A Most Peculiar Season Series Boxed Set: Five Full-length Connected Novels by Award-winning and Bestselling Authors

by Michelle Willingham

  “Odd, is it not, to see him out so soon?”

  The tickling words in her ear, the warmth of his breath on her neck and the familiar scent of his shaving soap made turning unnecessary. “Very odd. And he seems to have lost his walking stick. He must have left it at Lord Halston’s.”

  Dare’s hand tightened on her shoulder. “Stay away from him, Trudy. He’s trouble.”

  She shivered. “You needn’t worry about me, Collingwood. I released you from any responsibility. Remember?”

  “Where is your brother?”

  She finally turned to him at the hint of annoyance in his voice. “I last saw him with his friends, heading for the billiards room.” Oh, fie! Her heartbeat skipped. Why did he have to be so handsome? “He has been avoiding me. I haven’t had a private moment to tell him that you know everything.”

  “I will be pleased to tell him that myself. I will find you after. There are matters we must settle.”

  “Matters are settled.”

  “Don’t be a ninny, Gertie. A few days will make all the difference.”

  Ninny? He had chosen the one response that would disarm her. She laughed in spite of herself. Why had she never noted his irreverence before? He’d always seemed so serious. So intense. He bowed and, as she watched him head for the billiards room, sadness descended on her again.

  Because Lancelot did not have a few more days. One more after tonight. Just one. And then the next their secrets would all come crashing down about them—Lancelot’s thieving, Laura’s dreadful marriage, Fiona’s secret beau, and her own heedless indiscretion.

  She had the niggling fear that some other disaster was lurking—just waiting to rear up on them at the worst possible moment. But what else could possibly happen?

  Dare turned toward the billiards room, the sound of Trudy’s laugh melting his insides. Things could not be so bad if she could still laugh. When this Mayfair Shadow affair was over, they’d find a way to put their relationship back together. Unless... no.

  Lancelot was the Shadow. There was no way around that. And Trudy would never forgive him for putting her beloved brother behind bars and at the end of a rope. But what other choice did he have?

  His heart turned leaden again as he entered Towe’s billiards room. The air was thick with the smell of smoke and brandy, and there was scarce room to turn around. He spotted Carr in one corner talking to friends. Morton held a cue and was waiting on his opponent’s shot. Amory and Halston heckled the players. It was a congenial scene and he marveled that there could be such a disparity between appearance and reality.

  Carr saw him approaching and cut off his conversation. He stepped away from his friends, apparently realizing he could not put this interview off again. He saw the lad’s shoulders square and his chin lift. He was either going to tell a whopper, or he was going to come clean.

  Dare clapped him on the arm and led him toward the open garden door. He took a position near the balustrade where he could watch the doors to insure their privacy.

  “Is this about the Shadow again?” Carr asked.

  “I know everything, Carr. Trudy confessed to me yesterday. She has been trying to warn you.”

  Carr’s jaw tightened. “Then why am I not in gaol?”

  “I thought I owed you the courtesy of a hearing. What have you to say?”

  “Nothing. My sister has the right of it. I am the Mayfair Shadow.”

  “And you were, indeed, cheated at the tables?”

  “So she told you about that, too, eh? Yes. I was cheated. Most skillfully.”

  Dare nodded. “I believe I know how.”

  “D’you think that will help me when I stand before the king’s bench?”

  “I believe you will need every advantage you can manage.”

  “There is no way out of this, Collingwood. It is not as if anyone will take my word for it. And there is a sort of dignity in silence, is there not?”

  “Precisely. I may have an idea. Something that will leave everyone’s dignity intact. But its success will depend upon how it is handled.”

  Carr snorted. “You’d be a bloody genius if you could manage that.”

  “You’re in luck, Carr. I am a bloody genius.”

  Carr smiled for the first time. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Stay close, and be ready to act at midnight. Follow my lead.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Here. I think neutral ground will suit us best.”

  Amory wandered onto the terrace from the billiards room and Dare gave Carr a cautioning look. “Tired of games, Amory?”

  “Not in the mood. Shouldn’t have come out tonight, but I needed to have a word with Towe. He is the executor of my father’s will. He said he’d make time for me after the dancing begins. Thank God for fresh air, eh? Think I’ll take a turn around the gardens and clear my head before I speak with him.” He stepped down to the pebbled path and set off at a leisurely pace.

  Dare frowned and lowered his voice. “What about Amory’s watch? Trudy said you did not take it.”

  “Why should I? Amory never cheated me.”

  “And this?” He removed the sapphire bracelet he’d found at the scene of old Amory’s death from his waistcoat pocket and held it out.

  “What’s that?”

  “Lady Halston’s sapphire bracelet.”

  Carr shook his head again. “Lady Halston’s bracelet also has diamonds and is in my drawer at home. Is that one of the pieces on the ground around Amory’s body?”

  “The ones you were trying to recover?”

  “I am not the one who dropped them. I was trying to pick them up because I suspected someone was trying to make it look as if I—the Shadow—killed Amory. None of those pieces around Amory were the ones I stole.”

  If the bracelet he’d found wasn’t Halston’s, then it had to be the one Amory’s servants had told Esham about. And with that, everything began to click into place like the pieces of a board puzzle. Amory’s watch was not stolen by the Shadow. It hadn’t been stolen at all. And the sapphire bracelet he’d found beside old Amory’s body was a plant—the missing heirloom. Carr was right. Amory was trying to lay his father’s murder at his door.

  What a bloody muddle! He caught a glimpse of Esham through the door. Pray the man had news. He pushed away from the balustrade and signaled him forward.

  Carr frowned and lowered his voice. “I suppose I must thank you for not turning me over to the charleys immediately. I gather my sister must have something to do with that.”

  “Everything.”

  “Did she bargain with you?”

  “She trusted me with the truth, Carr. A fact I have not taken lightly, and an example you might want to follow.”

  Carr nodded his understanding, greeted Esham and made an excuse to give them privacy. “I believe I shall hunt up a game of billiards.”

  When Lancelot was out of earshot, Esham removed a broken walking stick from under his jacket. The upper half bore a deeply engraved silver knob, and the lower half terminated in a silver tip. “Where?”

  “Buried behind Halston’s wood shed. Fresh turned earth gave it away. Amory must have hidden it before Carr stumbled across his father. Look closely at the head.”

  Dare turned it to the light spilling from the billiards room onto the terrace. Even in the gloom, he could detect the indentation of the silver knob and the traces of blood in the deep engraving. Amory would never have been able to explain that away. No wonder he’d had to hide it. And he must have been furious when his planted jewelry disappeared.

  “One of the investigators tells me old Amory was changing his will. He’d made an appointment with his executor.”

  Dare nodded. There it was—all in a tidy package. Means, motive and opportunity. Would that all his problems were so easily solved. “Take care of this for me, will you?” He handed the broken cane to Esham, straightened his cravat and squared his shoulders before reentering the billiards room, the investigator at his back.
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  “Gentlemen!” Within a few moments, he had the collective attention of the room. “I’ve an itch to play whist. If any of you fancy yourselves a gamester worth the title, you will follow me to the card room! Towe has been good enough to allow us a game. He’s sending us drinks and victuals.”

  Halston and Morvill, he noted, shouted their acceptance along with several others. There’d be more, of course, and some of the cheaters wouldn’t be there, but it wouldn’t really matter. Halston and Morvill could be trusted to inform their coterie of whatever transpired.

  Chapter Sixteen

  TOWE’S CARD ROOM was at the end of one wing of the house, well away from the noise of the party and the risk of an unwary guest stumbling across them. A sideboard laden with carved meats, cheese, fruit, bread and bottles of wine, brandy, and whiskey stood against one wall. He glanced around at the men he’d lured here with the promise of excellent food, free flowing drinks, aromatic cigars, and high stakes. Several tables had been set up and were already in play by the time Dare broke away from conversation with Carr and Morton.

  As the play progressed, Dare noted that Morvill and Halston were not passing signals, and when Clark, Eton and Fortrose joined them, they, too, were circumspect. Too many of their friends were present. Excellent. He did not need them to cheat—only to listen.

  The gathering was a mixed lot. The cheaters mingled with other members of the ton who knew nothing of their peers’ wholesale stripping of Lancelot Carr’s assets. They would make credible witnesses, after all. Money changed hands constantly, but not an inordinate or suspicious amount.

  After a bit more than an hour, Dare stood and stretched. “Shall we take a comfort break, gentlemen? A few moments to relieve the tedium and have a bit of nourishment?”

  Morton joined him at the sideboard and poured himself a measure of whiskey. At a nod from Dare, Morton launched forth in a voice loud enough to draw the attention of those around them.

  “Collingwood, did you not recently tell me that you’d come across an ingenious cheating scheme? You must tell the story. Quite amusing.”

  Dare noted a startled look pass between the cheaters. Good. Their consciences were troubling them. “Ah, yes. Clever, indeed. The whole thing involved collusion on the part of several players. I never would have noticed had I been paying more attention to my cards rather than the company.

  “The game was whist, and the signals involved were,” he paused and thumped his chest, “hearts.” He made a scratching motion, “Spades.” Then he drummed his fingers on the sideboard, “Clubs. And,” he flashed his signet ring, “diamonds.”

  There was general laughter, but the coterie did not appear amused.

  Dare nodded. “Their movements were more subtle than that, but detectable nonetheless.”

  “Good God!” George Bradley looked incredulous. “Who were they? Surely no one from our circle?”

  “Why did you not call them out?” Esham asked. “Expose them?”

  “Oh, I do not think it was all that serious. If I were to guess, I’d say they were just trying to teach someone a lesson, but carried their scheme too far.” He noted the doubtful looks around the room and knew they realized he had not answered their question, which was an answer in itself.

  Morton winked. “But there was more to the story, was there not?”

  “Ah, yes.” He laughed and shook his head. “Their victim did not take this treatment lightly. To even the score, he took from each of the men who cheated him the equivalent of his losses in their goods. Ransom, if you will.”

  A quick look of fear passed over Carr’s face, but the cheaters betrayed astonishment. They hadn’t connected their stolen goods with their own cheating.

  “Ah, I see,” Esham said. “An exchange of money for goods.”

  Dare nodded. “Tit for tat, as it were.”

  “What will happen next?” one of the other men asked. “Seems like an impossible situation.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Dare said. “But allow me to posit a hypothetical circumstance. Simplicity, itself.”

  Fortrose folded his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. “Please do.”

  Dare shrugged. “The parties declare a truce. As long as no lasting harm is done, restitution is made, and each party is made whole, they can regard the affair as a prank. I hope they will do so because, if it persists, I will have to conclude it was something more sinister than a prank and expose the scheme. That could prove quite embarrassing for all concerned.”

  “Come now, Dare. Who are they?” Morton baited. “We are your friends. You can tell us.”

  Dare glanced around the room, meeting each of the cheater’s horrified faces. They were taking him seriously. Good. He shrugged. “I would not wish to gossip since, depending on the outcome, it is none of my business.” He picked up his counters and headed for the terrace door. “I am going to take in some fresh air.”

  Just as he knew they would, the coterie followed him, with Carr bringing up the rear. Dare had already warned him to keep quiet. Morton engaged the other guests in conversation and insisted they make use of the sideboard.

  Once away from the house, Dare lit a cheroot and waited. Morvill was the first to speak.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Collingwood?”

  “Hmm. If I must tell you, I have missed my mark. My intention was to call a halt to all this nonsense.”

  “The law is on our side.”

  Dare laughed. At himself. He was about to use Trudy’s argument. “The law exists to make things right, Morvill. Yes, you may have been wronged, but you wronged Carr first, did you not? I submit to you all that, in this circumstance, two wrongs mutually and equitably satisfied cancel the damage, thus making each party whole.”

  “Preposterous!” Fortrose declared.

  “Is it? I cannot for the life of me think why you, Britain’s finest, concocted such an unworthy scheme. How did you think you’d get away with this? What was your purpose?”

  Morvill cast a dark look in Carr’s direction. “The brat thought he was the high cockalorum. Besting his betters. Crowing over his wins. ’Twas a travesty.”

  “He hit a winning streak and thought he could dupe us.” Fortrose grumbled.

  “Needed to be taught a lesson,” Clark grumbled.

  Carr opened his mouth to defend himself but Dare gave him a quick shake of his head. The last thing he needed was for this meeting to devolve into a fight.

  “If you thought it was such a travesty, perhaps you ought not to have sat at the same table with him when you realized he was winning.” Dare expelled a cloud of smoke in a long, slow stream, giving them time to think about their defense. “He did not dupe you. He made use of a winning streak, which I vow every one of you here would have done. I am appalled to think you actually meant to collect on those larcenous chits! Is this what the peerage has become? Conspiring to ruin a young man who had a run of luck? Or whose skill exceeded yours?

  “And me?” Dare raised an eyebrow at the men. “Did you think to teach me a lesson, too? And Morton? How many others have you played this game with? How many others did you cheat because they partnered Carr? What of them?” None of them would meet his eyes. “So you decided to ruin him?”

  “Old Carr would never have let his whelp go to debtor’s prison,” Morvill said. “And what business is this of yours?”

  “By virtue of the fact that you cheated me in order to cheat Carr. Making me one of your victims was an error in judgment, gentlemen. One too late to correct. You know me. I am all for the law.”

  Halston spoke for the first time. “What would you have us do? It can’t be undone—gone too far to turn back.”

  Dare shrugged as if he did not care. “I suggest you find a way. You could start by giving Carr back his vowels.”

  Morvill’s pale eyes narrowed. “And if we don’t?”

  “You cannot expose his debt without exposing your cheating.”

  “His word against ours.”r />
  “Then I will be forced to stand with Carr and denounce you for the conspirators and cheaters you are. I suspect Morton would be only too happy to stand with me.” He took one last inhale from his cheroot, dropped it to the gravel path and ground it beneath his shoe. “You know me. I want to see justice done. It would pain me, but I would have no choice but to expose you, which would likely have the unfortunate result of making you and your families pariahs for the next three generations. Is that what you want for yourselves? Your families?”

  Fortrose puffed his chest out with importance. “You think people will believe you over us?”

  Dare smiled again. “Yes, I do. Aside from that, there is a room full of your colleagues and peers waiting for us inside. I’ve told the story, and they’d like names. They will believe me, Morvill, down to the fact that I’ve just given both parties a chance to make this right. And... Carr has something you want.”

  Clark sniffed and turned his back. “What the devil? What does he have?”

  “The story I told inside, gentlemen. Were you so absorbed with your own guilt that you did not listen? Carr has your goods. Without his markers, he keeps your jewels.”

  “Eh?” Fortrose looked astonished. “Carr is the Shadow? Balderdash! The lad hasn’t got it in him to steal our things.”

  “He obviously does. I’ve seen them.” He almost groaned at the lie, but it was effective. Jaws dropped and eyes widened. “Come now, gentlemen. Surely you’ve had your fun and Carr is duly chastened. I vouch he will do no more crowing. But you are above such pettiness. If you are the men I think you are, you will put this to rights and leave it in the past.”

  He’d made a list of everything Carr had stolen and took it from his jacket pocket to hand to Morvill. Once the list had made the rounds, he refolded it and put it back in his pocket. “I will, of course, take all I know to the authorities if you even think about whispering a denouncement of Lancelot Carr. Keep in mind, he was the first victim in this sordid scheme.”