The Queen of Diamonds by Juliet Moore

Author:Juliet Moore
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-08-27T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Catherine felt the first droplets of rain just before entering the bar. She looked at the sky and was rewarded with a big fat drop right in her eye. She rubbed it away and tried not to associate the darkening skies with her task. "Rain," she said, almost in awe. "It hasn't rained since I got here."

"You're lucky then. It can be a curse as much as a blessing out here. Depending on whether you have a farm or a claim."

"Why?"

"Well, think about it," he said. It wasn't with any kind of arrogance. "The mine is essentially one big hole. Rain fills it up and turns it into a lake. Until you get the water out, you won't be finding any diamonds."

She nodded, glad, at least for that moment, she was done with mining. Another reason to be happy with her decision to cut her losses. She followed Harrison inside, as silent as ever. This was not her element and he knew how to handle himself. It was the kind of place where the tables were no cleaner than the floors and the prostitutes were likely cleaner than the men who bought and sold them.

Harrison took a quick look around before his gaze stopped on one table in particular. It was the one with the most activity surrounding it. Without advising her in any way, Harrison walked over.

Nearly the entire table looked up, but nobody said anything. Then one of the few men who didn't look, said, "I'm Trenton, but if you want to talk, you have to play. I've just about emptied these men's pockets."

Harrison seemed taken aback. "Listen, I only have a few questions."

"Questions, too?" He laughed heartily. "Then you not only have to play me, but you have to win."

This time Harrison laughed good-naturedly. "How about twenty pence and we can cut to the chase?"

"Maybe for a hundred," Trenton replied in a toneless voice.

"You can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious," he said, still deadpan.

Harrison shook his head and backed away without another word. He took Catherine aside, far enough so that the men at the table would be unable to hear. "Did you happen to be listening to any of that?"

"Of course. He wants you to play him for the information. What do you think? Is he known to be a good player?"

"I seem to remember he has a reputation for being shrewd at the table. But that is not the worst of it."

"What is?" Her stomach turned over.

"Mr. Trenton is playing whist. That means I would need a partner. Do you play?"

Her heart skipped a beat. "A bit."

"I know enough about the man to know he isn't kidding. This is our only shot at getting information."

Catherine looked around the room feeling exceedingly conspicuous. "I will do whatever I must, of course. It seems hopeless, though."

"Are you that bad?"

"It's not that I'm bad. It's more the realization they are professional gamblers and I'm not."

He chuckled. "You give them far too much credit."

She noticed the men were watching their conversation.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.