Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“I’m so glad to see you, Alexander,” Gregory said, shaking his hand.

Alexander shook his head and smiled wryly.

“Yes… I’m sure you are - dragging me all the way back from Norfolk. Now, what’s going on?” Alexander replied.

He had spent the past few months in the country at his Norfolk estate, having grown gradually ever more disillusioned with the London social scene. It all felt so false, and he was tired of the attention he was getting from women - old and young - whose interest lay, not in him, but in his fortune and title.

He had retreated to Norfolk and had spent the past few months reading and spending time with his mother and sisters. But a letter from Gregory had brought him back to London - a letter desperately imploring his help.

“I don’t care about the money - though I lost a lot, but it’s the ring that matters - the one I mentioned in the letter. It was my grandmother’s - a gift from the Tsar of Russia to my grandfather. I don’t know what came over me. Why did I wager it?” Gregory exclaimed, and Alexander rolled his eyes.

Gregory’s letter had spoken of a card game at a gentlemen’s club, one in which he had lost against a notorious card shark. It was a game that should not have happened, and Gregory - always over confident - had lost everything.

“And what do you expect me to do?” Alexander asked, for Gregory’s letter had implored his help - begged him to return to London as soon as possible.

“Well… you can play cards better than anyone I know, Alexander. You could win it back. The man cheated,” Gregory said, and Alexander nodded.

He had come across the shark before. His reputation preceded him, and the thought of facing him again was not one Alexander relished. But he could see the distress on his friend’s face, and the tone of the letter had been that of a desperate man.

“Well… there’s no guarantee. But if the man cheated, perhaps we can play him at his own game,” Alexander said, and Gregory breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Alexander. I knew you’d help me. Like I said, I don’t care about the money, but the ring… oh, what was I thinking?” Gregory said, shaking his head.

Alexander smiled. He knew precisely what Gregory had been thinking. The allure of playing cards in the hope - and self-belief - of winning was one many a man had succumbed to. Gregory would not be the first to lose at the hands of an unscrupulous card shark - nor the last.

“You weren’t thinking. But never mind. I’m sure we can get it back, though I’d have far preferred to remain in Norfolk for the rest of the summer,” Alexander said, thinking longingly of the garden on his Norfolk estate, where lavender grew in abundance and the air was perfumed with its sweet scent.

“And you can go back there as soon as this is all over. I could come with you. It might be wise for me to lie low for a while once this is over,” he said.

Alexander took it as a mark of their friendship that Gregory trusted him implicitly in this way. But Alexander’s own confidence was somewhat lacking. He simply did not know if he would be capable of winning back the ring and exposing the fraud.

“But supposing he doesn’t want to wager it?” Alexander said, for the whole plan seemed premised on the hope of the fraudster being foolish enough to play into their hands.

But Gregory had every confidence in the man’s greed, and thus, later that evening, Alexander found himself at Pickford’s Club on Whitehall, watching a game of cards being played between Gregory’s nemesis, and a man who, like Gregory, had just wagered everything he had on the hand about to be dealt.

“I know it. I’ve got a feeling about it,” the man said, as the cards were now placed face down on the table.

His name was Lord Alphege - the son of a prominent member of the government. He had been drinking and had challenged his opponent on seeing him enter the club room. The opponent’s name was Reginald Harper, a man who few people knew anything about. His name was shrouded in secrecy, but there was no doubting his apparent ability at cards, for he had not lost a single hand all evening.

“I still don’t understand how he does it. A little luck happens to us all - well, not me - but Reginald doesn’t seem to lose. Ever,” Gregory said, as he and Alexander stood watching on one side.

Reginald was not much older than Alexander, with a keen face and hooked nose, his entire attention focused on the cards in front of him. He had a look of confidence on his face, as though suggesting he knew precisely what cards were about to be revealed, even as his opponent appeared certain his luck was about to change.

“Turn - reveal them,” Lord Alphege said, and Reginald smiled.

“As you wish,” he said, and turning over the cards, he revealed two aces and two kings - a winning hand.

Lord Alphege cursed, his arms and head slumping onto the table as he let out a long groan.

“He looks just like me when I lost the ring,” Gregory whispered, as Reginald now reached over and took his winnings from the table.

“You can write me a note of promise for the rest - your father’s name can act as guarantor. I’m sure he wouldn’t want any scandal over an unpaid debt, would he?” Reginald said, and Lord Alphege shook his head.

“You’ll get your money,” he said, as Reginald rose to his feet.

Alexander now noticed he was wearing a ring, and pointing it out to Gregory, he confirmed it was the one he had won in their own game of cards some weeks previously.

“Yes, that’s it. You can win it back for me,” Gregory urged, even as Alexander now felt entirely out of his depth.

It was one thing to play cards for fun, or small amounts, but this…

“Well, does anyone else want to challenge me?” Reginald asked, looking around him with a smirk on his face.

Gregory nudged Alexander.

“This gentleman will,” he said, and Reginald laughed.

“Ah, Gregory. Don’t you want to lose again yourself?” he asked, but Gregory shook his head.

“I wouldn’t dare challenge you - you won, and that’s that. But this gentleman is quite the hand when it comes to cards,” he said, and Reginald smiled, holding out his hand and inviting Alexander to come and sit down opposite him at the card table.

A murmur went up from the gathered crowd, and wagers were now placed on the game itself - before any bets between the players themselves were even made. Alexander sat down at the card table, where a deck of cards stood on the green plush surface. Reginald sat opposite him, fixing him with a searching gaze.

“Well, now - what’s your game?” he asked.

“Commerce,” Alexander said, for that was what Reginald and Lord Alphege had been playing, and was the game Alexander knew Reginald and Gregory had played, too.

Regional smiled and nodded, dealing the cards as Alexander watched him, wondering as to the nature of his deception. Was he a cheat? Or was he just lucky? There were various ways to cheat at Commerce - card counting being the foremost trick. The cards were now dealt, and Alexander took up his hand, glancing at Reginald, who smiled.

“Your wager?” he asked.

Alexander thought for a moment. He knew it was dangerous - he could lose in just the same way Gregory had done - but Alexander also knew his friend was counting on him. He was modest when it came to his own abilities, but he had always had a particular skill when it came to cards, and now he took out several paper notes from his pocket and laid them on the table.

“Ten guineas,” he said, and Reginald nodded.

“A modest proposal. Or perhaps… the ring you’re wearing?” he said.

Alexander looked down at the ring on his finger. It was his father’s signet ring. He had inherited it when he had taken his father’s title. It was a family heirloom, and the thought of losing it was unthinkable…

“Well…” Alexander said, glancing at Gregory, but Reginald laughed.

“Tell me what I should wager in return,” he said, and Alexander did not hesitate.

He pointed at Gregory’s ring on Alexander’s finger.

“A ring for a ring,” he said, and Reginald nodded.

“A fair exchange,” he said, removing the ring from his finger and placing it on the table.

Alexander did the same, and now the game began. They were to play best of five hands, and Alexander knew he would lose the first hand. Whatever trick Reginald was playing, he would do so - but Alexander was watching him. A small crowd was gathered around them, and there was much whispering as the next hand was dealt. Someone coughed, and now Reginald laid down his hand, watching Alexander, who knew his own was a losing return.

“I fold,” he said, and Reginald smiled.

“The luck of the cards,” he said, and now he dealt again.

But Alexander now noticed a pattern. Holding his own cards, he rearranged them, and as he did so, another cough - almost indistinguishable from the hubbub of chatter and whisperings going on around them. He shuffled the cards again, and another cough came, and again, the same.

“I call,” Alexander said, and Reginald laid his hand down on the table - two tens, an eight, and a king.

Alexander’s own would have beaten him, but now he decided to test his theory, shuffling the cards and taking another from the deck. The cough came again. He had purposefully changed his tactic, lowering his score, and the cough came again.

“Do you fold or play on?” Reginald asked, and Alexander shuffled his cards.

But as he did so, he cleared his throat, then coughed again, drawing out the sound of the cough from the crowd. Reginald shifted in his chair, glancing up, as Alexander took another card, and coughed again.

“Excuse me. I think I’m getting a cold. My throat feels so dry,” he said.

“Bring him something to drink,” Reginald said, but as they continued to play, Alexander continued to cough, and as he coughed, it seemed Reginald’s luck continually failed.

He lost one hand, then another, as Alexander played with the commensurate skills he had learned over the years playing cards with his sisters and mother.

“Shall we make things even more interesting? A hundred guineas for the last hand - and the ring,” Alexander said, after he had beaten Reginald at three straight hands.

“Yes… no… it’s too much,” Reginald said, and Alexander raised his eyebrows.

“Really? But I thought you enjoyed making such wagers. Come now, you can’t possibly give up now - are you afraid of losing?” he asked, clearing his throat again.

Reginald scowled, but he had no choice but to agree - if only to save face. Alexander’s cough had now developed from a slight tickle to a complete hack, and he easily drowned out Reginald’s unseen companion, as now the final hand was dealt.

“You’re not playing properly,” Reginald said, and Alexander looked at him with an innocent expression on his face.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize… I’m playing just as I always play. Or is my cough bothering you?” Alexander asked, fixing Reginald with a daring look, challenging him to make a further accusation.

Reginald shook his head.

“No… deal your hand,” he said, and, as Alexander coughed, he lay down his flush - two kings, a queen, and a jack.

It was a winning hand, and Reginald now cursed under his breath as Alexander reached out to take the ring - and the hundred guineas - from the table, smiling at Reginald as he held out his hand in gratitude.

“No hard feelings, I’m sure,” he said, clearing his throat once again, and Reginald took his hand, fixing him with an angry glare.

“I’m sure your friend will be very pleased,” he said, and Alexander smiled.

“I’m sure he will,” he said, and with a final cough, he turned to Gregory and handed him the ring.

The look on Gregory’s face was palpable. He breathed a deep sigh of relief, putting the ring on his finger and placing his hand on Alexander’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Alexander - thank you so much. I’m sure that throat could do with a glass of brandy,” he said, and Alexander smiled.

“Oh, it’s remarkably better now,” Alexander replied, raising his eyebrows as Reginald pushed past them, still with an angry look on his face.