Good Earl Gone Bad Read Free

knowledgeable about horses as his daughter was. “I suppose they’re the same ones,” he said with a shrug. “I haven’t seen them myself, but since she got them I’ve been approached by any number of chaps with offers to buy them.”
    I’ll bet you have, Mainwaring thought with a grimace. Any man of sense would know Upperton was short of the ready and might be eager to sell off any valuable possessions. Even if they didn’t, strictly speaking, belong to him. He recalled quite clearly that Hermione had purchased the pair with her own funds since her father—notorious for his objections to her fondness for driving—had refused to buy her a pair with his funds.
    Saintcrow, however, had no notion of the horses’ true ownership, and his eagerness was apparent in the way he leaned forward at the table. “I’ll accept the pair as your wager, my lord. And the Lincolnshire estate.”
    Jasper exchanged a quick look with Trent. He could, knowing the truth about the horses, speak up, but to declare it openly in front of witnesses would be tantamount to calling Upperton a liar and men had been called out for less. Plus, the scandal would damage Hermione’s reputation irrevocably. Something he’d avoid if he could help it.
    Once the terms were set, the game itself was short and sweet—at least for Saintcrow, who at the end of play found himself the proud owner of a pair of finely matched grays, named as Jasper had heard Hermione say, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, because their original owner had been fond of Shakespeare. He only hoped that the end of this particular drama was happier than that of Hamlet.
    â€œYou may collect the horses at your convenience, Saintcrow,” Upperton said with a shrug, indicating that the loss of his daughter’s prized possessions was not of particular interest to him. “Though I must insist you give me the opportunity to win back my losses sometime soon. That estate has been in my wife’s family for generations.”
    â€œClearly it is weighing heavily on you, my lord,” Jasper said with irony as the earl rose from his place at the table.
    He would have pulled Hermione’s father aside to chastise him in private, but was forestalled by the appearance of Upperton’s mistress, the widowed Countess of Amberly.
    â€œHave you been a naughty boy, Upperton?” she purred, slipping an arm into the earl’s.
    â€œMy dear lady,” Upperton said blithely, “I have lost nothing that you will miss, I can assure you. And I always win back my losses. You will see.”
    And any chance Jasper might have had for discussing Upperton’s losses with him was lost as the two lovers disappeared into another part of the house.
    â€œThat went well,” Trent said dryly. “Though what we could have done to stop things short of leaping into the flames ourselves I have no idea.”
    â€œIt’s a damnable thing when a man can wager his daughter’s belongings without a by-your-leave,” Jasper groused as he and Trent stalked from the card room and toward the door to the street.
    â€œTrue enough,” Trent said. “But I have a feeling Lady Hermione will not take the news without a fight.”
    â€œEven Lady Hermione Upperton cannot interfere in a matter of honor like a wager,” Jasper said, brushing a spare thread from the sleeve of his greatcoat. “Though I should like very much to see her try.”
    *   *   *
    â€œYou’re sure Leonora and Freddy will be there?” asked Hermione as she negotiated her bright yellow curricle around a narrow turn.
    Though Ophelia was not overly fond of riding in the fast carriage, she had agreed to do so that morning for the sake of the occasion. Today was Hermione’s first outing as a full-fledged member of the Lords of Anarchy driving club.
    â€œYes,” Ophelia answered sharply, gripping the side of the