‘Haddon?’ Hartlebury demanded. ‘Because I recall Vier and Haddon taking a great deal of money off Lord Arvon – Miles Carteret as was – some years ago, and if that is the case—’
‘You did that to Miles?’ Loxleigh said, and his friendly face wasn’t friendly any more. ‘Youbastards.’
Sir James started a response to which neither Loxleigh nor Hartlebury listened. They were shouting in angry chorus, and they weren’t the only ones. The outrage and expostulation rose deafeningly; one of Lady Wintour’s house bullies shoved his way through the crowd in an ominous manner. Cassian wanted to call for control, but knew his own voice would be lost in the mayhem.
He took the clasp knife from his pocket, and started to tap it against the brandy decanter. The steady chinking cut through the noise, which dwindled as people turned and saw its source. He kept tapping as mouths closed until the room was completely quiet.
‘Thank you,’ he said, folding the knife with a deliberate click and returning it to his pocket. ‘Gentlemen, Lady Wintour. Mr Charnage brought this matter to me when he learned that Sir James had rooked my cousin Leo for a very large sum at whist. Sir James has been attempting to destroy Mr Charnage’s character for some years now, out of fear of this very exposure. I trust his slanders will receive no further credence.’
He paused there, looking around. Everyone stayed silent, but there were several nods. Daizell was scarlet-faced but bright-eyed.
‘Mr Charnage explained that Sir James and Sir Francis were cheating in this way,’ the Duke went on. ‘We agreed that Leo and I would play, and he would expose them in this ingenious manner—’
‘Entrapment!’ Sir Francis spluttered.
‘All you had to do was not cheat,’ the Duke said, icing his voice. ‘As Lord Myers observed, Mr Charnage has done agreat service to gentlemen tonight. I add my thanks to yours, my lord.’ He inclined his head; Myers and Daizell bowed. ‘Vier, Plath: I will not be paying you your so-called winnings from this game, nor will you have my greys. Moreover, my cousin’s debt of honour to you was not won honourably and is thus no debt. I will take his vowels.’
He reached out. Sir James snatched up the paper first; Hartlebury slapped his wrist down on the table with unnecessary force.
‘Thank you, Sir John,’ the Duke said, part of him observing his own aplomb with astonishment. He plucked the IOU from Vier’s pinned hand, held it up ceremonially, and tore it across. ‘I will fully support anyone who has lost money to you in declining to pay, or retrieving their losses. You are both unfit for the company of gentlemen, and I must decline your further acquaintance.’
‘Whereas, me and my boys will be having a very long talk with this pair of tosspots,’ Lady Wintour said, fizzing with wrath. ‘Cheating in my house! Get ’em, Ned.’
The oversized bully moved purposefully, grabbing Sir James’s collar with a huge hand. The Duke held up his hand commandingly. ‘Stop. I cannot countenance violent retribution, Lady Wintour.’
‘Oh, come off it!’ Loxleigh said furiously. ‘Uh, that is—’
‘No. I must decline to witness any such thing.’ Cassian gave it a couple of seconds, as Sir Francis and Sir James shot him looks of desperate hope, and concluded, ‘So let me leave the room before you start.’
Chapter Twenty
‘So we went to the back room and had a drink with Hart – Sir John Hartlebury – and Tallant, and Lord Myers, and, uh. Everyone.’
It was the next afternoon. Cassian’s head hurt and his stomach was still uneasy: Lady Wintour’s brandy might be drinkable, but not in the quantities he’d imbibed. At least he’d been more abstemious than either Daizell or Leo, who both looked very much the worse for wear. As well they might: there had been a great deal of excitement and the evening had become correspondingly raucous. It was the kind of night he had heard a great deal about, and never attended in his life.
‘Did they believe you?’ Eliza demanded.
‘About the cheating? Entirely. Well, it was clear, and Sir John had already made Vier look bad.’
‘How did he come to be there?’ Louisa asked.
‘Evangeline, Lady Wintour, whistled him up when I told her what we were about,’ Daizell said, grinning. ‘Bless her. I don’t really know the man, but we were both in her party that night at Vauxhall, although she left early. He let it be known he was with me at the time, but he was in rather bad odour himself then, some family affair, and he doesn’t spend much time in London anyway. Otherwise I’ve no doubt he’d have fought my corner before now. Excellent fellow.’
‘Yes, I liked him very much,’ Cassian agreed. ‘He had allsorts of interesting things to say about brewing, which I should like to learn more of.’
‘Nobody else would be in the middle of the greatest scandal of the Season and talk about brewing,’ Louisa said. ‘Good heavens, Sev.’
It was the kind of remark that had all too often made the Duke cringe with awareness of his social ineptitude. He considered that now, and found it wanting. ‘On the contrary. I had a very pleasant conversation with an interesting man, while Daizell and Leo did all the gossiping that anyone could require. I had spoken my piece.’
‘And wonderfully,’ Daizell said. ‘I don’t know if it will entirely revive my reputation, but you could not have done more.’
‘Oh, blast your reputation,’ Leo said. ‘Nobody cares. If you ask me you could have brazened it out at the time.’
‘Do shut up, Leo. But it is possible fewer people believed it than you feared,’ Louisa remarked. ‘People will happily repeat stories they know to be lies as long as they are entertaining. Now, however, the entertaining story is all on our side. I do wish I’d been there.’
‘So do I,’ said Eliza, with feeling. ‘DidSir James cheat your father? Was that why he robbed him?’
‘I think so. I can’t prove it, but then, Sir James can’t prove he didn’t.’
