A Little Bit Sinful Read Online Free PDF

accuse the earl of causing his mother’s untimely demise, but he would not reveal the truth and sully her memory. Amazingly, his grandmother had managed to keep her daughter-in-law’s suicide a secret. There had never been a whisper of scandal attached to his mother’s name either before or after her death and Sebastian was determined to keep it that way. As far as society knew, this duel would be fought for a completely different reason.
    It would be fought for something foolish and ridiculous and false—an accusation of cheating at cards. The ironic justice of it all sat well with both Sebastian’s conscience and macabre sense of humor.
    It would actually be fairly simple to call the earl’shonor into question. After Hetfield had won an especially large pot, Sebastian would accuse him of cheating, demand satisfaction, set the duel, and thoroughly disgrace the man. Either swords or pistols would serve nicely, since Sebastian was an expert at both.
    “Benton?” With a practiced gesture, Dawson held out the deck. “Will you draw?”
    Sebastian gave his cards a cursory glance, declined any new ones, then tossed a coin in the center of the table. The key to winning at
vingt-et-un
was an awareness of what cards had already been played, coupled with the ability to calculate the odds as to which cards would next appear. It was something Sebastian excelled at doing.
    He watched closely as the earl lifted the edge of one card and stared down at it, contemplating his next move. Sebastian’s adversary was a strong player, his moves bold and decisive. Of all the gentlemen at the table he was clearly the most skilled. Except for Sebastian, who was deliberately tossing away most of his winning hands.
    At Dawson’s signal the players turned their cards face up. “Twenty-one,” Dawson said. “Lord Hetfield wins.”
    “Damn, Lady Luck is certainly smiling upon you tonight, Hetfield,” Lord Faber grumbled. “That’s three times in a row you’ve won.”
    “Perhaps you would prefer to switch to hazard, Lord Faber?” the earl asked with a smile.
    “Ha! Hazard’s a game for young fools,” Lord Faber replied. “Makes no sense at all to throw away good coin on a pair of dice.”
    Play continued. The earl won the majority of thenext dozen hands, his pile of winning coins nearly double the size of any of the other players. Dawson was his usual congenial self, dealing the cards with good humor as he tried to keep the game light-hearted and friendly. Sir Charles continued drinking at a steady pace while Lord Faber pressed his luck with mediocre hands, inching the play to a higher pitch as he tried to recoup some of his losses.
    Nerves on edge, Sebastian pushed his whiskey glass out of easy reach, not wanting to tempt himself. For this plan to work he needed to be sober and clearheaded. Accusations hurled by a man too deep in his cups were never taken seriously.
    Sebastian would have preferred to confront the earl in a gaming hell, where the clientele was seedy and desperate, but that could have easily put his plan in jeopardy. Accusations of cheating in the hells were a common occurrence. With the rare exception, the recipients of these charges were less concerned about their honor and more focused on being allowed to continue in the game. Things rarely escalated to a duel.
    “The bet is to you, Hetfield,” Dawson said.
    The earl had a six and five displayed and a third card turned facedown. He hesitated. Sebastian marveled at his outward calm, for he knew the concealed card made the earl’s hand unbeatable.
    Taking a deep breath, Sebastian smiled at the earl with the most serene expression he could muster. Hetfield returned the grin and tossed in another coin.
Excellent.
    “Another twenty-one?” Lord Faber exclaimed bitterly when the hands were revealed. “You really do have the devil’s own luck tonight, Hetfield.”
    Finally! Lord Faber’s annoyance could not have been timed more perfectly. Emotions raging, Sebastian