The Elusive Lord Everhart: The Rakes of Fallow Hall Series Read Online Free

clear—for the following twelve months we will each be pitted against the other in the hopes of being the last bachelor standing.”
    “Simple enough,” Montwood said with an encouraging nod, his ready handshake tucked away for the moment.
    If Gabriel had learned anything during his years of friendship with Montwood, it was to be well versed in all the rules beforehand. “In theory, the last bachelor earns ten thousand pounds, when the two of you pay me five thousand pounds apiece. Correct?”
    “Interesting theory .” Montwood’s grin said that he accepted the challenge. “The figures, however, are spot on.”
    Danvers frowned. “If our wager is set to declare one bachelor the winner, it hardly seems fair if there are two of us left who gain nothing.”
    “Very true,” Montwood said, stroking his chin. “After our year has ended, the winnings should be split amongst the winners. Therefore, a solitary loser would have to pay ten thousand pounds. Such a loss makes the stakes higher, doesn’t it?”
    It did, indeed.
    “Of course, it goes without saying,” Montwood continued, “that there can be no betrothals or binding declarations during this time. Also, no elicit affairs with women whose reputation would be ruined; ergo, no debutantes, spinsters, cloistered nuns, et cetera.” The last bit earned a chuckle.
    “What about a betrothal that happened prior to this wager?” Even though Gabriel purposely kept his gaze on Danvers when he spoke, the anticipated answer was more for himself. Little did his friends know that he was once a very foolish young man. Five years ago, he’d fallen in love at first sight. Or rather, imagined he had.
    Fallen? No, the act had been much harder than a simple fall. He’d plummeted. The earth had disappeared from beneath his feet and kept him falling endlessly. Then one night, drunk on the very thought of her, he’d proposed marriage in a letter.
    If that letter was still in her possession—and if it should ever see the light of day—then he stood to lose more than a fortune. Life as he knew it would end.
    His father refused to fund any more expeditions or endure any more scandals. His grandmother, whom Gabriel loved dearly, held propriety in high esteem. Maybe it was the guilt of his more recent actions niggling at his brain, but he couldn’t let her down again.
    A debt of ten thousand pounds? Well, that would certainly brew a scandal and scream a lack of propriety .
    But if he won? With ten thousand pounds, he could fund his own expedition.
    “Since Danvers’s bride married another, his prior betrothal no longer counts. It would be different if she were yet unmarried,” Montwood answered offhandedly. Then his gaze sharpened on Gabriel. “Unless . . . you’re asking on your own behalf? Could it be that there is a bluestocking in London who’s shaken the insouciant foundation you’ve so carefully crafted?”
    If Gabriel ever were to come clean about the proposal he’d made and explain the details, now was the time.
    Yet knowing his friends as he did and weighing the odds of a likely encounter with Miss Calliope Croft—in addition to her discovering that it was he who wrote the letter—Gabriel felt little need for concern.
    Certainly nothing that would induce him to enlighten his all-too-curious friends. “Of course not.”
    “Then it appears, gentlemen,” Montwood said with a grin, “we are all agreed.”
    Gabriel was the first to extend his hand, confident that nothing would go wrong.

CHAPTER TWO
    T he carriage jolted, startling Calliope from the pages of her book. Outside the window, the scenery dipped sharply but quickly righted again. Apparently, they’d hit a cavernous rut on the road to Fallow Hall. Thankfully, the carriage continued to roll on without event.
    Across from her, her brother tapped the carriage’s folding head with his walking stick and spoke with the driver, while her sister-in-law roused from another nap.
    “I cannot believe that I fell