the village idiot at the May fair. You’ve come hot-foot to The Larches, without so much as a spare cravat. So you’re in trouble again. I take it you were planning to tell me what you’ve done this time?’
Without waiting for a response, Leo crossed to the small piecrust table by the window, poured two large brandies and thrust one of them into Jack’s hand. Jack tossed it down in a single swallow and held out his empty glass for a refill. Leo said nothing. He set the empty glass aside and replaced it with his own full one. Jack barely seemed to notice the switch. Shaking his head, Leo took his seat in the wing chair opposite Jack’s and waited for the story to tumble out.
Jack sighed out a long breath, took a large swig of his drink, and then sat forward in his chair with his elbows on his knees, nursing the brandy balloon in his cupped hands as if it were his most treasured possession. He stared at the floor. ‘I’m in real trouble this time, Leo. I don’t think even you can help me out of it.’
‘Perhaps you’d best let me be the judge of that. Well?’
‘I…I played cards at one of the halls, after Lady Morrissey’s ball. With Falstead and Hallingdon and…and a host of other fellows. I was on a winning streak.’
Leo raised his eyebrows, but Jack’s gaze was still fixed on the floor.
‘I won nearly six thousand pounds, Leo.’ Jack looked up then. His eyes were shining. Then, as if a veil had descended, the light of triumph died. ‘But I…I lost it again. All of it. And more.’
Leo waited. Jack seemed to have shrunk in his skin. This was going to be very bad.
At length the silence was too much. Leo’s patience snapped. ‘How much?’ he snarled.
‘Thirty-two thousand.’ Jack’s voice was barely audible.
‘Damn you, brat! D’you intend to ruin us all? Even Dominic couldn’t lay hands on that much. And I certainly can’t. It’s more than three times my income.’
‘I’m sorry, Leo.’
Leo flung himself out of his chair, forcing himself to unclench his fists and to master the urge to plant his brother a facer. Jack deserved it, of course, but it would not do. Leo sucked in a deep breath and went to pour himself a brandy. He needed it now almost as much as Jack did.
‘Who holds your vowels? And how long has he given you to pay?’
‘Er…that’s the problem. It’s—’
Leo exploded. ‘Dammit, Jack, it is not the problem. You are the problem. You and your insatiable lust for gaming. You know you can’t afford it, yet you will persist. You are a fool. And a damned expensive one, too.’
‘I am sorry, Leo,’ Jack said again. He had not moved even an inch in his seat.
‘So who is this problem friend of yours?’
‘No one you know. One of the secretaries at the Prussian Embassy. He’s been summoned back to Berlin. To prepare for the Congress of Vienna, I understand. He’s leaving in two days’ time. That’s why I had to get here in such an almighty rush. I didn’t even have time to—’
‘And this secretary fellow expects to be paid before he leaves, I collect?’ Leo interrupted in icy tones.
Jack tried to reply, but failed. He nodded wretchedly into his brandy.
‘In other words, I have two days to come up with a fortune, or risk having the Aikenhead name dishonoured across Europe.’ It was not a question.
‘I’m s—’
‘Confound it, Jack, if you say you’re sorry just one more time, I’ll wring your miserable neck. Sorry? You don’t begin to know the half of it.’
Jack straightened in his chair. ‘I was going to say that I’m s-sensible of the wrong I’ve done the family, Leo. I will give you my word that I’ll never gamble again, if it will help.’
Astonished, Leo stared at his brother. Jack returned his gaze unflinchingly.
‘By Jove, he means it,’ Leo whispered.
‘I do,’ Jack said, with dignity. ‘And I will keep my word. Though it’s precious little consolation in the circumstances, I know.’
Leo fetched the decanter and added a generous measure to Jack’s glass. ‘You give me your solemn word never again to gamble more than you can afford to lose?’
‘I won’t gamble at all in future, Leo. Not even for chicken stakes.’
‘Don’t say that. I’m not asking for a promise that would be well-nigh impossible to keep. Especially given the fellows you run with.’
Jack dropped his gaze.
‘If you give me your word that you will not play beyond your own means, I will find a way of dealing with this little…er…inconvenience.’
Jack drew in an audibly shaky breath and looked up at Leo with glowing eyes. ‘I give you my word, Leo. You may rely on it. And I will find a way to repay you, I promise.’
Leo laughed mirthlessly. ‘I shall pretend I did not hear that last promise, brat. You know, and I know, that you could no more find thirty-two thousand pounds than you could swim to America. Now—’ he laid a friendly hand on Jack’s shoulder ‘—I suggest you go and get some sleep. I don’t want you appearing in front of my guests, male or female, until you are presentable again. At the moment…’ Leo looked his brother up and down and shuddered. He reached out to pull the bell.
Gibson appeared so quickly that he must have been hovering outside the door.
‘Conduct Lord Jack to a bedchamber, Gibson. And direct my man to provide whatever he may need by way of clothing. Lord Jack is extremely fatigued after his journey and will not be joining us again this evening. He will take a light supper in his room.’
Jack rose and straightened his back. He yawned theatrically.
Leo felt his lips twitch. It was very difficult to remain furious with Jack for long, even when he thoroughly deserved it.
‘If your lordship would follow me?’ Gibson said, opening the door for Jack.
‘Leo, I—’
‘Goodnight, Jack,’ Leo said harshly. Then, more gently, ‘Sleep well, brat.’
As the door closed behind them, Leo’s mask of control shattered. He knew that, if there had been a mirror in this room, it would have shown him the face of a stricken man. Thirty-two thousand pounds! What on earth had possessed the boy?
Leo began to pace, but the room was too small. He needed space, and air. He made his way along the corridor and out on to the terrace. Low laughter from the shadows announced that the terrace had become a place of dalliance. He tried his library. It, too, was occupied. For the first time in the ten years since Dominic had given The Larches to him, Leo regretted having invited his boon companions and their ladybirds to make free of his hospitality. It seemed that nowhere in the whole house could provide the seclusion he craved.
He returned to the hallway just as Gibson emerged from the back stairs. Leo raised an eyebrow.
‘Lord Jack is in the Chinese bedchamber, my lord.’
Leo snorted with laughter. The Chinese bedchamber had been a flight of fancy of a previous tenant and Gibson, it seemed, had been indulging in a spot of retribution on his own account.
‘I am going riding.’
Gibson’s eyebrows shot up towards his hairline.
‘Have Jezebel saddled and brought round in ten minutes. And tell the kitchen that dinner is to be delayed by one hour.’
‘Very good, my lord. If any of your lordship’s guests should ask…?’
‘Tell them I have gone out. I am sure they will