Read Online All Men Are Rogues by Sari Robins - Free Book Online Page A

already cluttered brain.”
    “I heard that Banks and Tanner were playing Ecarte,” Jacobs offered. “I’ll warrant the stakes are high.”
    The group disbanded, some of the men continuing their conversation, while others drifted toward the gambling chamber.
    Justin stepped forward. “I will join you, Colonel Wheaton.”
    The older man nodded. “Used to do quite well against your father, Barclay. We’ll have a go.”
    They strolled into the gaming room, and Justin’s lips quirked up as they always did upon seeing the unadorned walls. Horror, if anything, distracted the players.
    As they settled in with their brandies and cards, Justin marveled at Wheaton’s ability, any time of day or night, to get a quiet corner table separated from the rest of the players in the large, wood-paneled gaming room. He did it without an obvious word to anyone. But by this point, Justin should cease being surprised by the crafty master of spies.
    “Any news?”
    “Not much.” Wheaton peeked from under bushy white brows. “You?”
    Justin shook his head. His lips were pressed in a firm, hard line.
    “How are you faring with the girl?”
    He could not quite meet the man’s eyes. “She does not seem the sort to be involved.”
    Wheaton sniffed. “You’re not going soft on me, Barclay, now are you?”
    “Most certainly not,” he replied, annoyed. Just because he did not wish to discuss the intimate details of his relationship with Evelyn did not make him soft. “She is new to Town, knows no one, and is without resources. Most ladies of my acquaintance would be desperate and in tears. She simply seems resolved to make it to the next day. On her own.” Why should it irritate him that she was so determined to proceed without assistance? Well, for one thing, it made his task all the more difficult.
    “You like her,” the old man charged. “Your mother must be thrilled.”
    “Actually, Mother has taken Miss Amherst into dislike.” He made certain not to call Evelyn by her Christian name. Wheaton was too canny by far and would read too much into it.
    The old man chuckled. “Leave it to your mother to ferret out the rotten fish. Looks and style cannot hide the chit’s true nature. She is, or was, Amherst’s darling.”
    Justin looked up, surprised. “You’ve seen her?”
    “Only from afar. At the Coventry Ball. A pretty thing. Lucky for her she favors her mother.”
    Justin did not recall having seen the colonel at the ball. Then again, his focus had been elsewhere. He lay out his two cards into a crib.
    Wheaton turned over a card, and his thick lips bowed into a scowl. “I still think the girl might lead us somewhere. Either her or Sullivan, when he shows.”
    “I have seen neither hide nor hair of him, and she is watched constantly.”
    “Do you think he will show?”
    Justin looked down at his cards, barely seeing them. He nodded slowly, thinking of the conversation during his walk in the park with Evelyn. “Assuredly. Especially when he learns that Miss Amherst’s inheritance is in doubt.”
    “So Marlboro is cooperating.” It was a statement. The colonel would expect nothing less.
    “The man will do whatever we say.”
    “Good. Then she really is without resources.”
    “Except, of course, for my doting family, which you so conveniently arranged for her.” Justin was finding it hard to hold a grudge against the man. The plot was brilliant. It gave him every access to Evelyn and put her completely in his power.
    The older man waved his gloved hand. “She’ll be desperate soon enough. Keep a tight rein on her, see if she makes any contacts, sends notices to the papers and the like.”
    “I know how to do my job,” he growled.
    The colonel ignored him.
    After a few moments, Justin offered, “She did run into an old acquaintance. A Spaniard named Angel Arolas.”
    “Son of Juan Arolas. The father’s working with Wellington. A dangerous man if he is your enemy, I understand. Smooth with the women, diplomatic