A Little Bit Scandalous Page 0,40
also spoke to one of the girls, and if what she told me is accurate, then there are only about seventy or eighty girls living there.”
“According to Mr. Lamb’s documents, there are more than double that.”
“Precisely,” she said with a nod.
“The girl could be wrong with her arithmetic.”
“I suppose that is a possibility, though she seemed rather intelligent.” She looked up at Roe. “It does seem to be something we could look further into, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I would. Perhaps I need to visit with Mrs. Hancock.”
“You aren’t intending to ask Mr. Lamb about these issues?”
“Not yet. I’m going to look into matters first.” He eyed the book she’d set down. Traité des Substitutions et des équations algébriques. “I was not aware you could read French.”
She shrugged. “There are probably plenty of things you don’t know about me.”
That was no doubt true. Yet he found himself wishing he knew all of those things, all of her secrets, like the fact that she read Algebra texts in French. “As I was saying, I want to look into matters with Mr. Lamb first. He’s the sort of person who would simply disappear if he had to, and I’d prefer to know specifically what is happening at Dover House.”
“Since you were out so long this morning, I had plenty of time to consider the matter and I have a suggestion,” she said.
“Yes?”
“I think we should follow him. I know he plays at Rodale’s. I played him one night. Well, Grey played him. I recognized him when he walked into the board meeting.”
Roe considered her words. He had not realized Nigel Lamb was a gambler. “What kind of player is he?”
“As I recall, he’s not overly competent. He’s also not talkative the way some of the other players are. Especially Finley. That man never stops gossiping. He’s worse than a woman.”
“I don’t remember anyone being overly verbose at your table, except for Cabot goading me.”
She chuckled. “You scared the devil out of them. They all stopped talking when you sat down. Moments before you arrived at the table Finley was regaling us with an affair between a housekeeper and an earl. Most fascinating.”
“I am sorry I missed that,” Roe said. It was one thing to meet Mr. Lamb at Dover House, but Caroline had observed him at a card table. It was the ultimate reveal of a person’s character. “Back to Mr. Lamb. So he was not a skilled player, but what are your other impressions?”
“I do not trust him. He seems, I don’t know, desperate, agitated. Perhaps it’s that twitchy attribute you mentioned,” she said with a grin.
“You think I should follow him around to see what he’s doing?”
She shook her head. “No, I think we should follow him.” She inhaled slowly. “And I’d suggest you allow me to play him again. As Grey.”
“Absolutely not.” Roe held up his hand. “No, it’s far too dangerous.” He shook his head.
“It’s truly not that dangerous. I’m certain Boomer would accompany me again. He is a burly fellow, much larger than the slight Mr. Lamb. He can keep me protected.”
“And you playing him, what will that solve?” But Roe knew the answer to that question even as he asked it. There was much they could glean about a person sitting across from them with cards in their hand. Everything from the way a person wagered, to what they drank, to the choices they made with each hand. And of course, they would be able to discover much about Mr. Lamb’s financials.
“I can gather more information about him. Watch him, see how he plays. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle their funds and their cards.”
It was a sentiment Roe had expressed on many occasion before, one he’d probably told Caroline himself when he’d taught her to play so many years before. She’d been but a girl. Fifteen, he seemed to remember, and he’d taught her to play as a way to get her mind off her brother’s untimely death, and the fact that she suddenly had been left alone in the world. Frankly, it had been the only way he’d known how to interact with her, a selfish tool of distraction because he hadn’t wanted to tell her the truth about Christopher’s death.
“You can tell Justin, let him know I’ll be there in disguise, and he can pull me out if there’s any indication of a problem,” she said. “I will be safe, Roe.”
She was wearing him down. He hated that.