Naughty In Nice (A Royal Spyness Mystery)

the crowd.
    “You seem to be a very popular young woman,” Jean-Paul said. “So many suitors. I see that I shall have to fight a duel for you before long. I had better brush up on my fencing skills.”
    I tried to force a bright smile, but inside I felt as if that knife was cutting me in pieces again. If he has another woman and a child, I told myself, he can never love you wholly. And I tried to shut out the image of those dark eyes filled with bewilderment and hurt.
    “Now concentrate,” Jean-Paul said, “and I will show you how to become a rich woman. It is all a question of playing the transversal plain.” And he started to explain the odds of playing each line of three and his way of shortening those odds. He put a pile of chips down on the side of the board. The wheel spun and stopped. A number was called. More chips were pushed in Jean-Paul’s direction. The process was repeated. The pile of chips grew bigger.
    “How old are you?” he asked.
    “Twenty-two.”
    “Such a lucky number,” he said and pushed a stack of chips onto that number.
    The wheel spun, slowed and landed on twenty-two. This time the amount of chips was impressive. Jean-Paul pushed them over to me.
    “What is your system for doing that?” I asked.
    He laughed. “Sometimes a little luck doesn’t hurt either. Now I leave it to you.”
    I started to play as he had instructed. And kept winning steadily. Not every time, but enough to make that pile of chips grow. Each time I won, I looked up at Jean-Paul and he smiled at me. He really had a wonderful smile. Now I found myself wondering how the evening might end. If Jean-Paul offered to drive me home and took me to his villa instead—well, that could only mean one thing. And was that what I really wanted?
    “He has to settle down sometime,” Coco had said. He was rich and attractive and a marquis. What more did I want?
    The question was settled for me by the arrival of my mother, followed by Coco and Vera. “There she is.” I heard my mother’s voice behind me. “And look how well she’s been doing too. You must have been coaching her, Jean-Paul.”
    “On the contrary, she has a natural feel for the game,” Jean-Paul said. “A very talented young woman. I must thank you ladies for introducing us. Now I think my time in Nice will be most pleasant.”
    “Well, we’ve come to take her away from your clutches,” Vera said. “Claire has sent for her car, so it’s time to say adieu.”
    Jean-Paul took my hand. “I would be happy to drive her home later.”
    “She’s had a very long and tiring day, haven’t you, my sweet?” my mother said, her eyebrows raised in warning.
    Much as I was tempted to show my mother that I was no longer a little girl who needed to be protected, I realized this was true. I had had a long and tiring day. I was exhausted. I had once fallen asleep when Darcy tried to make love to me. I rather feared the same thing would happen if Jean-Paul tried to seduce me tonight. Not an auspicious start to a relationship.
    I got to my feet. “I really must go home now, Jean-Paul. Thank you for a lovely evening.”
    He kissed my hand. “Until we meet again, ma chérie ,” he said. “And don’t forget to cash in those chips.”
    “Oh, no, it was your money.”
    He stacked the chips into a rack. “No, no. They are your winnings. Now, no arguing and off you go.”
    As I headed for the cashier’s booth, while the other women went outside to meet the car, I found that I was standing next to Sir Toby Groper. The chips in his pile were of a much higher denomination than mine.
    “A good evening, Sir Toby?” the cashier asked.
    “Not bad. Made up a little for a damned run of bad luck,” he said. He turned and looked at me. “And I see the young lady hasn’t done badly for herself either.”
    I realized I had to seize this moment. What I had seen of Sir Toby did not make getting to know him an attractive proposition. He had shown himself to be dangerous as well as aggressive. And I could well believe that he had walked out of Buckingham Palace with the queen’s snuffbox in his pocket. But I had already lost one of the queen’s prized possessions tonight. I owed it to her to fulfill my promise and recover another one. I plucked up courage. It was now or never. “Oh, just call it beginner’s luck,” I said, trying to sound keen and girlish. “It was my first time playing roulette. But you’re Sir Toby Groper, aren’t you? I’m staying at the villa