the financial prize would still be substantial even if it wasn’t all coming from Sandhurst’s coffers.
“Well, do you have the necklace?”Alice DuPuis asked as they enjoyed port before the evening’s festivities were to begin.
“Is Sandhurst here?”
