Page 7 of A Rogues & Gentlemen Christmas

Odette huffed. “Non! That would be most improper. Besides, did you not ’ear me? I have been kept in isolation. I have met nobody. You are the first young man I have seen in an age. My uncle’s friends are all old men. My cousin, André, sometimes brought people home from school, but they were all foolish boys. I did not like them. They would stare at me and make silly remarks. They were most vexing.”

Chance snorted, unsurprised. This young woman could turn a sensible man into a gibbering fool with ease, he didn’t doubt. He was struggling against the phenomenon himself.

“It is nice to meet someone who is polite,” she added, casting him a cautious look from under her lashes.

“Thank you,” Chance replied. “It is nice to meet you, too, though I am sorry you’re in such a fix. I shall help you if I can.”

Odette shook her head, staring into the flames. The firelight danced in her dark eyes as she gave a heavy sigh.

“You cannot. I ’ave been very stupid, I think. I thought… I thought….” She laughed, though it was far from a happy sound. “Non, the truth. I did not think at all, I reacted. I have an ’orrible temper and I can be impulsive. I did not mean to run away, not at first. But then I could not stop, could not make myself go back. I ran away without thinking it through, and now I have made a bad situation so very much worse. At least it is a situation of my own making, though. That is something.”

She turned and gave Chance a rueful smile.

“I’ll do anything I can to help you,” Chance promised her, hardly knowing what he was saying.

He was hypnotised by the firelight in her eyes, the soft flush of colour on her cheeks that grew darker as she heard the tenor of his voice.

She looked away at once, her posture stiffening.

“No, don’t… I shan’t touch you, Odette. I promise you’re safe. Don’t be afraid.”

He waited until she looked back at him again and smiled at her, hoping it was a reassuring expression. She held his gaze, studying his face for so long he felt self-conscious, but at last she nodded and looked away.

“I believe you.”

He prepared the potato for her and shared some of his cheese, and by the time she had eaten her spirits seemed to have revived a little.

“I have some cards in my bag. Would you like to play?” he offered once she had cleared away her plate and cutlery.

“Oui,” she said eagerly. “Will you teach me, though? My uncle did not approve of gambling and would never let me learn.”

Personally, Chance thought her uncle sounded like a miserable beggar, but he said nothing and dug out the cards. He spent the next half an hour teaching her how to play Vingt-Un, and the half hour that followed that trying to beat her.

“You have the luck of the devil!” he exclaimed, throwing down his cards as she beat him for the fifth time in a row.

She wagged a finger at him and tsked.

“Non, non, it is not luck, it is skill. I am just a better player than you,” she said, her face alight with mischief.

Chance huffed at her. “Right, I’m going to teach you Piquet. We’ll see how you get on with that.”

Rather to Chance’s chagrin, though it took her a deal longer to get the hang of it, she beat him at that too. Twice.

“Are you certain you didn’t cheat?” he asked her, narrowing his eyes and sending her off into a peal of laughter.

“Oh, poor, poor, Charlie,” she crowed. “He cannot beat me, so he accuses me of cheating.”

Chance snorted, but couldn’t deny it. “I apologise, though I can see now why your uncle kept you away from such things. If he had an inkling of your skill, he’d know you’d be damned dangerous.”

Her amusement died at his words, which he immediately regretted.

“Sorry,” he said.

She shook off her reaction with a wave of her hand, smiling at him again. “Perhaps I shall become a notorious gambler, then. I shall make my living from it, and men the world over will fight for the opportunity to play the infamous Odette de Bethencourt.”

This statement was punctuated by an unconvincing laugh that made his heart twist with pity.

“Or perhaps you’ll go back to your uncle and discover your disappearance has been kept quiet and there’s been no harm done,” Chance suggested.