Free Mischief by Unknown Page A

Thomas announcing the birth of a daughter, Patricia, had come a year after the earl's marriage to Charlotte.
    Matthias had carefully read the joyful, glowing words his father had penned describing his deep and abiding affection" for his infant daughter and her mother. When he was finished, Matthias had consigned the birth announcement to the hearth. As he watched the letter burn, he thought he saw his mother's ghost in the flames. Hers proved to be the first of many.
    The streak of silver appeared in Matthias's hair almost overnight. Thomas began to send increasingly earnest letters to his son, inviting him to visit his new family. Matthias ignored them.
    By the time he had finished his studies, Matthias was well steeped in Greek, Latin, hazard, and whist. Regular trips down to London with his friends had given him an intimate familiarity with the worst gaming hells and with the contents of the British Museum.
    It was in the museum that he had first encountered the clues to lost Zamar. It was there, too, that he had met George Rutledge, a highly respected scholar and an expert on antiquities. Rutledge had invited Matthias to make use of his private library.
    Rutledge's impressive library contained more evidence of the existence of the lost island kingdom. Rutledge was as enthusiastic as Matthias about the possibility of discovering Zamar. The only problem that loomed on the horizon was that of obtaining the money for an expedition. Matthias solved that difficulty in a unique manner, one that scandalized Society and outraged his father.
    He opened a gaming hell.
    In the years that followed Matthias's discovery of Zamar, there were several notes from Lord Colchester inviting him to visit his small family at their country home. Matthias had politely declined. He had managed to avoid meeting his stepmother and his half sister.
    He had been en route home from Zamar a few months earlier

    "
    when Thomas and Charlotte had been killed in a carriage accident. The funeral was held several weeks before he reached
    England. Patricia had gone to live with an uncle on her mother's side immediately after her parents had been buried.
    Matthias had arrived in London to discover that he had assumed the earldom and a few more ghosts.

Chapter 4
    If things got out of hand, he would play the one card he held, Matthias promised himself Tuesday evening as he walked into the glittering ballroom. There was a possibility that once Imogen's scheme was launched, he might be able to sink it by making it clear to Vanneck and the ton that he had concluded her uncle's map was a fraud.
    It would be risky. There was no guarantee such a tactic would work. Imogen was I A. Stone, after all. She was determined to keep her identity a secret, but she was perfectly free to quote Stone's opinions at great length. If I. A. Stone, who had attracted an enthusiastic and devoted following who respected her opinions, let it be known that he considered the map to be genuine, Vanneck might very well go for the bait regardless of Matthias's opinion. There were many in Society who would very much like to see Matthias proved wrong.
    He disregarded the speculative glances and covert stares directed at him as he moved through the large room. He pretended not to hear the whispered comments that ebbed and flowed around him.
    Cold-blooded Colchester.
    He had never lived down the reputation he had acquired a decade before. Then again, he had never made any effort to do so.
    He'd had more important things to accomplish in the intervening years. Lost Zamar had consumed him body and soul. At least it had until Imogen Waterstone dragged him into this outlandish scheme.
    For the most part, Matthias ignored the Polite World. He made no secret of his disdain for the frivolous fashions and vicious gossip that were its lifeblood. As a consequence, the ton thought him fascinating.
    Matthias exchanged cool nods with an acquaintance and helped himself to a glass of champagne from a passing tray.