Page 68 of The Grand Mistletoe Assembly
“You’ll throw her off,” Roger warned. “Don’t put thoughts in her head. She needs to concentrate.”
Max agreed but couldn’t help wanting to go to her. To apologize and explain. He’d never willingly be absent from her. He wanted to spend every day with her, and every day that he couldn’t made him impatient and sometimes furious.
“Those cutpurses won’t throw themselves out,” Roger said, nudging Max.
They returned to the Fancy, where Daniel Miller was once again in conference with Lord Andrepont and Corinthian John. The prizefighter was trying to deny whatever Corinthian John was proposing, but Max couldn’t hear their words. Given the last conversation Max had overheard, it was likely to do with Ruby Jackson. Max’s whole life had revolved around Ruby these past two weeks. If only she’d look at him. He shuffled closer to listen in.
“John, please, we’ve known each other a long time. How would you feel in my position?” Daniel Miller asked. “I’m not going to say I’m her da on account of newspaper clippings.”
Max wanted to turn around and yell at him. What would it cost him to speak to a young woman? Why was it such an imposition?
“I’m not asking you to. What I’m asking is allow me to introduce her to you. No admission, no discussion of involvement. Just meet her. Congratulate her on the set-to.”
Daniel Miller protested again. “But—”
Roger clasped Max’s forearm, which made Max realize he was tensed into fists. Roger shook his head. He was right. No good would come of Max’s anger. All he wanted was for Ruby to meet a man who might be her father. He assumed Ruby wanted this. If her sponsors were insisting, he imagined she did. They might have discussed it on Sunday if he’d been able to go to her. If Mr. Hastings hadn’t vomited all over Max’s shoes.
Basil jumped into the ring, hawking the fighters to gather more wagers. He managed a few, and then the women joined him on the raised platform. They stayed in their corners, Bruising Peg closer to the Fancy, which meant Max could see Ruby’s face.
Both women took their arms out of their sleeves and tied the fabric around their waists. It was clearly a practiced gesture for both women, neither of them bothering to preen and prance the way male fighters did. Max supposed it meant something different if they acted that way. But still, he’d love to see Ruby having fun up there, enjoying the pre-fight as much as she enjoyed the bout itself. Max watched her eyes, hoping she might look his way, but she never lost sight of Bruising Peg, watching her like a hungry dog watches a scrap of meat.
Neither of them wore their stays, and while Bruising Peg’s shift was worn thin, Ruby’s appeared new. He gave silent thanks to Lord and Lady Andrepont for sponsoring her and giving her what she needed.
Basil screamed for them to toe the line, and both obeyed. It appeared an unfair matchup due to their height difference, given Bruising Peg’s reach was so much longer than Ruby’s. But, Ruby had done well in the last set-to, if only Bruising Peg’s foot hadn’t gone through the floor.
Ruby leaned back, all her weight thrown behind her, as if she would dart away as soon as possible. That had been her strategy in the last fight, yet Bruising Peg had still managed to cuff her ear before her retreat had been complete.
Basil rang the bell.
Ruby shifted and near sprinted inside Bruising Peg’s reach, pummeling her belly before dancing sideways. Max’s jaw dropped. Bruising Peg was already doubled over. The crowd was silent a moment, trying to figure out what they had just witnessed. Ruby darted in again, Bruising Peg not yet righted, and gave her shots to the kidney and kicked her knees out from behind, forcing her taller opponent to the ground.
The crowd whooped and hollered. This was a brutality rarely seen in any set-to, even in the vicious men’s fights.
Bare-knuckled as she was, Ruby Jackson gazed straight into Max’s corner. Whether she sought Max, or her sponsors, or the man she believed to be her father, Max didn’t know. But Ruby Jackson sunk a sickeningly hard facer into Bruising Peg.
The fight was over.
It hadn’t lasted five minutes. Men who’d bet on Ruby Jackson clapped each other on the back. Roger cuffed Max on the shoulder in celebration, but Max couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. The fight had been surprising, swift and decisive, no attempts at entertainment, only domination.
It also meant that Max, Roger, and Lord Stone made a large sum of money. A ridiculous amount of money for Max.
Ruby thrust her hands into the air in victory, as Bruising Peg lay prostrate on the floor of the ring, her kneeman trying to revive her. Max threw his hands in the air and hooted. That was his Ruby. Ruby, who seemed less disheveled than when he’d taken her home from a long walk. Ruby, who let him buy her warm chestnuts.
She looked to him then. Really looked, not just in his direction. Max didn’t care what his duties to Baron Stone might have been in that moment. He charged through the crowd to get ringside, wanting to celebrate, to congratulate. She watched him approach, her expression turning from triumphant to wary.
He made it to the ring and thrust up his arm in victory. They locked eyes. This was her moment. He knew that, but he also wanted her to know he was there for her. That he wanted not to take it from her, or even share it with her, but rather he wanted to amplify it. Make her triumph even bigger.
She stepped closer to him, the room still a deafening roar, and grasped his hand, thrusting her free hand into the air, letting out a roar of her own. Max let the euphoria in the room subsume him in a surge of victory.
* * *
Ruby hadenough heat in her body to rival the sun. Although she’d planned to beat Bruising Peg, she felt stupefied. How did such a simple maneuver actually work? She’d managed to not only win but to escape without a scratch. Bruising Peg’s men took her up and off the platform, nursing her back to awareness. Ruby let go of Maximillian’s hand, still surprised that her gambit had paid off. Basil jumped into the ring to divvy up the winnings, and Ruby drifted back to her own corner, distracted by how long it took Bruising Peg’s team to bring her back round.
“That’s it, that’s how you do it!” Bess Abbott helped Ruby down from the ring, crowing to everyone about Ruby’s success.
Violet threw herself into Ruby’s arms for a hug.
“You all right, girl?” Mr. Worley asked, his deep voice resonating in her chest. He gripped her shoulder to steady her.
