My Once and Future Duke (The Wagers of Sin #1)(2)

Mrs. Upton took her inside and sent a teacher to fetch Miss Eliza Cross and Lady Georgiana Lucas. “You shall share their room this term,” she told Sophie. “They are both kind and well--mannered young ladies.”

“Are they my age, ma’am?” This interested her intensely. She had rarely had the chance to make friends with girls her own age.

“They are both in the second form. The girls your age are generally in the fourth form, but since I’ve had no opportunity to assess your education thus far, it’s best if you begin there.” She gave Sophie an uncertain glance. “I presume you have had some education, Miss Graham?”

“Yes, ma’am.” It stung to be placed in the lower form, but Sophie refrained from informing the headmistress that she spoke fluent French and some Italian, that she loved math and geography, that she knew how to dance and had been playing the pianoforte since she was four. She intended to win over everyone at this academy, and it wouldn’t hurt to hold some pleasant surprises in reserve.

Lady Georgiana arrived first, as tall as Sophie but fair and fine--boned. Miss Cross hurried in after her, breathless and a little flustered. She was shorter and plumper than Lady Georgiana, and every bit as ordinary in features as Lady Georgiana was beautiful. Sophie smiled at them both. “It is my great pleasure to make your acquaintances,” she said to the two other girls. “I hope we’ll be friends.”

Miss Cross smiled nervously and Lady Georgiana gave her an appraising look, as if to say we’ll see. Sophie didn’t mind. She would be circumspect in the other girl’s place, too. But Sophie had inherited her father’s charm and her mother’s drive, and so she set about befriending them.

She needed to. Under no circumstances was she going back to Makepeace Manor, where her grandfather ruled in surly silence. Her youth had been spent in the capitals of Europe, following her operatic mother’s career. Her parents’ deaths had upended that happy if unsettled life, leaving her at the mercy of a grandfather who seemed determined to hold her accountable for every sin and slight her parents had ever committed—-and in his eyes, they were legion. Sophie soon divined that dying was possibly her father’s worst sin, as he had named the viscount her guardian in his will. If there had been a way to break that will and wash his hands of her entirely, Sophie was sure Lord Makepeace would have done it. Sending her away to school was the next best thing.

A young ladies’ academy might not be as exciting as Europe, but it offered the one thing she hadn’t had in all her twelve years: a fixed home. On the interminable drive to Mrs. Upton’s, Makepeace had informed her that she would board at school during holidays if she didn’t get invited home with another girl. Sophie could endure holidays at school, but she yearned for friends.

Eliza and Lady Georgiana had great promise in that regard. Eliza was shy and sweet, the sort of girl who would always be steadfast and loyal. Sophie admired that. Lady Georgiana, on the other hand, appealed to her high--spirited side, the sort of girl everyone else admired and looked up to. It didn’t take long to discover that Eliza was the only child of a man with wealth but no connection, while Georgiana was from one of the most august families in Britain, being the much younger sister of the Earl of Wakefield.

After dinner the students retired to their rooms to study. Sophie was reading the French lesson—-her mother’s language—-and feeling relieved there was one class where she wouldn’t be behind, when her new roommates’ whispering caught her attention.

“Try again,” Georgiana urged. “You can learn this.”

“I’m trying,” said Eliza in anguish. “I am, I just can’t—-”

“Is it sums?” Sophie asked, spying the page in front of them.

“It’s so difficult for me,” whispered Eliza, shame written on her face.

Sophie smiled. “I can help.” She rummaged in her trunk and drew out a pack of cards.

Lady Georgiana raised her brows. “Gambling?”

Sophie scoffed. “It’s not gambling if there’s no wagering. But cards are an excellent way to practice sums, and odds, and all sorts of mathematics.” She dealt some hands. “This is a game where you add the value of the cards. You must do the sum very quickly and quietly, and decide whether you’d like to add another card.”

“Ladies aren’t supposed to play cards.” Lady Georgiana came to sit on the end of her bed, studying the cards with fascination.

“Truly?” Sophie was surprised. “All the ladies in Paris play. And in London—-my father said the only people more passionate about gambling than English ladies are English gentlemen.”

Lady Georgiana snorted with surprised laughter. “No!”

“Oh yes.” Sophie didn’t add that her father knew because he’d gambled with all of them. When her mother began to lose her voice to a suppurating throat condition, they’d left Europe and come home to England, where Papa put his charm and name to use playing at the card tables to support them. She’d helped him practice the art of appearing to play carelessly while actually calculating the odds of every move.

Eliza edged closer. “Will it really help with sums? I—-I have such trouble.”

“Of course!” Sophie lined up the cards of one hand. “What is this hand worth? Add the numbers.”