Until You

"There is nothing to tell," Nicki said blandly, picking up the abandoned deck of cards from the center of the table and shuffling it expertly. "We discussed a wedding."

Baskerville looked hopeful but unconvinced. The two younger men looked serenely amused, but only the drunken one of them had the temerity and bad ma

"A wedding?" he hooted, casting a meaningful eye upon Nicki's torn collar. "What could two men discuss about a wedding?"

"Who the groom is going to be," Nicki replied with casual nonchalance.

"And did you decide, sir?" the courteous one asked, sending his companion a warning glance and trying desperately to pretend he believed the whole tale.

"Yes," Nicki drawled, leaning forward to toss his chips into the center of the table. "I am going to be the best man."

His careless friend took another long draught of wine, and gave a laugh. "A wedding!" he snorted.

Nicholas DuVille slowly lifted his head and gave him a long, speculative look. "Would you prefer to make it a funeral?"

Fearing that the worst might yet be to come, Baskerville leapt into the breach. "What else did you and Langford discuss? You were gone a good while."

"We discussed little old ladies with faulty memories," Nicki replied ironically. "And we marvelled at the wisdom of a God who, for some incomprehensible reason, occasionally allows their tongues to go on working long after their brains have ceased to function at all."

The Duke of Stanhope looked up sharply. "I hope you are not referring to anyone I know."

"Do you know anyone called by the unlikely name of 'Charity,' instead of 'Birdwit'?"

The Duke choked back a horrified laugh at that deliberate, and unmistakable, description of his oldest sister. "I may." He was spared further discussion of that embarrassing topic by the arrival of another gambler, who nodded a casual but friendly greeting at Baskerville and himself as he pulled out the chair beside DuVille and settled into it.

Stretching his long legs out beneath the table, the new arrival gazed pointedly at the two young gentlemen, who were not known to him, clearly awaiting the formality of an introduction before acknowledging them. DuVille was the only one who seemed either cognizant of the need for introductions or able to respond to it. "These two fellows with the slack jaws and deep pockets are Lords Banbraten and Isley," he said to the newcomer. To the youths, he said, "I believe the Earl of Langford is already familiar to you?" When they nodded in unison, Nicki finished dealing out the cards and said, "Good. Since that's over, the earl and I will now endeavor to divest you of the rest of your fathers' money."

He picked up the cards he'd dealt for himself and winced at the pain in his rib.

"Bad hand, eh?" chuckled the Duke of Stanhope, mistaking the reason for Nicki's grimace.

In the erroneous belief the question had been directed to him, Stephen glanced at his swollen knuckles and flexed his hand. "Not too bad." He turned as a servant approached the table with two glasses of excellent brandy, and he took them both, keeping one for himself and passing the other to DuVille. "With my compliments," he said blandly, pausing for an inquiring glance at one of the youths, who'd overturned his wine as he reached for it.

"Can't hold his drink," Nicki explained, following the direction of Stephen's gaze.

Stephen crossed his feet at the ankles and glanced in disapproval at the red-faced, glassy-eyed youth. "You would think," he said, "that someone would have taught them how to conduct themselves before turning them loose on the rest of society."

"My thoughts exactly," Nicki agreed.

59

The Skeffingtons had given up their rented house in town and repaired to the village of Blintonfield. As a result, it took Nicki three more hours than he'd anticipated to reach Sheridan and put into effect the romantic plan that Langford felt was the best-and only-way to bring her to him as well as convince her his intentions were honorable.

The fact that Nicki was now Stephen Westmoreland's emissary instead of his adversary did not strike Nicki as odd in the least. For one thing, he was merely doing his best to repair a relationship he had inadvertently helped to damage. For another, he was thoroughly enjoying his role, which was to persuade Sheridan to resign her position with the Skeffingtons and accompany him at once to an interview for a "new position" at an estate several hours away.

To that end, he had brought with him two impeccably qualified governesses to take her place.

Since Lady Skeffington had taken her daughter to Devon, where she had heard the future Duke of Norringham spent his bachelor days during July, Nicki had only to convince Sir John to accept two governesses in place of one-an easy feat since Stephen Westmoreland would be secretly paying more than half their wages for the first year.

Having accomplished all that, Nicki was now attempting to persuade Sheridan of the logic-and the need-to pack her clothes at once and accompany him to meet an unknown nobleman who had a "better position" to offer her. In keeping with that end, he was providing her with as much of the truth as he could tell her and improvising when the occasion-or his sense of humor-required it.

"Viscount Hargrove is a bit temperamental, even disagreeable, at times," he told her, "but he dotes on his nephew, who is also his heir at the moment, and wants only the best for him."

"I see," Sheridan said, wondering just how temperamental and disagreeable the viscount was.

"The wages are excellent-to compensate for the viscount's personal shortcomings."

"How excellent?"

The figure he named made Sherry's lips part in a silent O of stu

"There are also other benefits that go with the position."

"What sort of benefits?"

"A large suite of your own, a maid to attend you, a horse of your own…"

Her eyes were widening with each word. "Is there more?" she asked when he let the sentence hang. "How could there be?"

"As a matter of fact, there is more. One of the most appealing benefits of this position is what I would call… tenure."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that if you accept the position, it will be yours-along with all its benefits-for as long as you live."

"I wasn't pla

"A small complication, but perhaps you can persuade the viscount to give it to you anyway."

Sheridan hesitated, trying to get a clearer picture of the man. "Is he an elderly gentleman?"

"Comparatively speaking," Nicki confirmed, thinking with amusement that Langford was a year older than himself.

"Has he had other governesses in the past?"

Nicki choked back several highly amusing, but inappropriate, answers as to the likelihood of that and gave her the answer she'd expect, "Yes."

"Why did they leave him?"

Another set of diverting speculations occurred to him, and he uttered one of them. "Perhaps because they expected tenure and he didn't offer it?" he suggested smoothly, then to prevent more questions, he said, "As I said a moment ago, this is a matter of some urgency to the viscount. If you are interested in the position, then pack your things, and we will be on our way. I promised to bring you to him at two o'clock today, and we are already going to be three hours late."

Unable to trust in the first good fortune that had befallen her since coming to England, Sheridan hesitated and then stood up. "I don't understand why he's interested in employing someone like me when he could surely have his choice of better-qualified English governesses."

"He's set on having an American," Nicki said with amused certainty.