Free A Sister's Secret by Mary Jane Staples Page A

bravely above it,’ said Captain Burnside, and Caroline gave him a hot look. What was he doing in praising Cumberland to the one person he should not?
    Annabelle’s bosom sighed. Catching her sister’s eye, she said, ‘I must retire. You all will excuse me, Captain?’
    ‘A little reluctantly,’ said the captain, and Annabelle laughed.
    ‘You surely are very fitting to be an old friend of Caroline,’ she said, and kissed her sister goodnight.
    Left alone with the captain, Caroline said, ‘What are you about, sir?’
    ‘With your sister, marm?’
    ‘Yes, with my sister, sir. Are you seeking, in your praise of him, to drive Annabelle into Cumberland’s arms?’
    ‘It ain’t sound tactics, marm, to slander a rival. Preferable to be in praise of him. It’ll induce affection in Annabelle.’
    ‘Affection for whom?’ asked Caroline.
    ‘Your humble servant, marm.’
    ‘I see.’ A slight smile touched Caroline’s firm lips. ‘But regarding the card play, sir, you risked losing the IOU you held by consenting to a cut of the cards.’
    ‘A matter of running with Lady Luck,’ said the captain cheerfully. ‘She’s fickle, being very feminine, d’you see, and if you don’t—’
    ‘Feminine?’ Caroline acquired her cool look. ‘Sir, I find it offensive to hear a man associate fickleness with my sex, for I doubt if any man can be trusted to be wholly faithful.’
    ‘You’ve a point,’ said the captain. ‘I should have said sensitive. It means that if you don’t run with Lady Luck when she’s taken a fancy to you, she’ll play the very devil with you next time you need her favours.’
    Caroline looked questioning. ‘Do you tell me, sir, that it was all a matter of luck tonight, that you did not make use of your vaunted skill or your professional knavery?’
    ‘
Vingt-et-un
requires no great skill, marm,’ said Captain Burnside; ‘it’s a game of pure chance, although one can sometimes sum up what the other fellow holds. The luck favoured Cumberland in the beginning.’
    ‘To what extent?’
    ‘I was down almost five hundred guineas.’
    ‘Five hundred?’ Caroline stiffened. ‘You take my breath, sir. You expected me to meet this sum?’
    ‘It was, I agree, a trifle excessive.’
    ‘It was a sum, sir, that would be a fortune to many people.’
    ‘Ah, but the game wasn’t over at that point,’ said the captain.
    ‘At that point you were almost five hundred guineas down due to luck being against you, if I have it right. You might subsequently have doubled that loss if luck had continued to be unfavourable. I warn you, Captain Burnside, I have not hired you to test your luck against Cumberland, I have hired your professed talents. If you insist, sir, on gambling with airy impunity, don’t look to me to settle your debts, for I shan’t. I haven’t given you unlimited access to my purse, nor shall I.’
    ‘I shan’t hazard every penny of your wealth, marm, I assure you,’ said Captain Burnside earnestly, ‘but should it look as if I am, then I shall cheat my way to the front as skilfully as you could wish.’
    ‘You had better, sir, yes indeed you had better. It occurred to me at the end of the play that the IOU of almost a thousand guineas could have been enough to make Cumberland discharge the letter to you. Now, however, you are committed to giving him the chance to win the IOU back. I trust you will deny him such victory, and that by the end of the next game his further losses will compel him to do what you require of him: namely,give up the letter. Also, by that time, I shall expect you to have fired my sister’s interest in you.’
    Captain Burnside rubbed his chin. ‘It’s my opinion, marm, that one can’t set fire to a burning house,’ he said. ‘I shall win your sweet sister, have no fear, but it will not happen tomorrow.’
    ‘Nor at all, unless you show yourself attentive. Annabelle is fond of the river. I’ve suggested to her that she might like to enjoy an outing