The Earl's Inconvenient Wife (Regency Collection Book 1) (21 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

“A
re you sure you don’t want to make the game more interesting by adding some money to the table?” Hedwrett asked, leaning forward in his chair.

“No,” Nate said, wishing they co
uld be done playing cards so they could get down to business.

He’d heard Hedwrett liked to wiggle as much money from others as possible, so Hedwrett’s insistence that they play piquet hadn’t come as a surprise, but he sure did wish he could
tell Hedwrett what he could do with his greedy claws.  But he couldn’t.  Instead, he had to hope that one of them would get a hundred points and end the game.

“Not much of a gambling
gentleman, hmm?” Hedwrett shuffled the cards, and though Nate couldn’t be sure, he thought he saw the gentleman slip a card under his sleeve.  “I can’t resist a challenge.  Of course, I hear Lord Edon can bluff his way through any game.”

“Oh?”

“You’re in White’s, aren’t you?”

Nate nodded, not sure if he wanted to find out where this conversation was going.

“I haven’t been there.  I prefer Brooks’s.”

“Both are fine clubs,” he cautiously said as Hedwrett dealt the cards.

“Lord Edon often plays games at White’s, doesn’t he?”

“Yes.” He picked up his cards and glanced at them before he glanced at Hedwrett, wondering when, or if, he’d pull out the card he had slipped under his sleeve.  “I can’t stay here much longer.  I have press
ing matters to tend to at home.” Sure, the pressing matters he referred to had to do with spending time with Claire, but he figured there was no need to explain what he meant to Hedwrett.

“I heard you’re a
gentleman who works hard, but it’s never a bad idea to allow for some play.”

Hedwrett wiggled his finger and clucked his tongue in a way that only served to annoy Nate further.  For goodness’ sake!  Did Hedwrett think he was a child?

The door opened, and Nate glanced over to see the butler carrying a tray with a decanter and glasses on it.  He shifted uncomfortably in the chair.  He didn’t mind drinking port wine, but he hoped Hedwrett wouldn’t pester him to drink more than he usually did.  As it was, the gentleman had managed to get him to play cards, and unlike other gentlemen, he hated to play cards.  Nate bit back the urge to sigh in case Hedwrett realized how much he was bothering him.

“Do you collect wine, Lord Roderick?” Hedwrett asked as the butler poured some of it into their glasses.

“No, I don’t, but my brother did.”

“A shame.  I make it a habit of only getting the best, and he was bragging he had some that dated back a century.”

He exchanged a card from the deck stacked at the center of the table and studied it, trying to determine if he could use it to his advantage or if he should intentionally let the other gentleman win.  “Not anymore.  My brother got rid of them.”

“I suppose he got tired of his collection.” Picking up his glass, he drank almost the entire glass before setting it on the table and gave a satisfied smile.  “No, this is not one of my vintage bottles, but I’m happy to say that it came from the Duke of Watkins.  He knows a
gentleman who can make wine that tastes as if it’s been sitting in a bottle for a hundred years.  I don’t know what his secret is, but I wouldn’t mind teaching it to my staff.  God knows they could use something more to occupy their time.  The other day, I caught the valet in a rather embarrassing situation with a chambermaid.  Granted, these things happen, but if they insist on it, I’d rather they do it when there isn’t work to be done.” Hedwrett picked up a new card from the deck and looked at Nate’s glass.  “I hope you’ll taste it.”

After he picked up another card, Nate dutifully retrieved his glass and sipped the wine in it.  How he wished he could leave already.  The last thing he wanted was to hear Hedwrett gossip about his household.

“What do you think?” Hedwrett asked.

“About what?”

“The wine, of course.”

“Oh!” Nate took another sip and nodded.  “It’s good.” At least as good as any other wine he’d had.  He didn’t know what made it special, but he supposed taste was subjective.

“It’s good, he says.” With an exaggerated eye roll, he chuckled.  “I hate to say this, Lord Roderick, but you don’t know good wine if all you can say is that this wine is good.”

Nate shrugged.  “I’m preoccupied with the game.  Shall we get back to it?” He lifted his cards, praying this would be the last round he’d have to suffer through.

“Yes.  You’re very focused.”

“It’s how I managed to
rectify the damage my steward did.”

Hedwrett smirked.  “I suppose it is.  Too b
ad we can’t combine your steward’s amiability with your ability to properly settle financial matters.” He picked up another card, and with a wide smile, added, “I believe I got a hundred points, Lord Roderick.”

Relieved, he set his cards down.  Good.  The game was finally over!  Maybe now he could pay Hedwrett and go home.

“You’re a terrible card player.  No wonder you don’t want to bet with money.” Hedwrett let out a hearty laugh and motioned for the butler to pour him more wine.  “Drink up, my lord.  It’s impolite to not accept my gift to you.”

Nate picked up his full glass and forced himself to drink the wine.  When he was done, Hedwrett motioned to the butler to pour more wine into Nate’s glass, and as much as he wanted to protest, he didn’t dare.

Hedwrett sat back in his large chair and sipped his wine.  “You may leave,” he told his butler with a dismissive wave of his hand.  “Good help is so hard to find, don’t you agree, Lord Roderick?  Even this butler can’t seem to remember where the good wine is located in my cellar.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was smuggling the good bottles to his room.”

He let out another boisterous laugh.  Nate glanced at the butler who closed the door behind him on the way out.  No wonder Hedwrett’s servants were known for either gossiping about him or running off as soon as they could.  Hedwrett had no
sense of diplomacy.

After Hedwrett drank half the contents in his glass, he let out a contented sigh.  “Yes, that wine gets better every time I taste it.  But never mind that.  You have some money to give me.  I won’t take up any more of your time.  I don’t want to keep you away from those pressing matters at Weston.”

Nate jumped up and followed Hedwrett to his desk where he pulled out his ledger and ran his fingers down one of the columns.  “I’m afraid your ledger is incorrect.  I don’t owe you any more money.”

“Why not?”

“Because I paid everything my steward owed you.”

Hedwrett shrugged.  “
But there’s still the matter of interest for being late.”

“I came here to tell you I’m not paying it.”

Hedwrett frowned.  “I see you a week before making good on the debt.  As far as I’m concerned, you owe me compensation for waiting.”

Irritated, Nate placed his hands on the table and made eye contact with him.  “I don’t owe you any
thing.”

“Is it because you don’t have a
ny more money?  Did your steward leave you destitute?”

“My financial affairs are not your concern.”

“Since you owe me some money, they are my concern, but I think I misjudged how much your steward foolishly wasted.  Lord Roderick, I’m a reasonable gentleman.  I’m sure we can come to an agreement.  Perhaps if you’d allow me some time alone with your wife, we could let the extra interest go.”

Nate didn’t have time to think.  He grabbed Hedwrett by the cravat and pulled him over the desk so their noses were barely touching.  “If you ever make a suggestion like that to me again, I’ll call you out to a duel, whether it’s legal or not.  That money
I already gave you settles the debt, but if you feel inclined to press me further, I’ll be sure to approach the gentleman you swindled the next time I’m at White’s club.  Do you understand?”

Hedwrett’s eyes grew wide and he gulped, his face pale.

“Signal that you understand.”

He nodded.

Nate released him.  “You disgust me, Lord Hedwrett.  If you come near me or my wife, I won’t be responsible for what I do to you.” He straightened up and exhaled to calm his nerves.  “The account is settled.  You won’t be telling anyone otherwise.”

Hedwrett reached for the bell at the corner of his desk and rang it.  The door to the room opened.  “Make sure Lord Roderick is escorted to his carriage,” he told the butler, his voice a bit shaky.

Satisfied, Nate spun on his heel and headed out of the room.

***

“We have to get out of here,” Mister Robinson whispered.

Claire and Lilly stepped away from the wall while he put the picture back in place.  They hurried after him as he went to the door.  He pressed his fingers to his lips and listened at the door as the butler led Nate out the front door.  Claire dared a glance at her sister, wondering if she was as shocked by what Lord Hedwrett had said as she was.  Lilly’s face was pale, but she gave no indication as to what she was thinking.  It was just as well.  She’d have to talk to her sister later.

She turned her attention back to Mister Robinson.  Once everything was quiet, he opened the door a crack.  He nodded to them and led the way out the door and down a hallway until they reached the servants’ steps.  Once they were outside, she released her breath and followed Mister Robinson and her sister as they made their way around the side of the house.

To her surprise, Nate was talkin
g to his footman.  Claire paused for a moment, wondering why he wasn’t already on his way to the house.  Nate looked in her direction, and when his gaze met hers, his eyes grew wide.  Gasping, she turned around and followed after Mister Robinson and her sister who had stopped a block away to wait for her.

As soon as she reached them, her sister asked, “Why did you stop?”

Keeping pace with her companions, Claire groaned.  “I didn’t expect my husband to still be in front of the house.  It took me by surprise.” She winced.  “I think he knows it was me.”

“You can’t know that for sure,” Mister Robinson said.

“Oh, but I can.  He gave me the same look he did that day when he caught me dressed up as a stableboy.”

Lilly halted her steps, grabbed Claire’s arm, and turned her so they were facing each other.  “You dressed up as a stableboy?”

She glanced behind her to make sure Nate’s carriage wasn’t coming down the street.  “To see our parents, but mostly to see you.”

“To see me?”

“Because you said Lord Hedwrett had taken an interest in you, and I wanted you to marry Mister Morris.”

“Ladies, can you discuss this later?” Mister Robinson interrupted them.

Claire glanced to where he was pointing and saw Nate’s carriage heading their way.  Startled, she and the others hurried down the street.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” her sister told her.  “I won’t have anything else to do with Lord Hedwrett.”

She breathed a sigh of relief.  Once she reached her townhouse, Mister Robinson darted down another street, and Claire urged her sister into the house where they snuck up the servants’ stairs and to her bedchamber.

In all her life, Claire had no idea she could change clothes as fast as she did, and afterwards, she stuffed the chambermaids’ clothes and wigs into a trunk and slammed the lid.  Out of breath, she motioned for Lilly to hurry to the drawing room.  Once downstairs, they passed a surprised butler and made it to the room just in time for the front door to open.

Gasping, Claire sat down and struggled to slow her breathing.  Lilly sat beside her, also out of breath.  Nate was talking to the butler, and she decided that was her cue.  She laughed, making sure it was loud enough for him to hear, and said, “Oh Lilly!  You say the funniest things!”

To Lilly’s credit, she joined her and laughed, too.

Nate entered the room, and she studied his face to judge whether or not he knew it’d been her dressed as a chambermaid outside Lord Hedwrett’s house, but he gave no indication if he knew.

“Miss Lowell, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” he said with a bow.

Claire and Lilly stood, and Lilly curtsied.  “It’s a pleasure to see you as well, my lord.” She turned to Claire and clasped her hands.  “Thank you for everything.  I must leave.”

Claire smiled.  “Thank you for coming.”

“My coachman will take you home,” Nate said.

Thanking him, Lilly left the room.

After a few moments of awkward silence, he walked over to Claire and kissed her.  “Did you have a good visit with your sister?”

Unsure of how to best proceed, she cleared her throat and nodded.  “It was very enlightening.”

“I’m sure it was.”

She bit her lower lip, wondering if he was going to mention Lord Hedwrett.

“Lady Roderick, the strangest thing happened tonight,” he said.

Her eyebrows rose.  “Oh?”

“Yes, there was this person who reminded me of you.  I saw her just as I was leaving Lord Hedwrett’s residence.”