Don't Look Back by Amanda Quick Read Free Book Online Page B

me."
    Tobias nodded in resigned comprehension. "Because you lack a fortune."
    Anthony drummed his fingers on the window ledge. "I have been giving the matter some thought."
    "Lord save us from young men who think too much."
    "I am very determined about this."
    "Yes, I can see that. I collect that you have concocted a plan to acquire this fortune you feel you need?"
    "I have a good head for cards. With a bit of practice—"
    "No."
    "Granted, I have never played them for high stakes because you have always been so opposed to the notion of gambling, but I believe that I could do quite well at the tables."
    "No."
    "Hear me out." Anthony leaned forward, intent on pressing his point. "The vast majority of gamesters do not approach their play in a logical manner. Indeed, they usually sit down to their cards after they are well into their cups. It is no wonder that most gentlemen lose heavily. I, however, intend to treat gaming from the standpoint of a mathematical problem."
    "Your sister would come back to haunt me if I were to allow you to go into the hells. You know as well as I do that her greatest fear was that you would become a gamester."
    "I know that Ann feared I would end up destitute, as our father did. But I assure you, that would not be the case."
    "Hell's teeth, it is not the fact that your father lost everything he possessed because he could not resist the damned gaming tables that worried her so greatly. It is that he got himself killed over a disputed hand of cards while trying to recover his losses. In the long run, there is no winning in that career."
    "I am not my father."
    "I know that."
    Anthony stiffened. He had dreaded this conflict, well aware from the moment he had hatched his scheme that it loomed in front of him. The strategy was complicated, but he told himself he had to stick with it.
    "I do not wish to argue with you over this matter,"
    he said. "We both know that you cannot stop me. I am no longer a boy. This is my decision to make."
    Tobias's eyes darkened to the shade of a storm at sea. In all the years he had lived with this man who had been more of a father to him than his own parent, Anthony thought, he had rarely seen such cold and implacable promise in his gaze. A chill went through him.
    "Let us be clear on this," Tobias said in his softest, most dangerous voice. "If you insist upon going into the hells, you can expect the devil's own quarrel with me. You may believe that I cannot stop you, but you can count on finding me in your path every time you turn around. I have an obligation to Ann's memory. Do not think that I will ignore my promise to her."
    He had known this would be difficult, Anthony reminded himself. He drew a deep breath and straightened his shoulders.
    "I have no wish to be at odds with you over this," he said. "You know full well that I respect you and your loyalty to your oath. But I am quite desperate and I do not see that I have any great choice in the matter."
    Instead of launching into another lecture, Tobias turned his attention to the darkening street outside the window. He sank into a deep, brooding silence.
    Anthony endured it as long as he could. Then he made a stab at trying to lighten the grim atmosphere inside the carriage.
    "Tobias? Do you intend to cease speaking to me altogether?" He forced a small smile. "That is not like you. I expected something a bit more forceful. A threat to cut off my quarterly allowance, such as it is, perhaps."
    "I told you a moment ago that you are not the only one who would very much like to get his hands on a fortune."
    Anthony was bemused by the sudden change in the direction of the discussion. "I assumed you were joking."
    "I assure you, I am not joking."
    Comprehension struck with the force of summer lightning. "Good God, this is about Mrs. Lake, is it not? Are you thinking of asking her to marry you?"
    Tobias turned his head very slightly. "I am in no more of a position to ask her to marry me than you are in a position to ask Miss