Read Online The Wicked Wallflower by Maya Rodale - Free Book Online Page B

Emma would like to meet the other guests,” he suggested, even though the other guests were certainly the twelve most boring ­people who had ever walked the earth.
    â€œI can’t imagine she would,” Agatha said. “They’re a giant lot of boorish fortune hunters.”
    Said batch of boorish fortune hunters had the decency to blush, turn pale, and otherwise act dismayed by such a pronouncement.
    But then Blake counted them, each and every one. There were only ten. Which meant that while no invitation had been extended to him—­and his guest—­he had been welcomed. Wanted. Expected.
    The Dining Room
    The guests—­competitors—­found their places around the long mahogany table in the dining room. Each setting contained numerous china plates, highly polished silver forks, knives, spoons, and crystal glasses. Blake glanced across the table at Emma and saw her pale at the setting. Odds were, a mistake would be made.
    Odds were they would not make it through dinner.
    That he and Emma were seated on either side of Aunt Agatha was probably not a mark of favor, but a trap. Many dismissed her as a mad old woman, impervious to logic or reason. Blake knew better.
    She had introduced him to the comfort afforded in rules and equations, whether etiquette or mathematical. There was no reason to fuss or fret. One had only to find the formula and proceed. Whether the seduction of a woman, the construction of the Difference Engine, or even the Fortune Games, Blake found and executed the formula.
    â€œWelcome to the twentieth annual Fortune Games,” she declared, standing with a bejeweled goblet in hand. Frail as she was, her voice carried to the far end of the table. “Undoubtedly you all have been shamelessly gossiping about the size of my fortune or the state of my health—­especially you, Dudley. Don’t think I didn’t hear about what you said to Edmund. I have deducted two points from each of your tallies.”
    All heads swiveled to focus upon that wanker Dudley, whose cheeks reddened considerably.
    â€œI can assure you, Lady Grey—­” he began.
    â€œShould you not provide some proof?” Edmund gently suggested to Agatha. “Perhaps a letter from your banker, or your physician?”
    Emma gasped at his audacity.
    â€œThat would be the honorable thing to do,” Agatha conceded. “But I’m a rich old woman so I can do whatever I please. Thus, if you doubt that there is in fact a fortune—­and there may not be, wouldn’t that just be hilarious—­then you may leave at once.”
    No one made the slightest move.
    Wealthy old woman + devious imagination – restraint = Aunt Agatha
    â€œSome of you have played the games before,” Agatha said. “Some of you have even won. Believe me when I say those years were some of the longest of my life.”
    â€œThen why did you invite us back?” Dudley asked, leaning back in his chair.
    â€œGives me an incentive to live longer, Dudley,” Agatha remarked. She took a sip from her goblet and then carried on with her decrees. “The games shall last for three days. That is the maximum amount of time I can abide the lot of you. If you bore me, you shall be asked to leave and shall no longer be eligible for the fortune.”
    Attention span = (entertainment value * novelty)
    â€œI chose the winner based on criteria I will not disclose. It is non-­negotiable,” Agatha said firmly. “If you do not think this fair, you may proceed to the library and write a letter to someone who cares. Do not address it to me.”
    Emotion = x
    Do not solve for x
    Agatha paused to sip from her goblet. Her footman hovered just behind her.
    â€œDo remember that you are free to leave at any time. Nor was your presence here required. In fact some of your presences were not even requested,” Agatha said with a pointed look at Blake.
    Adopting an expression of