The Wicked Wager (21 page)

“What am I supposed to be listening for?”
he asked cautiously.

“My dear child, your departed mother wishes
to speak to you.”

The earl’s mother was dead, but his was
very much alive. If he had ever felt that her grace was a genuine psychic, it
was dispelled now.

“Hear her!” she suddenly screamed at him.

Alarmed, Lord Raikes pushed his chair back.
Catherine started giggling. This was the first time he was being subjected to
one of her stepmother’s odd readings.

The duchess banged her hands on the table
rattling the spoons in the cups. She suddenly leapt up and pointed accusingly
at him, “You have a message … hear her! She speaks to you from beyond the grave
…”

Lord Raikes leaned back in his chair,
casting beseeching glances towards Catherine, who ignored him.

The duchess now came around the table, her
eyes wild as she approached her prey.

“Listen!” she screamed as she stretched out
her hand.

He panicked, leaning further back, until
the chair tipped over and sent him sprawling to the ground.

He remained in the chair, his legs straight
up and waving in the air. He had banged his head on the ground, though the
thick carpet cushioned his fall.

The duchess snapped out of her trance and
rushed to him. Catherine came to his other side, both of them speaking at once.

“I am fine,” he muttered.

“Your mother just wanted you to know that
you have chosen a wonderful bride, and one day she will save you from hanging
yourself from a chandelier. You should not contemplate such thoughts … oh, my!”
she trailed off, staring at something between his legs.

For the first time, he became aware of a
cool breeze in the area where the legs of his breeches met. With growing
horror, he realised that his crown jewels were hanging out in the open air,
since his pants along with his unmentionables had ripped down the centre.

The duchess was staring right at it with a
look of pure admiration.

Catherine leaned over to see what was
fascinating her stepmother so much when her eyes fell on the source. She
clapped her hand to her mouth unable to look away.

He squeezed his eyes shut, aware of the
spectacle he made. He could not believe that Catherine was seeing him in such
an undignified position. His legs flapping in the air, his vulnerable nether
regions exposed. On top of that, his brain seemed to defy his command to bring
his legs back together.

The sound of the opening door snapped
Catherine to her senses, and she jumped up and ran out of the room.

Lord Raikes peeked at the door to see who
had arrived to witness his humiliation.

The duke stood staring at the scene, and
behind him entered Mrs Barker, Prudence, Mr Barker, and Emma. He groaned. It
seemed everyone was to witness his embarrassment. He did the only thing he
could. He closed his eyes and pretended to be knocked out.

“His chair tipped over. I think he hit his
head. He was fine a moment ago, but he seems to have lost consciousness,” said the
duchess worriedly.

“He needs to be taken to his room. I will
call for the doctor,” the duke replied. He turned to Pickering and issued
orders.

Soon a few strange voices spoke above Lord
Raikes. Help had arrived to carry him to his rooms. He had managed to pull his
legs together when he had pretended to swoon. Now they hung limply to his side
as he maintained the façade of being unconscious.

“Take his leg, Pickering, and be careful
not to jar him. You, Davy, take his other leg, and you there, hold on to his
shoulders. Now, on the count of three, lift him. One, two and … three!”

There was dead silence in the room for a
minute. The two men had individually taken hold of a leg each of Lord Raikes
and lifted him. The result was that his legs were split apart; hence, once more
airing his unmentionables to the goggle eyed spectators.

The duke quickly blocked the view from the
ladies, but it was too late. They had all got an eyeful.

“Err … Pickering … err … it would be better
if you hold both his legs together, and Davy can hold him under the knees,” the
duke muttered.

Lord Raikes was placed back on the ground,
and this time his modesty was preserved as he was taken to his rooms.

“I did not get a good look,” Prudence
whispered to her mother.

“Magnificent,” Mrs Barker replied, and then
frowned. ”What did you not get a look at?”

“His face, of course, was he very white?”
she invented quickly.

“No, he looked fine.”

“Then what was … magnificent?” she asked
her mother slyly.

“The duke … and the way he took command,
what else you silly girl?” replied Mrs Barker. After all, Prudence had learnt
the art of deceiving from an old hand.

The earl had tears streaming down his face,
“I cannot believe you actually searched me out to tell me this. It could not have
been that bad. I am sure the main bits were hidden.”

Lord Raikes smiled ruefully. He had come
looking for the earl as soon as he was pronounced healthy by the physician.

“Every little bit was waving out there. My
pants were split neatly in the middle, and I felt decidedly chilled in that
area.”

The earl dissolved into helpless laughter.

“Laugh at my expense, though Emma had a
good look as well. You won’t be pleased when she compares our assets and finds
you wanting.”

“I challenge you! Pull your pants down now,
and we shall see who has the bigger …”the earl spluttered to a halt.

A gasp had sounded behind them cutting the
earl short. They both whirled around to find a housemaid staring at them in
shock.

“Err … it was not how it sounded. I know it
sounded bad, but it is not as you think, Maria.”

“Now I know why you ignored my advances,
Shufflebottom. You should have told me that you liked the other sort. I
wouldn’t have wasted me time.” She glared in annoyance and strode back indoors.

“Stop laughing, we both are even now,” the
earl grumbled, “I have an appointment with the blackmailer in ten minutes,” he
added.

“Shall I accompany you?” Lord Raikes asked,
quickly sobering.

“No, I will tell you what occurs later. You
should go back inside.”

“Be careful.”

“Of an old woman?” he scoffed, turning on
his heels.

***

The earl found a branch to sit on and
prepared to wait. It was almost half an hour past the appointed time when
Lady Babbage arrived.

“I will get to the point. I will give you a
day and one whole night to accomplish the task. If you fail, then tomorrow
after dinner I will tell the earl everything,” Lady Babbage said as soon as she
met him.

“What will you tell him?” the earl asked.

“Why, that you are not who you seem and
that you are having an affair with his fiancé. He will choose to believe me,
for young men in love are prone to be jealous and think the worst of women, no
matter how innocent.”

“I see, what do you want me to do?”

“Clean out the duke’s safe and go easy on
Joe.”

“Joe? The under-gardener?” he asked in
surprise.

“Yes, and give him more free time. I need
him.”

“So, Joe works for you,” he mused.

She did not reply.

“Why don’t you ask Joe to steal the duke’s
valuables?”

“He is more use to me than you are. If you
get caught, then it’s your word against mine. Who do you think the duke will
believe? As for Joe, I cannot afford to have him shipped off to the continent.
I have bigger plans for him.”

He realised that she had a bigger hold over
Joe than over him. He would commit fouler deeds for her than the earl ever
would. He could easily disappear, since she was not aware of his identity, but
poor Joe was obviously trapped.

“I am afraid you will be disappointed. I am
not going to clean out the duke’s safe. I would rather you tell the earl
whatever you wish. That seems to me the less dangerous option.”

Her eyes flashed in anger. She had not
expected to be thwarted.

“You will live if you are caught stealing,
even if it is in jail. How do you plan to escape a duel with your life? The
earl will call you out.”

“I am a good shot,” was all he said.

“I will wait until tomorrow. Think it over.
If you refuse, I will tell the earl,” she snapped.

He remained silent, and Lady Babbage, with
a last uncertain look in his direction, walked away.

***

The earl met Lord Raikes in his room that
night and brought Emma along for the first time.

“I thought I should tell you both all that
occurred this evening. I am becoming concerned with the situation. It is far
worse than I had originally thought,”he said, taking down a bottle of whiskey
and pouring a generous amount into a glass.

Lord Raikes did not tease him for bringing
Emma to his room late at night. The earl looked worried, and his conclusions
must have forced him to take her into confidence. He knew the earl had tried to
protect her all this time.

“Tell us what occurred,” Lord Raikes said.

So he did and concluded with, “… what I
cannot fathom is why the woman wants money. She is blackmailing Prudence that
we know of. She may be blackmailing other members of the house that we are
unaware of. She could have been doing this for years. She clearly has some hold
over Joe. She has asked me, not for some paltry amount, but to empty the duke’s
treasures. What does she need so much money for?”

“She has everything—a home, a carriage,
silks, jewels, and anything else she may wish for. All she has to do is ask the
duke. Even if she does get all the blackmail money, where does she keep it, and
what in the world does she do with it? She could hardly keep all that in her
rooms here,” Emma put in.

“She has another house?” Lord Raikes asked.

She shook her head, “No, you are aware of
how little she does go out. She never spends a night outside the duke’s home.
She does not seem too fond of extravagant things like diamonds. She wears the dullest
things as if she is trying not to attract attention by being as plain as she
can.”

They sat in silence, each thinking their
own thoughts.

Finally, the earl spoke, “The reason I am
worried is that her demand was preposterous. No wonder Prudence looked
frightened. Had I truly been in the situation she had imagined me to be in, I
would have been just as desperate. Perhaps I would have been forced to steal
from the duke. If I was caught, then I would have had no way to prove who the
real culprit was. The duke would not believe someone who was already indulging
in deception.”

“We have established the woman is evil, and
we have no idea what her larger plan is or what she does with the money she
extracts from people. Now what is concerning me is what to say to her tomorrow
when she comes to me with your complaint. I can hardly pretend indifference to
the fact that my fiancée has a lover hidden away on these grounds.” Lord Raikes
said.

“William, I have had time to think over it.
This is what you should do. We have another week of this play acting left
before I win this wager. You need to buy time. Tell her that you are worried
and concerned by what she has to say. Yet you do not want to blame Emma
outright without some proof. You want to catch them red handed as it will allow
no room for wriggling out. You want the man to suffer a harsh punishment. A man
pretending to be older than his true age is not such a harsh crime. At best he
could say he was desperate for a job, and hence created this farce. You can hardly
throw him into jail for play acting,” the earl replied.

“I see, and then I should pretend to wait
for Emma to slip up while she behaves like a devoted fiancé. It is, after all,
only another week, and the argument to catch them in the act seems rational
when you put it that way,” Lord Raikes answered thoughtfully.

“I also think we need to keep an eye on
things. If she is blackmailing any other person in this house, then I need to
know about it. I am sure the duke will listen to me, especially if I can produce
some proof
of the fact,” Emma added.

The other two nodded solemnly.

“Now, I would like a glass of whiskey. It
is a shame women are not allowed to taste such things. It looks delicious, and
I always wanted to try it. I would also like … a cigar,” she announced.

The earl spluttered while Lord Raikes
looked scandalized. They made hurried excuses of it being late and feeling
sleepy. With exaggerated yawns, Emma found herself being pushed out into the
hallway, with the door shut in her face.

Sighing in disappointment, she made her way
back to her room.

***

Lord Raikes pretended that he was unaware
of the incident of the pants. It made it easier for him to get through the day.
He ignored the blushing women when they turned his way, feigning ignorance.