The Wedding Runaway (3 page)

Lordy
,
she was about to be tossed out into the alley like refuse onto a dung heap.

"
Thinks you need a lesson
,
boy
,"
said the smelly one. He leaned close to her and his fetid breath washed across her face.
"
I
'
ave a
'
ankering to rearrange that pretty face of yours.
"

"
No
,
that
'
s not necessary.
"
The door loomed in front of her. And just being tossed out seemed like a good idea now. If she threw her feet up on either side of the doorframe
,
how long she could hang on?

"
Quite necessary
,
boy. We gotta teach young upstarts like you
,"
said Mr. Stained Shirt.

"
Don
'
t know your proper place
,"
said Mr. Bad Breath.

No
,
she didn
'
t and Lydia couldn
'
t decide for the life of her if screaming would make the situation worse or better
,
so they just dragged her along like a reluctant puppy fighting a leash.

"
Where are you taking my friend?
"
came a voice from behind her. A lazy
,
almost bored voice.

She didn
'
t care who he was
,
but friend
,
most definitely. Thank the stars he
'
d spoken up before she screamed.

The two men released her arms and stepped to the side
,
looking for all the world as if they
'
d only been standing beside her.
"
This chap is a friend of yours
,
you say
,
gov?
"
Mr. Stained Shirt sounded doubtful.

"
Yes
,
my American friend and I would like a private room to play piquet. I
'
m bored with hazard. Have your master supply us a room
,
clean cards and a couple of bottles of your best Madeira.
"

The two thugs drifted away from her as though they had never noticed her.

She had to play piquet with this newly acquired
friend?
She turned. The gentleman in black stood with his feet planted and his arms folded menacingly across his chest. His dark gaze swept over her and he looked nothing like a friend. In fact
,
his expression reflected disgust. Being thrown in a pile of dung after a couple of facers might be preferable to spending time in private with him.

Interceding on the impertinent colonial
'
s behalf was the last thing Victor wanted. The boy bothered Victor. Exactly what bothered him
,
he couldn
'
t quite say.

The youth
'
s clothes were atrocious
,
outdated and ill-fitting
,
even if they were made of quality cloth. The blond mop of curls would benefit immensely from the attentions of a good barber. While the chap seemed to have gained his height and his legs were nicely turned
,
his shoulders were as puny as a twelve-year-old
'
s. His wide-blue-eyed stare marked him as far too innocent to be on the town.

"
They
'
re on to you
,
you know. I take it you
'
ve beaten the house a bit too often for their liking
,"
Victor said.

"
I
'
ve won some
,"
said the youth while digging his toe into the carpet.

His black riding boots were well-made
,
but no gentleman wore boots after dark. It just wasn
'
t the thing.

Pink swept over the boy
'
s exotically high cheekbones. He blushed too much
,
thought Victor.

Victor wanted to enjoy his freedom from responsibilities
,
not to take on a protégé. And an American? Damn rebel would probably fail to be suitably impressed by Victor
'
s title
,
although it was saving his hide right now.

That moment when their hands had touched and Victor had felt...what, he didn
'
t know. A reluctant admiration for the boy
'
s betting ability?

The boy tugged down his jacket and stared at the floor.
"
Uh
,
thank you
,
sir
,"
he mumbled in a too-girlish voice. It was low enough to be a male
'
s voice
,
but his inflections were off. Or perhaps the harsh cadence of an American accent just grated.

Victor rubbed his hand against his forehead.
"
Come on
,
then. See if you can beat me and take my money.
"

The youth
'
s head came up sharply.
"
I don
'
t mean to take your money
,
uh...sir.
"

"
Why not? I have plenty. I can afford to lose
,
even if the house cannot. If you win fairly
,
you are welcome to my largess.
"
Victor bowed.
"
You may call me Wedmont.
"

The unmannerly youth stared and didn
'
t return a leg. Rude young thing. Didn
'
t he know he should bow to his betters?

Victor turned and strode toward the room he
'
d requested. He held the door to the private parlor until the cub ducked inside.
"
You have a name
,
do you not?
"

"
Yes
,"
said the boy with that wide-eyed stare that made Victor uneasy.
"
L-Leonard Hall
,
from Massachusetts. That
'
s in America.
"

"
Yes
,
I am aware of where that is. Do you have family here?
"

"
No
,
not at present
,
sir.
"

Victor gritted his teeth.
My lord
was the correct form of address. Not
sir.
He was an earl
,
not a shopkeeper.
"
Call me Wedmont
,
Lenny.
"

"
Leonard
,
sir.
"

"
I like Lenny better. You are still wet behind the ears
,
cub. And it is customary to bow when introduced.
"

"
In America we usually shake hands.
"

"
I daresay you realize we are not in America.
"

"
No
,
I guess not.
"
Leonard looked around as if just becoming aware of his surroundings.

Victor stepped forward
,
and Leonard jerked back.

"
Have a seat.
"
Victor gestured toward the table.

"
I think I should go now
,"
Leonard backed toward the door.

Victor sat and picked up the deck supplied for them.
"
Very well
,
but I can guarantee that you shall be rewarded with a thorough thrashing. The proprietor of this hell is obviously dissatisfied with your person.
"
Victor removed the low cards.
"
Cannot say I blame him, with the fit of your coat.
"

Leonard took a desperate look at the door as if it were barred and locked.

"
Sit. I shall give you a chance to win whatever you could have taken from the house. If you prove your mettle
,
I might take you to a respectable club where they don
'
t discourage the winners with beatings.
"

Leonard stepped forward with a hint of a wry smile on his face.
"
How do they discourage them?
"

Victor glanced up. A frisson of unease coursed through him.
"
Plenty of drink
,
usually. Or blackballing. Or in the gaming hells that don
'
t require membership
,
lightskirts.
"

Damn
,
if Leonard didn
'
t blush again. He gripped the back of his chair.
"
I
'
m afraid I don
'
t have the stakes. I did rather poorly tonight.
"

Either the youth was smart enough to realize he had a tough opponent in Victor or he really was short of funds.
"
I
'
ll happily take your vowels
,
Mr. Hall. No need for me to relieve you of the last of your funds.
"
Victor tossed the cards across the table at Leonard.
"
Check the deck and tell me if it
'
s marked.
"
He leaned back
,
draping one arm over the back of his chair and reaching out to hold the chair back beside him.

Leonard looked down at the cards.
"
Vowels?
"

The boy was really too young for the lesson he was about to receive. Victor intended to show him what matching wits with a man who had made his living from gambling for years was like. Maybe if the cub got in deep enough
,
Victor could exchange the cub
'
s promise to avoid gambling for his debts.

"
I.O.U.s
,"
explained Victor. Any schoolboy in England would have known that.
"
Have you never had blunt with which to play?
"

"
I
'
ve never played more than I could afford to lose.
"
Leonard gulped air.
"
Before now.
"

He sat and gathered the cards
,
then looked through them carefully. The cub shuffled and dealt.

"
Five pounds a point?
"
Victor asked.

The lad
'
s sure dealing faltered and he flipped a card face up. Was the cub actually
sensible
about gambling? Or was it just that he hadn
'
t learned to cover his debts in the time-honored method of getting a loan from a cent-per-center?

Of course not. Impossible that this youth was of the age of majority. Victor would bet he was barely sixteen.
"
What brings you all the way across the pond from the Colonies to London?
"

"
Just here for a tour
,
like my brothers.
"

Victor studied the boy. Not like his brothers. And he
'
d yet to meet an American who didn
'
t take exception to their fledgling country being called a colony.
"
I should imagine your brothers were older when they took a tour.
"

"
Only James
,
because the war was on.
"

Victor picked up his hand and arranged his cards.
"
And did they supply you with reference letters to friends so that you might be properly introduced to society?
"

Lenny dropped his chin and shook his head.

"
Surely
,
your family had some acquaintance here in London to look out for you?
"

Lenny stared at his cards as if they were engrossing. He blew out a stiff breath of air before answering.
"
No
,
my family has been in America for several generations. We don
'
t know anyone in England.
"

His older brothers had failed to make any friends during their stays?
"
So you are sent out in the world at the tender age of a dozen years? Your parents must be anxious to be rid of you.
"

"
I
'
m one and twenty
,"
Leonard said, and then looked unsure.

"
You do not shave. You are not of age.
"

Leonard swallowed hard.
"
Indian blood. They don
'
t shave
,
you know. My grandfather
'
s mother.
"
He shrugged.
"
Guess I got it from there.
"

Victor rolled his eyes. As a lie it was almost plausible, were it not for the blue eyes and blond hair. No doubt
,
Leonard was a sharp one. A bit too handy with his prevarications
,
which normally would have made Victor want to wash his hands of the youth. But an odd urge to protect the cub overrode Victor
'
s usual dislike of dishonesty. With his lousy track record of caretaking
,
that worried him almost as much as the strangeness of the feeling.

Should have retrieved the boy from the beating he was about to receive
,
driven him home
,
and vowed never to see the wastrel in training ever again.

Chapter Two

Lydia couldn
'
t believe that she had a thousand pounds tucked into her pockets. In one night she
'
d gained back over half of the fortune it had taken weeks to amass.

As Mr. Wedmont
'
s carriage rattled through the cobbled streets of London
,
fog grayed the air. The pink dawn strained to bleed through. Lydia folded her arms across her chest. She feared the full light of day might make her attire less concealing of her gender. He already was suspicious of her background.