Protected by the Major by Anne Herries

such a strange note, begging him to meet her in the park. He’d gone to their meeting place and waited, but she had not come. Why had she not kept the appointment she’d made? Ought he to have gone to her house and asked for her? Yet she had begged him not to do so and he’d feared she might suffer if he had.
    Seeing the count entering the room, Hallam was instantly alerted. Something was wrong.
    Why was Lethbridge here when he was supposed to be dining with the Marquis of Rochdale that night? Frowning, he watched as Lethbridge wove his way through the room, stopping to talk to various gentlemen before arriving at Hallam’s table.
    ‘Thought you were entertaining at home this evening?’ one of the gentlemen seated at Hallam’s table offered.
    ‘My guest had another appointment he was forced to keep,’ Lethbridge said, but the look in his eyes was furious, as if he could barely keep his anger inside. ‘May I join you, gentlemen?’
    Hallam glanced at Mainwaring. He sat up, suddenly all attention as there was a polite murmur of acceptance and Lethbridge drew out a chair and sat down. He would have preferred to leave the table and take his place behind the count so that he might see what was going on while his friend played, but Lethbridge’s request left him no choice but to play on.
    He actually had winning cards that hand and took the pot of five hundred guineas. Since he’d won it was his turn to deal, which he did with a new pack. It was brought to the table and broken open by the waiter, as was the custom when a new game began.
    Hallam realised that he must be alert at all times. The cards were clean now but, if Lethbridge played as usual, by the third hand after he joined the table they would be marked.
    Lethbridge ordered a bottle of wine and glasses were filled, but Hallam noticed that the count merely sipped his. He did the same, watching as the first hand played out. Mainwaring won easily, and another gentleman won the second, but Lethbridge took the third and the fourth.
    ‘What do you say to raising the stakes?’ he asked pleasantly.
    Hallam hesitated. He would not normally play so deep, but he had won a large pot and could afford to lose a hand or two even at the higher stake of fifty guineas a hand—and it was the best way to discover what Lethbridge was doing.
    He went down heavily the next two games and then, having discovered which cards were marked, watched Lethbridge’s hand reach beneath the table. When the count began to deal again, he stood up.
    ‘I do not play with cheats,’ he said. His announcement sent shockwaves through the company and all eyes turned on him. ‘I am speaking of Lethbridge. I know that you have marked the cards, sir.’
    ‘How dare you!’ Lethbridge was on his feet, a vein bulging at his temple. ‘You will answer to me for that.’
    ‘Here is your answer, sir.’ Hallam handed three of his cards to the other gentlemen to examine. ‘The ace is pricked twice, the king once and the queen three times.’
    ‘And why have you decided that I am the culprit?’ Lethbridge demanded, glaring across the table at him. ‘It might as well have been you, sir.’
    ‘This is not the first time I’ve watched you cheat,’ Hallam said. ‘Mainwaring—would you mind looking at the edge of his coat cuff, just below the brocade? I believe you will discover that there is a pin stuck into the material.’
    ‘Certainly,’ Jack Mainwaring agreed and reached for Lethbridge’s arm. His hand was struck away angrily, but the movement caused a card to fall from beneath his ruffle. One of the other gentlemen reached over to pick up the jack of clubs, which, his fingers soon told him, was still unmarked. ‘I think that proves your guilt, Lethbridge. For myself I have lost to you too often of late to doubt Ravenscar’s word. I had wondered why you won so consistently.’
    ‘Nonsense. I lost heavily to Rochdale the other night—anyone will tell you so. Anyone could have marked those