by Mariel Grey
"Of course you do. So what do you need?"
"When I was on the terrace with Chalifour last night, he told me Perdan is a liar and a cheat."
"And?"
"And I need to find a way to use that against him."
"Hmmm, I see. What do you have in mind?"
"If I could catch him in the act in some way, like cheating in a game of cards, then I could blackmail him in reverse."
"If you could catch him. He's obviously smart enough to avoid getting caught."
"There's got to be a way. "
"It seems to me we need to know more about where he gambles, what he plays, who he plays with. We don't have much to go on to set a trap. I take it that's what you have in mind?"
"Yes. But how do we go about getting that information? "
Monique's brow wrinkled in concentration. "I have an idea. I'm not sure if it will work, but we could try it."
"All right, what?"
"I could make some social calls on certain members of the ton tomorrow. Some discrete inquiries might get me the information we need. Everyone knows I'm in the market for a husband now. They'll likely assume I have some interest in Perdan and am gathering information on him." She wrinkled her nose. "Though it's a detestable thought that anyone would believe I could possibly have an interest in him."
"It might work. I'm sorry to ask you to be involved with this, but quite frankly, I just don't have the resources you do."
"I know. And you still should have come to me much earlier," Monique admonished her again. Monique's ego was apparently still bruised.
"Yes, we both know you're right. I owe you far more even now than I could ever repay."
"You're lucky I love you so much."
"I'm thankful you do. So, even if you can get the information we need, assuming he plays cards, how do we become involved with a game? I can't pose as Lucien again. Even if I tried, as soon as I spoke it would be obvious it's me and not Lucien."
"It's obvious you're going to need a shill."
"A shill? Who?"
"I have an idea of someone. The first thing we need to do, however, is to gather some information. I don't want to start asking around for your surrogate unless we have something we can act on."
She was right, of course. How could you ask a person to do something when you weren't even sure what the something was?
"I'll make my calls early tomorrow. If all goes well, maybe we'll glean enough information to formulate a plan. I can't make any promises though."
Lucy knew better than to ask to accompany her. She was not a member of the beau monde. Her presence would be highly unusual and would likely prove distracting, if not an outright deterrent to people speaking freely. Lucy didn't want to do anything to impede Monique's chances of obtaining the information they needed. As it was, she was granted access to this level of society only though the sponsorship of Monique's brother, which was something she had strained recently. Lucy hoped Monique would be successful.
Chapter Thirty
Monique smiled broadly when she met Lucy the following afternoon.
"You look like the proverbial cat that swallowed the canary! I take it you were successful." Lucy said.
Monique's turned her smug face toward Lucy and beckoned her to follow, "I was!"
Lucy followed Monique into the drawing room. Monique sat. She took Lucy’s hand and pulled down beside her onto the same settee Lucy had occupied last night during the dinner party. Monique squirmed in an effort to contain herself.
"Don’t keep me waiting. Tell me!"
Monique's eyes darted around as if to ensure herself they were alone. She leaned close to Lucy and said in a low voice, "He's a card player all right. His gambling is well known. So are his debts. Perhaps that's the reason Perdan has threatened your brother. He's desperate for money."
"So what can we do?"
"Lucy, my plan is not very good, but it's all I can come up with. Do you want to hear it?"
"I don't feel as if I have any kind of choice. Perdan’s threat of blackmail may be based on a fabrication, but it would still have devastating results if Lucien were shunned."
"I agree. It's his word against Perdan's, and Perdan is a peer."
"Exactly. We can't keep paying him. It will eventually destroy Lucien financially."
Monique's eyes traversed the room again. "It seems to me Lucien will be destroyed financially one way or the other if you can't stop Perdan."
"Precisely. That's why I don't have a choice. "In forging ... ," Lucy broke off and looked around the room. Now she was doing it! "By signing that contract and paying Perdan, I made Lucien's short term financial condition worse. Not to mention the other, um, circumstances related to signing the cheque."
Monique's gaze didn't waver."You're right, I suppose. Let me tell you what I discovered today."
"You have my full attention."
"Perdan is a true gambler. He wears all the garb and fancies himself a card sharp. The only problem is Perdan loses more than he wins. His family has paid off large debts for him, more than once. All he does is continue to gamble. The word is his family has cut him off and he has debts he needs to pay, or face disgrace. That, I believe, is why he has threatened your brother."
"It does make sense. Where does he play?"
"Luckily, he plays most nights at a club on King Street."
"Do you know anything about it?"
"It's a gambling hell. This one is, well ...," Monique glanced at Lucy as if unsure how to continue.
"Go on."
"This club is more of a low class establishment where the classes mingle. I'm not quite certain, but I got the impression he has been banned from the more affluent clubs frequented by the ton, like Whites , Brooks, Crockford's, or even Boodles in St. James." Monique shifted on the settee as if uncomfortable in putting their differences in station at the forefront when she mentioned the commingling of the classes.
"It would stand to reason Perdan is persona non grata at the better establishments. What does he like to play?" Lucy asked.
"He plays several games, but his favorite seems to be Piquet."
"That's the game only two people play. They use a thirty six card deck. Every hand has blanks and discards, ruffs, sequences, sets, and tricks? The first one to score one hundred points wins, right?"
"Yes, that's the one."
"So how can I get at him? I know women are allowed entry into some of these places, but he would he would know something was wrong if I tried to play against him. Not to mention I've never actually played the game. I just know how it works."
"Are you sure you want to hear my plan? Bear in mind, it's flimsy at best and ill advised at worst."
"Considering that I don't even have a plan, yes."
Monique took a deep breath and expelled it. "As you've said, you can't pretend to be Lucien and you can't play him yourself for several reasons. So, as I told you before, you need a shill."
"Who would do that? And why would they?"
Monique's voice dropped again. "I've heard from the servants that Henry Chison, our coachman, is very good at most card games and is something of a card sharp."
Lucy sat motionless and listened.
Monique raised her brow, "Lucy, you would have to stake Henry. Do you have any money that you could give him to play?"
"Not much. I have a small amount of money in an account Lucien keeps for me here in Town in the event I need it."
"How much?"
"Twenty five pounds."
Monique looked dubious. "You're right, it's not much, but it might be enough. After all, this is not an establishment frequented by the haute ton, so the stakes are probably much lower. Plus, the club is not likely extending much credit to Perdan, if any. So the money may not be much of a problem. I can't help you with this. I've used all of my pin money and allowance. I'd have to ask my brother, and he would want to know why."
"Are you sure your coachman is good at cards?"
"I'm not sure of anyth
ing. It's only what I've heard."
"You're right, flimsy and ill advised."
"It's all I've got. Feel free to consider an alternative."
"I'm sorry to say I don't really see any alternative. Suppose Henry agrees, why would he do it?"
"Because you're going to pay him to play the part, plus he'll get to play cards with someone else's money and get to keep any winnings."
"Ahh, I see. That would work. So, say Henry agrees, then what? How do we prove Perdan is cheating? He must not be very good at cheating if he's losing so much."
"I'm sorry, that's the part I left out! He apparently wins more when he plays at this particular establishment than anywhere else, which leads me to believe that he's found a way to cheat there or has some other advantage he enjoys."
"How in the world did you discover that fact?"
Monique grinned. "Why the servants, of course! They know everything, and they all talk. A well placed shilling here and a well placed question there. It's amazing the information one can glean. My social calls weren't only to get information from society, but from their domestic staff as well. The servants are aware of Perdan's winnings. They also know about his losses."
"You are amazing!"
"Thank you!"
"But how do we actually catch him in the act?"
"Well, according to Henry ... "
Lucy interrupted, "You mean you've already spoken with your coachman?"
"But, of course. Once I discovered the other particulars, I had to approach Henry to see if he would participate to know if the idea was viable. Henry is the coachman, but our second coachman, Lloyd Piner, will accompany us as the tiger. He'll stay with the coach while Henry is inside the club with us. Actually, I'll have Lloyd drive it elsewhere. I don't want the coach to be recognized."
Lucy wasn't quite sure how to react. She wanted to deliberate on this plan a little more before jumping into the soup. But really, what was there to think about? Lucy was backed into a corner so to speak. "So according to Henry, how could you prove he was cheating?"
"You have to catch him card mucking or marking the cards."
"I know what card marking is, but what is card mucking?"
"It's like a slight of hand where you are adding your own cards to the game, the ones you want, and hiding the real cards."
"But how can you tell?"
"According to Henry, it's the way they'll have one hand flat on the table and won't move it much, but they'll move the other one around and then reach for a hidden card, or something to that effect."
****
"No, I want Henry to serve as the coachman tonight. Lloyd is going to be the tiger," Monique said firmly to the groom who generally served as the tiger on the coach.
Lucy caught the looks exchanged between the grooms. It wouldn't be the first time a high born lady had dallied with the help. At Monique's insistence Henry drive the coach and Lloyd serve as the tiger instead of the usual groom, doubtless they were thinking a dalliance was in the making.
It galled Lucy these young men thought she and Monique were the type of women to plan assignations of this kind. But then again, she had participated in such intrigue. Memories of Chalifour slammed into her consciousness. His touch and steady hands had driven Lucy wild with pleasure. Lucy had managed to divert her thoughts from Chalifour the last few days, but seeing the silent exchange between these men resurrected his presence in her mind. Not now. Lucy pushed those thoughts firmly away. That was introspection for when she was alone.
Lucy and Monique stepped into the coach and Lloyd closed the door firmly behind them. The coach began to rock as they got underway. Monique pulled her cloak over her head to conceal her face. Lucy did likewise. They would enter the gaming hell with their identities concealed. Henry, their driver, would let them out down the street so they would not be recognized by the coach.
A short time later, Henry rapped on the roof to alert Lucy and Monique they were nearing their destination and would soon be disembarking. The coach slowed to a stop and Lloyd opened the door to assist them out. Lucy took Lloyd's hand and stepped out of the coach. Monique followed. Henry climbed down from his driver's seat and Lloyd replaced him and drove the coach away.
Lucy turned and surveyed the area. They were in what appeared to be a residential area off of King Street. Pulling their cloaks further down over their faces, Monique and Lucy followed Henry to the front door of an ordinary house. The door unlocked and they stepped through and into a small hallway. Henry, Lucy and Monique encountered another door with a peephole on which Henry knocked. They passed through a series of three more doors before reaching rooms deep within the interior of the house.
No natural light entered from anywhere so it was impossible to discern the time of day, or moreover, whether it was day or night. They entered a large, dim room filled with smoke, dealers, and gamblers. Tables were scattered about the room with games of Whist, Faro, Quince and Hazard being played. It would be easy to become disoriented here and not realize the amount of time you had been gaming. Scanning the room, Lucy spotted Perdan at a table with one other player. Good, he must be playing Piquet.
Leaning close to Henry, Lucy said, "That's him. The one with the fair hair and the gambling attire."
"Yes, I recognize him. He is not well liked among the servants."
"He's not well liked among polite society either," Monique remarked dryly.
"It's up to you, " Lucy said. "We'll wait here in the corner and watch."
Henry patted his coat and sauntered to the table where Perdan played. Lucy and Monique strained against the din of the room to hear the conversation at the table. Henry reached into his coat pocket and withdrew some coins which he laid on the table. The other player stood stiffly and stalked away, a sour look on his face. Henry took his place and sat.
When Perdan and Henry began to play, Lucy took a moment to study the room and its occupants. There seemed to be a wide range of stations represented among the patrons. Several women who might have been engaged in dubious occupations strolled about the room. Lucy quickly refocused her attention on Perdan and Henry.
Perdan dressed the part of a serious gambler with eye shades and a hat. Leather guards encased his lace cuffs to keep them clean. Perdan eyed Henry with a predatory look not unlike an owl might before he swooped onto a mouse. How could a man with such appealing features be so unattractive?
Lucy's stomach lurched. Monique had told her she wasn't sure about Henry's abilities and was going solely on gossip and his own description of his abilities. What if Henry couldn't play? She hadn't thought to tell him the money she had given him was all she could afford. Did Henry realize that? Lucy suddenly wasn't so sure.
Lucy watched in horror while Henry handed over one small pile of coins after another. Perhaps Henry was playing cat and mouse. Lucy desperately hoped so. The location of the table prevented her and Monique from approaching any closer without attracting unwanted attention. Lucy fidgeted in the corner.
Monique's hand reached over and clutched Lucy's arm. "I hope I have not led you into worse trouble. He doesn't look like he is doing well, Lucy."
"I know. Perhaps he is toying with Perdan." Oh, please, let that be the case, Lucy prayed.
Play continued. Perdan's face took on a smile which reminded Lucy unpleasantly of the leer he had leveled at her during their first meeting in her home. This was not going well. She could sense it.
Henry reached into his pocket and rooted around. Lucy saw him start at the realization he had no more coins. She was nauseous. Lucy made to move toward the table when Monique laid her hand on her arm, restraining her.
"No, Lucy. You'll draw too much attention. Surely, he'll stop playing now that he's out of money."
He didn't. Henry continued playing. Lucy closed her eyes and turned away. She couldn't bear to watch. If Henry lost, Lucy knew he would look to her to pay the debt. She was in no position to offer up additional money. "Monique, I have to make him stop."
"I'll go
fetch Lloyd so he can get Henry. He'll just have to leave the coach alone for a few minutes. Let me go find him. I instructed Lloyd to drive by the front periodically, let's hope he's nearby."Monique slipped away toward the exit.
Lucy stood rooted to the spot. Panic threatened to overtake her. She had to stop this now. She could not wait. Reaching into her reticule, Lucy discovered a lonely shilling. Lucy spotted a young man approaching. As he walked past, she whispered, "Sir, pray speak with me a moment."
Surprised, the man moved closer to her. "If you would be so kind as to approach the gentlemen at that table." Lucy pointed at Henry. "He's the one wearing the brown cost and tan waistcoat. Please advise him his presence has been requested here." She held up the coin. "This is for your trouble."
"No need for that, ma'am. I'll fetch him for you. I guess your husband is having a bad night at the tables."
"Something like that."
The young man moved off to the table and tapped Henry's shoulder. He leaned over and spoke directly into Henry's ear. It was readily apparent Henry didn't want to give up playing. With a reluctant glance in her direction, Henry stood.
Perdan's face took on an ugly cast and he gesticulated strongly. Henry said something and Perdan's scowl grew deeper. It was also apparent Perdan was demanding immediate payment from Henry and receiving no satisfaction.
What was Henry going to do? He said something to Perdan, bowed slightly, and took his leave. Henry walked toward Lucy and she turned to leave with him trailing. Lucy burned to know what had happened. She would have to wait until they reached the privacy of the outdoors. Her patience strained, Lucy fairly burst before she and Henry escaped outside. The cool night air washed over Lucy, a welcome relief from the smoky air inside the club. Lucy scoured the street in search of Monique. She spotted Monique's cloaked figure some distance away, searching for the coach.
"Madam," Lucy called, not wanting to risk using Monique's name. Recognizing Lucy's voice, Monique spun and hurried in her direction. Satisfied Monique was safe, Lucy whirled to face Henry. She dared not rip the cloak from her face to stare into Henry's eyes, though she wanted desperately to do so. "What happened in there?" Lucy demanded.