My Once and Future Duke (The Wagers of Sin #1)(72)

“Hazard!” exclaimed Eliza in dismay. “You never play hazard!”

Sophie put her hands over her face for a moment. “I thought it would teach him a lesson. He wagers so wildly, he was sure to lose. If he lost, he would go home and leave me be sooner.”

“Gaming hells must bring out the worst in people,” said her friend hesitantly. “Georgiana says he’s so charming and handsome . . .”

She sighed. Eliza was too romantic for her own good, having been sheltered and protected by her doting father. Sophie, however, saw a very different side of gentlemen than her friends did. Men who would treat Lady Georgiana Lucas with respectful decorum had no hesitation leering down Sophie’s bodice every chance they got. Men who knew Edward Cross would take off their heads for any impropriety toward Eliza felt no qualms making indecent innuendos to Sophie over cards. “I know. But he insisted I gamble with him that night, and I gave in.”

“But how did you begin wagering with the duke?”

“He had come to Vega’s to pay off a debt for Philip. It must have been large, because Philip vowed to quit the club for a month, a vow he broke within a day of making it. The duke was furious to see him at the hazard table. He ordered Philip away from Vega’s.”

Eliza’s eyes widened. “In front of everyone?”

“Yes,” she said ruefully. “It wasn’t well done of him. He admitted as much later.” Deep interest filled Eliza’s face. Sophie braced herself. “When Philip refused, the duke forced his way into the game. I—-I may have spoken somewhat impertinently to him, and he said I should stop fleecing Philip and gamble with him instead. In pique I agreed.”

“Georgiana will be so very sorry she missed this tale,” murmured Eliza. “Papa didn’t tell me even half of it.”

Sophie hoped that was true, but she forged onward. “And he lost very badly, which piqued him, and then he made that outrageous wager and like a fool, I agreed again.” Sophie shook her head. “It was too good to be true—-five thousand pounds! Against a week of my company. I should have known I’d lose.”

Eliza’s mouth fell open. For a moment the room was entirely silent, until the mantel clock chimed the hour, making both of them start. “Sophie, what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking of the five thousand pounds,” she admitted. “I thought I would win. He had the worst hand at hazard of any player I’ve ever met.”

“So you lost? And had to spend a week with him?” Eliza goggled at her. “I can’t believe it. You wrote to me that you were sick in bed!”

Sophie’s vision blurred. Her chest felt tight. She thought of Jack frowning in concentration at the cards when she tried to teach him vingt--un. Of his laugh when they rode in the mist and her absurd borrowed hat blew off. Of his smile when she woke to see him lounging in bed beside her, wishing for the rain to begin again. She sniffed, and it turned into a lump in her throat. “It began as scandalously as you heard, but Eliza—-Eliza, it’s so much worse. I’ve gone and fallen in love with him, and I don’t know what to do.”

Eliza jumped up and ran to her side, throwing her arms around Sophie. “Oh, my dear! But why is that so terrible? If you lost your heart to him, he cannot be the cold, calculating man rumor says he is. I know you—-you would never care so deeply for someone heartless or dismissive.”

“He’s not cold or calculating, he’s decent and kind and wonderful,” she said, her voice wobbling. She groped for the handkerchief Eliza held out. “But it’s doomed. He’s a duke, and I’m a woman who lies about her name, gambles every night, and has no connections.”

“I suppose it depends on how much he wants you,” Eliza said. “Papa is fond of saying nobility can do anything if they want to desperately enough.”

She swiped at her eyes. She’d thought so as well, but it either wasn’t true, or Jack didn’t want her enough. “That’s not encouraging.”

“Well, where do things stand now?” asked Eliza with her usual sensibility.

“An affair,” Sophie confessed in a small voice. “It’s a complete secret. I know I should stop, and yet I can’t. He was at Vega’s one night and even though I know it would be ruinous to connect our names again, I invited him to share my hackney, and then I invited him in and asked him to make love to me.”

“Oh my.” Eliza released her. Sophie realized too late she had said far too much. “Have—-have you done that before?”

“No!” she exclaimed. “It’s utterly unlike me. I know it’s dangerous and could ruin everything I’ve worked for. So why can’t I stop myself from thinking about him?”

Eliza squeezed her hand. “Because you’re in love with him. When you’re in love, you lose some sense, I believe, and do things you wouldn’t consider doing otherwise. All you can think of is him, and when you’ll see him, and how you’d give anything for it to be sooner than expected. Love can make one a thorough optimist that everything will—-must—-work out well, because how could such happiness be denied?”

Her voice had grown soft and dreamy again as she spoke, enough to make Sophie’s heart contract in anguish. Eliza was speaking of Lord Hastings, not Jack; she had met a gentleman the proper way, and he had conducted a very proper courtship. Sophie was happy for her friend, she truly was, but at the same time it made her own situation even more stark.