He straightened the checks written on five different banks, some from outlying cities, some from London. Then he counted them out onto the desk, one by one, letting each rest in his fingers a bare moment or two.
Id guess that these threehe placed those in a separate pileare forgeries, closed accounts, or made-up names. I dont know how to explain it, but they feel wrong.
Harrison looked at the names on the three Daniel discredited, then whistled. Damn, you got every one correct! Those are the ones the tellers at the bank refused to cash. I can try to locate the Captain Sharps, or at least not take any more of their money if its not gold. Youre a marvel, all right. Anytime you want a job, youll be welcome here, room and board included.
Daniel was grinning. Harrison wanted to pour him a drink, but he turned him down, asking to speak to the serving staff and the dealers before they got too busy.
One waiter recalled bringing a bottle and two glasses to Mr. Babcocks table. Hed looked over occasionally to see if the gentlemen required another, but the younger man playing piquet with Mr. Babcock kept holding his hand over the top of his glass.
The floor guard, Hocking, who was Daniels size but not half as well mannered, remembered seeing the greenling slumped in his seat. Hed shaken the boy awake and sent him on his way, telling him not to come back until he learned his limit. We dont want no one what cant hold their liquor, gov. They makes a bad impression. And waste seats at the tables.
A serving wench was still mad at Jeremy for shoving her off his lap midgame, none too gently. Shed been expecting a more profitable night from one of her usual customers, who always let her watch the play and keep the small change that fell.
No one saw large amounts of money change hands, no one saw the wine tampered with, and no one brought pen and ink and paper to the table.
Circumstantial evidence, at best, Im thinking, Harrison told Daniel when theyd spoken to everyone they could who was present the night in question. I cant toss Babcock out on such slim proof.
No, and that wouldnt help the boy, anyway.
So what should I do? I cant let it get out that one of the regulars is a cheat. The club could pay Mr. Haversmiths debt, on the sly, but that would set a bad precedent and still leave Babcock free to gull another flat.
Daniel flexed his knuckles. Ill have a little word with the gentleman, shall I?
Harrison groaned. Just dont throw any chairs over the bar. That mirror cost a fortune, and theres a weeks supply of liquor back there.
I have no such intentions. Just a friendly chat, gentleman to gentleman, dont you know.
Bloody hell, Ill go move the bottles now.
At McCanns, Jeremy Babcock sat down at Daniels table without invitation. Babcock was wearing less-fashionable attire tonight than he had been recently, unlike Daniel, who was still dressed befitting his mothers dining table. Jeremy raised his hand to catch the eye of a waiter to order a drink, which Daniel fully expected to be added to his own bill.
Evening, Stamfield. Surprised to see you here so early. I thought youd be attending Lady Clutter-banks musicale.
The gods were merciful tonight. I got out of it. What about you? Daniel asked, tossing dice from hand to hand.
I wasnt invited, and no regrets there. No heiress is worth sitting through an amateur recital.
Daniel sipped at the tankard of ale that had been in front of him all night while he waited for Babcock to arrive. You are still looking for a rich wife, then? I guess wealthy women arent as plentiful as poor ones. And rich men do tend to be protective of their little lambs, dont they? Perhaps you should look to the merchant class if you are so badly dipped. I hear bankers and mill owners are willing to buy well-bred husbands for their daughters to make them ladies.
Jeremy grimaced. Im not that far below hatches yet that Id take a tradesmans filly.
Just as well, I suppose. They want a title to go along with a pockets-to-let son-in-law.
No matter. I have plans to come about until I find the right woman.
Do you? Daniel took Clarences voucher out of his pocket. Might this be one of your plans?
Babcock licked his thin lips, his eyes shifting around the room. So the whelp ran to you, did he? And you agreed to play banker for the boy? I never took you for a fool, Stamfield, but you have to know what a bad cardplayer he is. Youll never see a farthing of your blunt. Ah, but I suppose he must have secured your sisters hand after all to have you sporting the brass for him. I wish Id heard it before, so I could put my money on the boy in the betting books. I thought your sister would do better for herself. Shes a taking little thing.
Daniel had taken enough of the whole unpleasant conversation. Susanna will do better, and I am not paying. No one is, Im thinking. He wondered how he ever called the man a friend.
Babcock called for another glass of wine. I do not take your meaning. A debt is a debt.
Unless its a rook. You dont pay someone to rob your house, do you?
You are making no sense, man. A gambling loss is a debt of honor. If you call yourself any kind of gentleman, you know that.
There is no honor in paying an extortionist.
Jeremy wiped his thin lips with the back of his sleeve.
What are you saying?
Did Clarence sign this IOU?
Of course he did. Thats his name, aint it?
Daniels toes burned. Its his name, but I dont think its his signature. I think you wrote it.
Babcock looked around to see if anyone had heard. He leaned closer to Daniel, breathing stale wine and tobacco stench in Daniels face. You are accusing me of forging a gaming debt? To let some country lump-kin weasel out of paying his rightful dues?
I would see justice done, was all Daniel said.
In that case, I swear it was an honest game, an honest debt.
Daniel kicked his shoes off so he could rub his feet together. I believe you are lying. I do have proof, of course. I wouldnt accuse a man without evidence. The rash starting up his ankles was all the evidence Daniel needed, so that was no lie on his own part.
Babcock looked around. You cannot have proof. No one was watch He caught himself, but too late.
No one was watching you pour a draft of sleeping powder into the lads drink? Watching you pull a paper out of your pocket, one youd practiced at home to get the signatures passably alike?
I did not, I say. Its his word against mine. He was castaway drunk.
Give over, Babcock. You are finished in London.
Wh-what do you mean?
Daniel traced the circle his tankard of ale had left on the wooden tabletop. I mean no one will ever play with you again. The doors to every decent club and gaming hall will be closed to you. You might even go to prison if young Haversmith decides to lodge a complaint with the magistrates office. Unless . . .
Babcock leaned forward. Unless?
You rip up this forgery, for one thing, and forget the debt.
The gambler stared at the chit, knowing hed lost. Hed never see a hapenny of the sum now, and it could be used against him if the damned cub took his case to court. He tore it into halves, then quarters, which he put in his own pocket. He stood. There, the debt is satisfied.
But I am not. Youll leave London. No, England. My family has property in the Indies. Theyll find you a post or something there.
I cannot leave my mother and sister. What will become of them?
Oh, youve been providing well for them, have you?
Theyve been managing, Babcock grumbled. They need me.
Daniel knew that Lord Morgan had been paying the bills for his dead brothers family. Your sister will be better off without you. She might even find a suitor, once theres no wastrel brother to keep pulling out of dun territory. If you stay, shell be ruined. A card shark is a large blot on the family escutcheon.
Jeremy sneered. Youve got a bastard in your family, and you still survive. I wont go. No one will believe you or the boy now that the voucher is destroyed.
Are you willing to bet on it?
Cards? He was ready to call for a deck, until he saw the bouncer, Hocking, watching them, a short wooden cudgel in his hands.
Daniel took another sip of the tepid ale. No, I wont play with you, he said, although that was precisely what he was doing. Im no foolish young sprig. I had another kind of wager in mind.
You mean bet my life? A duel? II will challenge you, then. For the insult. Thats right. Youll have to apologize and eat your words. No one will blame me for shooting you, or running you through with my sword. A gentleman has the right to protect his good name.
I wont duel with the likes of you.
I never took you for a coward, Stamfield.
You misunderstand. I never took you for a gentleman. I will meet you in the rear courtyard, though.
He cracked his knuckles.
Babcock blanched. That is unfair.
So was drugging an innocent boy.
Babcocks eyes kept darting around, looking for an ally, or a way out. I thought you were my friend.
Clarence thought you were his friend. So which is it to be? The rear court or paid passage on a ship? Of course I could leave you to the mercy of Ham Hocks over there.
Hocking was stroking his cudgel as if it were a womans leg.
Babcock gulped. If I meet you out back, then youll let me alone? Ill be free of you and this wretched place?
Oh, no. Then Ill pick up your remains and carry you to the ship. The other way you get to pack and call on your banker, and tell your family you have an opportunity to make your fortune. Maybe theyll go with you. Ill pay their passage, in fact.
Thats no choice!
Did you give Clarence any choice?
Jeremy licked his lips again; they were that dry. I know what this is about, he said. You dont care about the halfling or your sister. You want me out of the way so you can pursue the Abbott doxy for yourself. You want the jade and her fathers blunt for your own.
Daniel almost forgot his promise to Harrison about the mirror over the bar and all those bottles. He had his hands on Jeremys shoulders; Jeremys feet were inches off the ground. Never, ever let me hear you mention the lady again. She is no doxy and I do not want her. I do not need her money, and I am not looking for a wife. Shell find a better man than either of us. Now, what is it to be, you go quietly home to pack, or you go in pieces?
Youll give me a fortnight to get my affairs in order?
Daniel put him down, about as gently as hed lower a sack of coal. A sennight, no more. Less if I find a ship leaving sooner.
Very well, Ill go.
The rash did not go away. Daniel didnt think anything of it, only that he needed more time to wash the ichor of lies away. He refused to consider that half the spots were because he himself had spoken half-truths about Corie being a doxy.
He stayed at his corner table for supper and a bit of flirtation with a blonde, a redhead, and a black-haired wench, to prove that no starchy brunette held his interest. None of them appealed, so he paid his billand Jeremysand left the clubs public rooms. He went down to the kitchens to visit with Miss White, as he always did these days, and to see if the cook had anything left over. Then he left by the kitchen entry, also as usual.
He quickly realized this was one of his stupidest acts. He was growing soft and careless. Then again, he wasnt a soldier, England wasnt at war, and he didnt have any enemies.
Until tonight. Babcock was waiting in the dark alley that led back to the street, hiding behind a stack of crates. He leaped out of the shadows before Daniels eyes adjusted to the darkness, and brought a bottle down on Daniels head. The bottle broke; Daniels head didnt. For once, he was glad to have such a thick skull.
Dripping with gin and blood, he staggered but stayed on his feet. He barely had time to wipe his eyes before Jeremy came at him with a long, narrow knife.
Babcock was smaller, lighter, and less fit, but he was wiry, and he held the weapon. The knife slashed out. Daniel offered a large target, and the alleyway was too narrow and too cluttered with the fallen crates for much evasion. Daniel roared and threw his arm up to deflect the lunge. His coat front got slashed, then his collar, and his sleeve gave way at the seams as he ducked and dodged. Hed told Deauville the blasted coat was too tight, and now look. He could hardly defend himself against this puny caitiff and his blade. He pulled the sleeve off to wrap around his arm.
The next time Jeremy came at him, Daniel fended him off with his padded shield, then used his foot to trip him, sending him sprawling onto the crates, which spilled cabbages and potatoes and turnips.
