Page 84 of The Baron Takes a Bet
“What was Jasper doing here?” he asked, hoping he would have answers.
“I don’t know,” Clara said. “But he’s caused quite a stir. I think I overhear him challenging the Duke of Gloucester.”
Gavin groaned inwardly.
“Bloody hell. What is wrong with him? And what would give him the grand idea of challenging someone in such a public place?”
“Well, the duke insulted him. He called Jasper a child.”
Gavin closed his eyes momentarily and pursed his lips into a line. He already knew that Jasper loathed being called a child.
“Splendid. Then I suppose he’s gone off to prove himself the opposite. I’ve got to go after him, before he gets himself killed,” he said, shaking his head as Derek and Silas appeared. “Holly’s brother is causing a fair amount of trouble. I’m afraid I’ll have to leave, though who knows where I should even begin searching for him.”
“Ah,” Derek said, his brow creasing. “I may actually know.”
Gavin glanced at his friend. Derek rarely concerned himself with the seeder side of society… except when it came to gambling. Realizing this, Gavin knew where Jasper was going before Derek said it.
“Clemet Club,” they said in unison.
Gavin turned to Silas. “Will you see to it that Holly, Aunt Marnie, and Katrina are conveyed safely home?”
“Of course,” Silas said with a nod, before noticing Clara’s wide-eyed expression.
“Is there something wrong?”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
But Gavin sensed she wasn’t telling the truth. Curious, he wanted to question her, but Silas spoke first.
“We’ll see everyone home safely.”
“Thank you,” Gavin said earnestly. Turning to leave, he found Derek by his side. “What are you doing?”
“I’m coming with you.”
“There’s no need for you to ruin your own night.”
“Believe me, this is a godsend. Besides, you don’t even know where Clemet Club is.”
“And you do?”
“I know every gaming table in this city.”
They were out the door and in a hired hackney within minutes, neither wishing to bother with waiting for a carriage.As they moved through the city, Gavin couldn’t shake the image of Holly’s angry face from his mind.
He hadn’t meant to go behind her back, but at the same time Gavin sympathized with Jasper, a young man aimless in the world. He had been that young man and had gone abroad for many years searching for something he hadn’t ever genuinely found until recently.
A purpose.
Gavin had never felt tied to any person or place until fate had dropped him square in the middle of the Smyth family. It had been infuriating at first to come to terms with the fact that he had been hoodwinked into marriage with a stranger, but every day since being informed of his new life, he had felt grounded. As if he had finally found a reason for living—and it wasn’t an endless pursuit of a hedonistic lifestyle. He found his only desires wrapped around the finger of a single woman who was furious with him.
But even her anger couldn’t upset him. Perhaps it was his ever-mounting optimism, but Gavin was even grateful that she was upset with him because it meant that she cared about him.
Perhaps it was foolish, but Gavin was convinced that he could explain everything to Holly once he saved Jasper from whatever mess he had managed to get himself in.
Derek watched him with a confused expression, his arms folded across his chest.
