Patricia Rice Read Online Free Page A

couldn’t see the bearer of these tidings, but he
could see Cassandra’s creamy complexion pale another shade whiter. He fingered
the bundle of coins in his hand thoughtfully but pretended he hadn’t observed
her distraction when she pasted a lovely smile on her lips and took his arm.
    “Well, my lord, I trust you wagered on the right man.
Millstone has become quite a favorite, hasn’t he?” She gaily acknowledged the
triumphant wave of several men holding wads of paper in their raised fists to
show her their winnings. Mugs clanked throughout the room as the winners raised
their elbows in tribute to the favorite.
    One penguin-shaped old gent waddled up and bussed Cassandra
neatly on the cheek and pressed a coin in her hand. “Here’s for yer tip, lass.
Ye’re a good gel.” He gave Merrick a leery look. “Ye take care o’ the lass or
ye’ll be hearin’ from the likes of Timothy O’Leary.”
    Merrick hid his pained expression and hurried to usher the
two youngsters through the riotous scene. Men jumped on tables and waved
bottles while others cursed and flung empty mugs at the walls or the winners. A
fistfight broke out in a far corner, and Merrick felt Cassandra step a little
more quickly toward the door. He caught her shoulder and pushed her in front of
him and gestured Thomas to protect her with his back. In a narrow phalanx they
hastened through the growing tumult.
    They hurried down the narrow back alley to the wider street,
where the carriage waited. The riot inside the gambling hell hadn’t reached the
square yet, but the thick silence was almost as unnerving. Merrick cursed at
finding himself shepherd to two lambs in this wolf den, but grimly he told
himself they had found their way here on their own and deserved a good fright.
    Unfortunately, fear didn’t seem to be uppermost in their
minds as they climbed into the landau. Cassandra again bounced joyfully on the
cushioned seat and Thomas grinned unabashedly at her.
    “I say, you were bang up to all the tricks back there. You
must teach me how to play like that. Did you really know Millstone was going to
win? Dash it all, if I’d only met you earlier, I wouldn’t be looking down the
River Tick now.”
    “Thomas, you’re a rag-mannered young slowtop and when you’re
done rusticating the next quarter you won’t be so eager to repeat tonight’s
performance.” Merrick threw himself down beside Cassandra in a decidedly
dampening manner. Both youngsters gave him wary looks. “I’m taking you both
home and washing my hands of the two of you. If your families can’t teach you
common sense, I don’t intend to try.”
    Chagrined, Thomas sank into silence. Cassandra coolly held
out her palm. “My winnings, my lord.”
    He studied the nearly translucent illumination of her face
in the dim interior, but blue eyes behind gilded lashes gave no hint of thought
or emotion. He drew the bundle from his pocket and placed it on her palm. “I
don’t believe my young friend here realizes how you won it,” he admonished.
    Merrick thought he detected a flinch but she responded with
one of those brilliant smiles he had learned not to trust.
    “I am certain you will explain it to him with time.” She
turned her taunting gaze to Thomas. “How much did you lose to Norton tonight?”
    Thomas looked at them with puzzlement, apparently aware of
Merrick’s disapproval and Cassandra’s defiance. He turned his solicitous glance
to the fire goddess of fate. “You need not concern yourself over my losses, my
lady. I shall scrape along well enough. I congratulate you on how well you
played.”
    To Merrick’s amazement, a thundercloud formed across the sun
of Cassandra’s expression. She ripped open the handkerchief in her lap and
spilled open the mountain of coins.
    “Merrick, how much did I steal from him? Name a fair sum. I
would not take candy from babes.”
    Young Thomas looked astounded, then wounded, but Merrick
named a sum that emptied nearly half the coins