A Little Bit Scandalous Page 0,13

I sent for you should be outside waiting. I do hope you won’t disappoint me.

Most Sincerely,

Monroe Grisham, Duke of Chanceworth

For a moment, all she could do was stare at the parchment in horror. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears and her hands began to shake. What did this letter mean? Why ever would Roe want her to come play cards at his house? Had he discovered her?

Slowly, her present surroundings seeped back into her awareness. Mr. Clipps was still watching her.

“Is everything all right?” he asked.

“Um, yes. Everything is well.”

“Do you need—” Clipps cleared his throat, then dropped his voice almost to a whisper. “Assistance reading the note?”

She started in surprise. “I can read,” she said quickly, trying not to sound offended. Of course Clipps would assume she couldn’t read. Or rather that this dirty, chimney-sweep of a boy couldn’t read. Never mind that Caroline herself could read in English, German, and Latin. He thought she was ignorant.

She quickly folded the note and tucked it away into the pocket of her trousers as she moved away from Clipps’s scrutiny.

No, perhaps what should worry her was not that Clipps assumed she couldn’t read, but rather that Roe assumed she could. But maybe she was looking at all of this too closely. Perhaps Roe did this sort of thing all the time. Besides, the real issue wasn’t whether or not he saw through her disguise. It was whether or not she could afford to ignore his request. Refusing to go to his home would be the highest insult.

Yes, the invitation had been discreet. No one else would know she had snubbed him, but he would know. And he would come looking for her. Maybe tonight. Certainly by tomorrow evening.

That left her with two options. Either she could ignore his request and play for tonight, knowing she couldn’t return to play at Rodale’s again, or she could accept Roe’s invitation, brave the beast in his den, so to speak, and face the consequences.

The decision should have been an easy one. After all, it wasn’t as if she feared for her virtue or her physical safety. Roe was an honorable man. She certainly knew that better than most. No, Roe would never harm a woman. So, even if Roe had guessed her secret, she would be safe.

She waited until Boomer was momentarily distracted to slip out of the back door. She found the carriage waiting for her, the Chanceworth crest emblazoned on the door, and she slipped inside. It rolled forward, rocking back and forth down the street.

The decision had been made.

It was, no doubt, a terrible decision. Still, curiosity demanded she accept his invitation. Nerves thundered through her body. She should tell the driver to turn around, take her back to Rodale’s. Boomer would be looking for her now. Would he go back to Mildred’s house and tell Millie he’d lost Caroline? She hated to think Millie would be pacing with worry.

And then the carriage stopped. She peered out the window and her stomach lurched. The last time she’d been to this townhome had been on the heels of her humiliating proposal. She’d only stayed there a couple of weeks before pleading with him to allow her to return to Dorset. He had not argued or tried to stop her, simply nodded and said he’d have a carriage ready for her return. But that was nearly a lifetime ago. She’d been but eighteen at the time and had still been grieving for Christopher and the rest of her family. Now she was four and twenty and had made a life for herself in Dorset. She had made friends in the village, tutored some young boys who struggled with mathematics, and read to the elderly whose eyes had grown too weak to see the books. And she’d recently moved to London to become her own woman. She was different and there was nothing to fear about going into Roe’s townhome.

Tonight, she’d be in control. She’d win as many hands as she could and take his money without a second thought.

…

It was risky inviting the chit to play at his house, but he’d rather he be the one to expose her, show her how dangerous her game was and then send her on her way. It was a wonder he was the first man to notice. And once the others did, she would be in trouble. Serious trouble. Rodale’s was the nicest gaming hell in all of London, but it was still full of