The Wicked Wager Read Online Free PDF Page A

affair. Feeling calmer
once the decision was made, she went about her day in a much better mood.
    ***
    The earl had all his gardeners lined up in
a row.
    They watched him nervously. The last time
the earl had requested their presence had been to conduct an experiment.
    He had just begun studying medicine at
university, and botany happened to be an important part of his studies. He had
requested the gardeners to provide him with certain varieties of herbs.
    He had then pounded, poured, strained, and
mixed together various tinctures. The gardeners had been bid to drink the
various multihued liquids.
    The poor fellows drank the proffered
concoctions and gave their names to be written on the labels of bottles that
they had partaken of.
    The results were duly noted by the earl and
were the following:
    Gardener one - Excessive gas – Was
thrown out of bed by his wife for three days straight.
    Gardener two - Skin turned an unsightly
orange – May have a remedy, though the deuced man runs every time he sees me.
    Gardener three – His face seems to have
taken on a queer visage. It looks like tiny fish with extremely sharp teeth
have made a feast of him.
    Gardener four – Has not yet emerged from
the privy.
    Gardener five – Could have given the man
the pox.
    … and on the list went. Twenty gardeners
had avoided the earl for the next five years. This was the first time they had
been called to his presence once more. As he was the earl now, they had no
choice but to comply.
    The earl was sympathetic, as their
nervousness was understandable.
    “Now, I have not asked you here to conduct
any sort of experimentation,” he said soothingly.
    They did not look convinced and eyed him
warily.
    “I simply need a list of your duties and a few
hours of your time. I want to learn a little bit about what you do.”
    The faces changed to alarm. Did the earl
doubt their expertise? Was he planning to let some of them go? Was he in some
sort of financial trouble?
    “The reason I want to know a bit about the
sort of work you do is because I intend to have a patch of my own. I find
myself drawn to the magic of plants. I want to see them grow and nurture them
as they bear fruits. It is a beautiful hobby to have, and I request your help.”
    The gardeners eyed him sceptically.
    They had heard of ladies tending to flower
patches. The head gardener had a devil of a job sneaking to the chosen garden
plot and fixing the disaster that had been unleashed upon the plants.
    The ladies, in turn, believed the health of
their beautiful blooms lay fully in their own green hands. While they boasted
to fellow ladies of their accomplishments in their latest hobby, the poor
gardener sweated and toiled to keep up such appearances.
    If his interests were encouraged, the earl
would be a terror. Silently, the men vowed to deter the earl from choosing any
such leisure activity.
    In the end they gave him a highly
exaggerated account of all that was involved.
    The earl dismissed the men and sat down to
think. He, as the head gardener, would be required to tend to the most
sensitive plants. He had to inspect the entire estate for plant diseases,
destructive insects, weeds, and fruit eating birds.
    He was also responsible for under-gardeners
numbering twenty to forty, depending on the size of the estate. He had to
resolve petty disputes, provide the kitchens, keep account of fruits and
vegetables, and ensure the flowers bloomed when they should and not a minute
sooner. It was a daunting task, to say the least, and he wanted to give up
there and then.
    A vision of Emma rose before his eyes,
bringing his negative thoughts to a screeching halt.
    He was no coward, and a few sprigs of grass
would not keep him away from attempting this charade. He could always delegate;
after all, everyone under him knew what to do. He may not know as much as a
gardener would about soil and seeds, but he did know something of politics.

Chapter 4
     
    “You any good with ’em plants? The