reputation is important to you, I imagine.” He noticed that Alastair Cole did not flinch, but he did blink. Twice. Breckenridge’s hands closed soundlessly in an attitude of prayer. He pressed the tips of his fingers together, making a steeple of them as he continued to regard Cole, considering. “You will likewise be aware that my reputation is important to me.”
“My lord?”
Breckenridge was now quite certain that Cole’s voice box was as tautly stretched as his nerves. There had been an alarming squeak as the man had uttered these last words. Judging by the scarlet color that rose above the stiff points of Cole’s collar, he had heard it as well.
“I collect what is owed,” Breckenridge said. “That is my reputation. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then you will not take offense when I ask how you plan to cover your losses.” Breckenridge permitted himself a small smile at Cole’s discomfort. Clearly the young man was offended at having the question put to him—a gentleman was taken at his word, after all—but he also seemed to sense that a toplofty tantrum was an indulgence he could ill afford. Breckenridge held up one hand, palm out, forestalling Cole’s answer just as the man’s lips parted around the lie he was about to tell. “And, pray, do not say you mean to ask for an advance on your quarterly allowance. We both know that such a request is unlikely to be granted.”
Alastair Cole brought his fist to his mouth as he cleared his throat. “Pardon me, my lord. A tickle in my throat.”
Breckenridge watched Cole’s eyes drop briefly to the tumbler of whiskey on the desk and the decanter beside it, but he did not offer libation and Cole did not ask for it.
“Unless you are in possession of facts unknown to me,” Cole said, “I have every reason to anticipate my request will be met favorably.”
Breckenridge made no response save for raising his arched eyebrow a fraction higher.
“Are you in possession of such facts?” Alastair Cole asked.
“I don’t believe so. I know what you know. Our opposing views suggest we interpret the facts differently.”
“I’m certain that is the case.”
Breckenridge thought Cole looked relieved. “I hope for your sake that you are in the right of it.” His expression remained unchanged as he added quietly, “You would not want to be wrong.”
Cole teetered slightly. The flush that had suffused his skin vanished, leaving him pale except for the sprinkling of freckles across his nose. “No, my lord. That is, I’m not wrong.”
The viscount nodded. He dropped his hands to the arms of his chair. “Then I can expect payment tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?”
The soprano note of panic had returned to Alastair Cole’s voice. It required effort of will for Breckenridge not to wince. He consulted his gold fob watch instead. “It is long after midnight already,” he said. “I did not realize. In that case I will expect payment in the morning. I am given to late risings. It is the hours I keep, I suspect. Let us say eleven, shall we? Something less than twelve hours from now. That should be sufficient.”
“Eleven? I couldn’t possibly.”
“I don’t believe I could have heard you correctly.”
Cole swallowed hard. The flush was back in his cheeks. “I require more time, my lord.”
“Do not keep it a secret, Mr. Cole. Out with it.”
“A day,” Cole said quickly. “A few days at the most.”
“A day? A few days? Which is it?”
“A few days.”
“Three? Four? Be specific, man.”
“Four.”
“Four days to secure an advance on your allowance seems excessive.”
“There are arrangements that must be made.”
Breckenridge considered this. “Travel arrangements, no doubt. In four days you could be in Liverpool. You could be in France.”
“No.” Alastair Cole shook his head vehemently. A lock of red-blond hair fell across his brow, making him look even younger than his twenty-one years. “That is not my intention. I swear to you, you shall have your money.”
“You would have me believe you are in earnest.”
“I am in earnest.”
Breckenridge did not respond immediately. He allowed silence to fill the space until it became as thick and cold as day-old porridge. It was an underrated tool, silence. At least Breckenridge had always found it so. People were often discomfited by it. Society sought to fill the void with chatter and tattle, tongues wagging as they were wont to do. Alastair Cole struggled to remain upright under the weight of it. Breckenridge could see that he was worrying his lower lip, probably drawing blood. God’s truth, there should be blood, Breckenridge thought, when gentlemen made wagers beyond their means to pay. No exception could be made for youth or inexperience, both of which afflicted Alastair Cole.
“Very well,” said Breckenridge. “You shall have your four days. Mark it well in your mind that I mean to have my money by this hour on Thursday.”
“Thank you, my lord.” Alastair bobbed his head. “Thank you.”
“And what do you propose to exchange for the four days?”
“What?”
“Quid pro quo. You know the phrase, do you not? Recently come down from Cambridge as you have.”
“Something for something. Yes, I know it.” Alastair Cole pushed the wayward lock of hair back into place. “But I thought I explained myself. I don’t have the money now.”
“That has been made clear to me, but I don’t have four days to surrender to you without something in return.”
“You want interest? Is that it?”
“I’m not a bloody moneylender, Cole. This is business.” Breckenridge knew the impact his dark, remote gaze had on gentlemen of Alastair Cole’s ilk. He used it now, not at all disappointed with the result. Small beads of perspiration formed on Cole’s upper lip, glistening in the firelight when the young man turned his head. Breckenridge allowed his glance to drop to the ring Cole was wearing on his right hand. “Tell me about that bauble.”
Cole jerked as if pulled from a trance. “Bauble?” He followed Breckenridge’s line of sight to stare at his own hand. “The ring?” he asked weakly.
“Yes, of course, the ring.”
“It was my father’s.”
Breckenridge waved that response aside and bid Cole come closer. “An emerald. Very nice. Solidly square cut. Unimaginative but suggesting strength. I make it to be set in a bed of—what?—twenty diamond chips?”
“Twenty-one,”
