Authors: Erica Ridley
All I Want (5 page)
Romancing the Rogue
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Let It Snow
Dark Surrender
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Lord of Chance
Erica Ridley
The first book in the brand new
Rogues to Riches
series!
http://smarturl.it/R2RchanceKobo
Lord of Chance
Disguised as a country miss, Charlotte Devon flees London, desperate to leave her tattered reputation behind. In Scotland, her estranged father’s noble blood will finally make her a respectable debutante. Except she finds herself accidentally wed to a devil-may-care rogue with a sinful smile. He’s the last thing she needs…and everything her traitorous heart desires.
Charming rake Anthony Fairfax is on holiday to seek his fortune…and escape his creditors. When an irresistible Lady Luck wins him in a game of chance—and a slight mishap has them leg-shackled by dawn—the tables have finally turned in his favor. But when past demons catch up to them, holding on to new love will mean destroying their dreams forever.
http://smarturl.it/R2RchanceKobo
Chapter One
Scotland, 1817
Mr. Anthony Fairfax might not be the lord of a manor, but he was king of the gaming hells. Or had been. He should resume his throne at any moment. His luck was already turning back around, right there in a humble inn on the Scottish border. Anthony slid another look toward a certain young woman seated alone in the shadows.
Making her acquaintance was almost as tempting as winning the next hand of Speculation.
To feign disinterest in the twitches and tells of the other three men at the card table, Anthony lifted his untouched glass of brandy to his lips and leaned back in his chair. Careful to keep a watchful eye on the other gamblers, he glanced about the inn while he waited his turn.
This particular inn was a bit dear, given the unpredictable condition of Anthony’s purse, but he’d chosen it for that very reason. Rich guests meant higher profits at the gaming tables.
Bored gentlemen—after all, who stopped at a small village on the border between Scotland and England save those on a long, dusty journey?—meant virtually every soul present had wandered into the guest salon after supper to be entertained for a moment or two.
For Anthony, the most interesting of all was the intriguing woman in the corner. She drank nothing. Spoke to no one. Seemed uninterested in the bustle of life about her. Yet she was not.
Light from a nearby candle reflected in her eyes every time she looked his way.
Anthony was certain she was the catalyst for his phenomenal luck this evening. As a lifelong gambler, he was accustomed to both long stretches of near-invincibility as well as dry spells of dashed fortune. From the moment he’d laid eyes on this mysterious woman, every trump that turned up matched the cards in his hands.
She was his talisman. His saving grace.
Her moss-colored gown was simple muslin, but the blood-red rubies about her neck and dangling from her ears indicated wealth. A nondescript bonnet bathed her face in shadow. Were it not for a rogue ringlet slipping out the back, he would not have known her hair was spun gold.
“Fairfax?” prompted Leviston. “You in?”
“Absolutely.” Anthony placed a dizzying sum of money on the corner of the table. Thirty pounds was more than he’d seen in months—and far more than he could afford to lose. But with Lady Fortune gazing in his direction, he knew he could not fail.
Smugly, Mr. Bost tossed his final card onto the table, face-up. Mr. Leviston and Mr. Whitfield groaned as they displayed their cards.
As Anthony had expected, their cards were no match for his. Not tonight. He turned over the last of his cards without fanfare.
Bost gasped in dismay. “You are positively beggaring me tonight, Fairfax!”
Anthony gazed back impassively as he tucked his winnings into his purse. He knew a thing or two about being beggared. It was what had chased him from London to Scotland—but only temporarily. He
would
recover his losses.
Beau Brummell might be able to hide in France the rest of his life, but Anthony had friends and family in England. Friends and family who would welcome him back with open arms once his vowels were paid.
Tonight was the night. He could feel it. Fate had been on his side from the moment Leviston had suggested a game of Speculation. Anthony could not possibly have resisted.
He had always preferred games of chance over strategy. His strength was not in counting cards or doing figures, but in being incredibly lucky. Any gambler experienced periods of soaring highs and devastating lows but, in Anthony’s case, fortune favored him so often that his winnings at the gaming tables had been his family’s sole income for years.
True, he had recently suffered agonizing losses but, as any gambler knew, a windfall was always a mere turn of the cards away.
All he needed was one big win.
Whitfield shook his head. “Demme, I should never have believed the rumors of your luck running out. You’re unsinkable! Think you’ll ever retire from the gaming tables and leave a few pence for us mortals?”
Anthony twisted his face into a comical expression of horror. “Never!”
Chuckling, Whitfield gathered the remaining cards and began to shuffle.
Anthony sent a quick smile toward his shadowy Lady Fortune. She was his charm, his muse. He had won that last round simply because she’d gazed upon him.
“I see our would-be adversary has caught your eye,” said Whitfield.
“She wagers?” Anthony asked in surprise.
“She’d like to,” Leviston answered dryly, “but Bost wouldn’t let her join us.”
Bost drained his brandy and waved his empty glass at a barmaid. “What do women know about cards? Her husband should pay more attention to the purse strings.”
Whitfield’s eyes glittered. “And if she hasn’t got one, she should just say the word and I’ll be happy to step in for the night.”
Anthony’s lips flattened in distaste. “Leave her alone.”
“Why?” Bost crossed his arms. “You have claims on the lady?”
“You never know, do you?” Anthony countered icily. It was a nonsense rejoinder, but at least his tone served to silence the blackguards.
Good. He needed to keep winning. A brawl over Lady Fortune’s honor would have ruined everything.
“Your wine, my lords.” The harried barmaid refilled the other gentlemen’s glasses, then turned toward Anthony. “Anything for you, sir?”
“Not for me.” Anthony placed a gold sovereign he’d set aside onto her tray. “For you. Everyone deserves some good luck once in a while.”
Her eyes glistened. “Thank you, sir.
Thank you
.”
Anthony inclined his head. Inn staff would not know him this far north, but he always shared a small token from his winnings. He couldn’t imagine a worse fate than having to be employed to scrape out a living—not only because gentlemen of his class did not work. Anthony had never cleaved to anyone else’s schedule or demands in his life. Gaming hells were much more suited to his style of living.
In fact, he won the next three rounds. A thrill shot through him. Lady Fortune’s presence had made him unconquerable indeed.
“I’m out.” Bost pushed his chair back and stood with a disgusted expression. “If I risk any more, I shan’t be able to afford to break my fast in the morning.”
“Make that two of us.” Whitfield glanced at Anthony as he rose to his feet. “I suppose the gossips also lied when they said all the gaming hells in London had closed their doors to you.”
“London?” Anthony leaned back in his throne with a careless grin. “Try England. Why do you think I came all the way to Scotland to deprive you of your last ha’penny?”
“Scoundrel.” Whitfield shook his head with a chuckle. “Good night, all.”
Bost adjusted his hat. “Next time I see you, Fairfax, I’m winning back my blunt.”
“You can try,” Anthony agreed with good cheer before handing the cards to Leviston. “One last round?”
“I’ll no doubt regret this,” Leviston grumbled as he shuffled the cards.
A movement caught Anthony’s eye. He straightened his spine as Lady Fortune rose from her shadowy corner and made her way toward their table.
“Now is there room for a lady?” she asked in a rich, sultry voice.
“Without question.” Anthony leaped up while she took her seat. She had no chance of winning, but he saw no reason not to welcome her to the table.
“Your funeral,” Leviston said to her under his breath. “Fairfax here is unbeatable.”
Anthony was in full agreement. Leviston could bid his last farthing adieu. Now that Lady Fortune was seated at their table, Anthony’s luck would be boundless. He was on the longest winning streak of his life.
“Fairfax, meet Miss Devon.” Leviston began to deal the cards. “Starting wager is twenty pounds, pet.”
She placed her bet on the table without changing expression.
Anthony couldn’t stop staring at her from the corner of his eye. He was normally quite gifted at sizing someone up in the briefest of moments—it was the key to reading tables, and knowing when to pass or when to triple his wager—but he couldn’t quite get a fix on Miss Devon.
It wasn’t just the high-necked modesty of her thick fichu being paired with extravagant rubies, or her concealed golden tendrils and pristine white gloves. Now that she was close enough for him to read her features, he still couldn’t do so. Her clear blue eyes were as calm as a winter lake and her pretty, unlined face betrayed nothing.
He was fascinated. Tempted to give up on cards altogether in favor of unraveling the far more intriguing mystery beneath the oversized bonnet.
But winning big was his only chance of repaying his debts.
Anthony took the next round, and the round after that. Leviston took the third, only for Anthony to win it back double the following hand with an ace on his first deal.
By the fifth round, Leviston’s grip on his cards was white-knuckled and he trembled with obvious anxiety.
Miss Devon murmured, “Breathe in through your nose…and out through your mouth. It is but one hand of cards amongst many. A moment in time. Feel your fingers relaxing. If you wish to stop, you may do so. It is only a game.”
To Anthony’s amazement, Leviston visibly relaxed as he listened to her soft, coaxing words. His knuckles returned to their normal color and his hands ceased trembling.
“You’re right,” Leviston said with a rueful smile. “How easily we forget that the turn of a card is meaningless overall.”