Jane buried her face in her hands.
Hannah dealt with a good deal less chatter, though she paused at the end to murmur to Jane, “I would make an excellent dealer at your club, I should think,” in a longing tone. Everyone wagered a single note again, save Cecily, who passed the round.
One of Jane’s notes already gone, and the second before him on the table. Eli wished they’d written more. At this rate, it wouldn’t be his turn to deal before Jane was out of forfeits. Eli beat Hannah and took her second forfeit, though Jane overdrew and had to relinquish hers.
The deal passed to Jane.
She dealt out the cards with efficiency, glancing at her hand before they all put in their stakes.
“Pass,” said Cecily.
“You’ve passed the last hand as well.” Jane frowned. “What are you doing?”
“I won a forfeit from everyone and I haven’t lost any of my own. What else could I want? I won’t bid unless I get a natural again.”
“You can’tdothat.” Jane’s pique was such that she’d raised her voice. “If you’re playing the game, you have to play the game.”
“I’ll retire then, if you like.”
“No, that’s not—”
But it was too late. Cecily pushed her cards back toward the center of the table, gathered up her winnings, and went to sit on the divan beside her husband.
Jane stared after her, a vein at her temple throbbing. She was bewitching when she was murderously angry.
“I believe it’s still your deal, Miss Bishop,” Eli reminded her.
“Very well,” Jane snapped. “Lieutenant, another card?”
He’d thought he would be able to read Jane’s hand upon her face, but he couldn’t. She was angry at her cousin for leaving the table. There was no clue there as to how she might rank against him. Whether he should take or stand. Perhaps she wasn’t so easy to read as he’d thought.
“Content,” he said, though he was not.
Jane drew, then turned her cards up. Twenty, besting both him and Hannah.Damn.This wasn’t going nearly so well as he’d hoped.
Eli tried to slide the forfeit he’d earned from Hannah across the table, but Jane brought her hand down to halt his progress.
“That’s the one Hannah gave you. You should only be able to wager your own, or the game might never end.”
“We didn’t agree to that before we started,” Eli protested. But the pressure of Jane’s grip upon his wrist told him she wouldn’t back down easily.
She has plans for my forfeit.
After the way she’d kissed him at Ankerwyck and their conversation this morning, what might Jane do if she could have anything from him? Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright—she had the look of a huntress in pursuit of her prize. How could he turn down the chance to be at her mercy when she looked at him that way?
“Very well then.” Eli reclaimed Hannah’s forfeit and passed Jane one of his own in its stead.
“If that’s how we’re playing, I suppose I’m out.” Hannah looked crestfallen as she turned over her final forfeit. “But be kind to me when you cash in, Jane, for I still have one of yours if I need to seek revenge.”
It was Eli’s deal. In spite of every eye upon them, their game seemed suddenly intimate, with only the two of them left at the table. The rasp of the cards in his palm mingled with the rise and fall ofJane’s breath. He dealt her two cards, then hazarded a look at his own. An ace and a seven. This was his best chance to claim a forfeit from her.
Eli slid the last paper with his name on it into the center of the table. “You won’t pass on the last hand, I trust?”
Jane straightened in her seat, venturing a sideward glance toward her cousin. “Of course not. I committed to play, and I won’t turn tail and run.” She slid her own forfeit out to touch his.
“Would you like another card?” Eli studied Jane, studying him. It was a strange feeling, to find himself reflected in her scrutiny, reaching for the same goal. The air seemed to hum between them.
“If you please.” Jane let out a breath as he turned up a jack, and some of her spirit seemed to leave with it.Most promising. “Yourself?”
