If he was sober, though, he invariably won.
“What if I could play for one night only?” Nicholas mused.
Haynesdale straightened, a gleam of interest in his eyes. “Then you must play at Brooks’s, where the stakes are higher.”
“I am not a member.”
The duke smiled. “There is your luck showing itself, for you are in the company of one. I will see you admitted.”
For the first time in months, Nicholas saw hope in his future. “And if I succumb to the fever on that one night, there can be little lost,” he said softly, then raised his glass. “I thank you, Haynesdale, for the suggestion.”
“However inadvertently it was made. Shall we make it tomorrow?” Haynesdale asked. “Thursdays are said to be busy nights. I will escort you there myself.”
“Excellent.” Indeed, Nicholas felt a measure of excitement. Could he do it? If the benefit was his entire future, he had to try.
“What would you do with such gains?” Haynesdale asked.
Nicholas had no need to ponder the question. “Breed horses. Of course.”
“Of course. You have a fine stud in Sterling, to be sure.” Haynesdale drained his glass and set it aside, turning to consider the sideboard and the offerings upon it. He rose with an effort and leaned heavily on his cane as he filled a plate. “There was a time when I thought it inevitable that you and Eliza should meet at the altar,” he said with apparent idleness, and Nicholas was glad that his friend’s back was turned. “You always teased her so.”
Nicholas’ heart clenched that he had been discovered, but he kept his tone light. “Because she always came back for more. Most maidens would have wept in dismay but Eliza always retaliated in kind. I admired her spirit, no more than that.”
“Truly?” Haynesdale glanced over his shoulder.
“The daughter of a duke and the son of an impoverished country squire?” Nicholas scoffed. “I should never have imagined such a match probable.” He had no intention of confiding his most intimate secret in anyone, but he would entrust Haynesdale with it if necessary.
Preferably not on this day.
“My father would have agreed with you, to be sure.” Haynesdale’s plate was filled with eggs and ham, potatoes and grilled tomatoes when he settled before it with contentment. “You were slow to return home after the end of the war,” he said finally, as if changing the subject.
Nicholas was aware again of the differences in their circumstances. Haynesdale had been spared any lack of direction at the end of the war by his unexpected inheritance. “I seized the chance to take a Grand Tour of a sort.”
The duke consumed his meal with more enthusiasm that Nicholas would have been able to summon for food on this morning or any other morning of late. “I had wondered whether your heart had been engaged. I thought you might return home with a bride.”
Nicholas seized upon the excuse. “It seems that many ladies are practical in these times.”
“Ah.” Haynesdale cleared his throat before he continued in a brisk tone. The subject of matrimony appeared mercifully to have been abandoned. “Thank you for the suggestion that Eliza chaperone your sister. It will be a suitable activity for her and an interest like this should help to revive her enthusiasm for life.” He nodded at Nicholas with satisfaction. “And Miss Emerson might not be the sole one to find a suitor this season. It is an admirable solution and I thank you for it.”
“You are welcome, of course,” Nicholas said, though his throat was tight. If he had foreseen the possibility that he might be providing the means for Eliza to encounter an appropriate suitor, he might not have made his suggestion in the first place.
“There is a ball at Almack’s tonight. Rather than continue our revels, I plan to attend.”
Nicholas laughed aloud in surprise. “You, at Almack’s? You will need every able man in London to defend you from ambitious matchmakers.”
Haynesdale smiled. “Perhaps just one would suffice. Join me? You might ensure that Eliza and Helena find a footing with each other.”
As much as he knew it was folly to give himself the opportunity to see Eliza courted by other men, Nicholas could only agree. If she greeted such attentions with enthusiasm, that might banish his own interest.
Either way, he would not be a fool who yearned for what he could never possess.
Eliza had to wait for the opportunity to talk to Mrs. de Roye as that lady was occupied with other shoppers. She looked at gloves with indifference, for she did not actually need another pair, then at various ribbons in the haberdashery. She was beginning to despair that she would not be able to delay longer, when the proprietress presented herself.
“I do apologize, Mrs. North. This month has been uncommonly busy so far.” Mrs. de Roye smiled. “How may I be of assistance?”
“I have need of a pair of ivory gloves,” Eliza said. “And cannot decide between kid and velvet.”
“Surely that will depend upon when and where you mean to wear them.”
