She spun around to meet his gaze. “How long have you been a spy?”
“Six years now. Initially, I was marked as dead after the navy vessel I sailed on got blown to bits. But after I surfaced several years later running my own shipping business, the Navy pegged me as a deserter. Working for them gave me a way to get my official record cleaned up.”
He took her hand. This time she let him. Jack was finally telling her something of his past, and damn it if she wasn’t curious. His thumb slowly stroked across her skin. Taking a deep breath, he looked her straight in the eye.
“To be honest, I’m tired of it. The job excited me in my younger years. Now with all my responsibilities, it seems foolish to take so many risks.” He tugged her a little closer. “I don’t want to have secrets from you, but it is the nature of the business. I could get into trouble by even telling you any of this, but I don’t want to lie to you. You are too important.”
Her heart warmed. The sincerity in his expression caused the tangle of betrayal and worry in her stomach to loosen a bit. She squeezed his hand. “I believe you.”
“They asked me to do this one assignment while I am in England. Normally to protect my cover, I only work overseas. I am supposed to be watching Moreau and a few other guests who may or may not be his source of information. I am not to get involved, and I am not to get caught snooping around.”
She couldn’t help but be intrigued. “I could help you. I am very good at reading people. That’s why I am so good at cards, my father says. In fact, that’s what we should suggest, a game of cards. You can learn oh so many things about someone playing cards.”
“No, I don’t want to involve you. We almost got caught this afternoon. I don’t want Moreau to suspect either of us knows anything.”
“Don’t be silly. How would he even guess what we are about? Certainly not me, a simple little woman.” She batted her eyes at him. Warming up to the idea of being a spy, she grinned. This could be fun.
She could tell Jack mulled over the idea in his head.
“All right, I agree playing cards is a good idea. With both our observations, we may come up with some ideas more quickly. I will suggest a game tonight after dinner. Let me fill you in on who I am watching.”
She tucked her arm through his, happy to finally be party to all the parts-she hoped-of this complicated man.
That evening during dinner, Jack brought up the suggestion of playing cards as the evening’s entertainment. It received a resounding yes from most of the guests, although Lady Louise protested cards were not an appropriate pastime for the young ladies. But Caroline declared the ladies needn’t wager, to keep it more seemly.
For once Vivian looked forward to the evening’s entertainment. She loved to play cards. She and Jack had decided they would sit with different groups so they could observe as many of the suspects as possible. She sat at a table with the Grangers and Aunt Evelyn in a game of whist. To her right, the table included Lord Tolbert and Lord Farquhar, both of whom were on Jack’s list. At the table behind her sat Jack, Caroline, Count Moreau, and Lord Hollister.
As the game progressed, she found Lord Granger to be a rather stuffy man. He played without imagination, always following the same patterns each hand. His wife spent her energies trying to chat with her aunt, desperately searching for something they possibly had in common. After several attempts to engage her aunt in conversation, Aunt Evelyn finally snapped at Lady Granger.
“Oh, for goodness sake, could you concentrate on the game? It’s your turn again.”
After that, Lady Granger fell silent, but seemed no less distracted. She kept looking behind Vivian at the other table. Vivian casually turned to reach for her shawl on the back of the chair as a pretext to see at whom Lady Granger kept looking. As she looked over at the other table, Count Moreau gave a sidelong smoldering look to Lady Granger. Hmmm, very interesting and quite scandalous. She turned her attention back to the game. She and Aunt Evelyn were winning handily. Too bad they weren’t playing for money.
****
At a break in the game, Jack got up from the table and asked if anyone would like a drink. He strolled over to the bar, observing the play at the other tables as he went. When he reached the sidebar, he poured himself a brandy. He stood sipping his drink for a moment and watched the table with Tolbert and Farquhar.
The table included all gentlemen, and they were wagering on each hand. It looked as though Davenport was the big winner so far. He had quite a pile of coins in front of him. Farquhar wasn’t playing too badly, but Lord Tolbert had only two crowns still in his pile and appeared quite green around the edges as he folded his hand.
The smell of lavender filled his nose. He turned to find Vivian next to him. “A glass of wine?” She nodded, and he poured her a glass.
After a few moments of watching the game, she said in a low voice, “Farquhar is cheating.”
He looked at her sideways. “How can you tell?”
“See how he keeps tapping the table with his finger? He is counting the cards, and now look at his sleeve, can you see the tip of a card at his cuff? He will pull it out once he sees all the kings go round. I’ll bet it’s an ace.”
“How dare he…” He started forward but her hand on his elbow stopped him.
“Wait, let’s not call attention to it now. It will ruin the evening. I can take care of him.”
She took her wine, and heading back to her seat, walked directly behind Farquhar’s chair. Vivian tripped, tried to catch herself on his chair, and her wine splashed down the front of Farquhar’s shirt and jacket. Farquhar jumped up with an oath, ineffectually brushing at his ruined clothes.
“Oh no, I am so sorry, Lord Farquhar!” She wore a horrified expression. As the man gaped at Vivian, she appeared perilously close to tears. In response, Farquhar seemed to collect himself.
“It’s all right, my dear. I know it was an accident. If you will excuse me, I think I will retire.” He bowed stiffly, collected his winnings, and exited the room.
Vivian returned to her seat. She gave her aunt a remorseful look, to which Lady Garrison just shook her head and sighed. Jack put his brandy glass to his mouth to hide his grin. His girl was amazing, truly amazing.
