Page 86 of Rakes & Reticules
She sighed. “Only when it comes to cards. I am abysmal with men.”
Rosie patted her hand. “It only takes one man...the right man.”
“And I think he’s staring at you right now,” Callum’s uncle remarked, turning his gaze to Callum. “Am I wrong?”
CHAPTERFIVE
Callum did not like being put on the spot, and his uncle’s pointed question certainly had done that. Yes, he liked Amelia. Possibly was falling in love with her...well, he was in love with her.
But whose business was it other than his or Amelia’s?
“Lord Danvers, your nephew has a highly developed sense of honor,” Amelia said lightly, hoping to defuse the sudden tension crackling between Callum and his uncle. “It is more than I can say for you and my aunt who are shameless card sharps. Kindly do not make too much of his attentiveness. He worries about me because I am so inept in the social graces. But I am not inept at cards and you’ve just palmed an ace.”
Callum laughed. “You will not put anything past Amelia, you old goat. But I see this game is not going to be honest. Even so, I am certain Amelia and I will beat you.”
“Care to wager on it?” his uncle said, the tension between them now eased due to Amelia’s remarks.
She was shy about men, but quite clever in every other way, this much was obvious to Callum. “Yes, Uncle. First team to reach five points wins. Deal the cards.”
Amelia shook her head. “But what is the winner’s prize to be?”
“A kiss from you,” Lord Danvers suggested.
“Me? More kisses? Can you not think of a more interesting prize?”
Callum, who had been frowning at his uncle moment’s earlier, now grinned at him. “A kiss from Amelia suits me just fine.”
“Do I not have a say in the matter?” she asked, frowning at both men whose smiles were so stretched they looked like grinning hyenas.
Her aunt kicked her under the table. “Ouch!”
“Stop griping, Amelia, and loosen up a little.” Her aunt tossed her a pointed look. “Honestly, child. Must you always be so buttoned up? The duke wants to kiss you, so sit back and enjoy the win.”
“We haven’t even played a hand yet. How can you be sure our team will beat yours? Especially if you insist on cheating?” But she said the last with a laugh and resigned herself to the chaos this game of whist was about to become. Well, they were playing by house party rules which meant no rules at all.
They lost the first set because Callum’s uncle rigged the trump suit and dealt Rosie mostly cards in that trump suit. “That’s two points for us,” his uncle exclaimed proudly when the tricks were tallied.
“My turn to deal,” Callum said, now showing off his prowess with sleight of hand. Their trump suit was hearts and he chuckled at Amelia’s expression when she looked at her hand and saw mostly hearts.
Needless to say, he and Amelia won their tricks handily.
“Two points for us,” Amelia said, faking a cough to suppress her laughter.
Her aunt dealt next, but Rosie was no card sharp so their round was honest. It was an even match, each of them taking the same number of tricks because the deck was suddenly short enough cards to make the final trick which would determine the winner impossible. “One point for each,” Callum declared. “Amelia, your turn to deal.”
She shuffled the deck thoroughly and dealt out the cards, casting Callum a look of surprise when the missing cards magically reappeared.
He winked at her, for he had palmed them to ensure his uncle did not have more mischief up his sleeve.
“Trump suit is spades,” she said, casting him the softest smile as she turned over the last card.
Callum looked at his cards and laughed.
He had a handful of spades.
The girl was a card sharp!
A better one than he or his uncle since neither of them had seen her cheating. Yet, she had. There was no way he could have been dealt this hand legitimately.
