Page 41 of How to Fall for a Scoundrel
“It seems whoever had this book made wanted asmany protections as possible,” Ellie smiled. “Maybe that’s where its reputation for being lucky came from?”
She opened it, and was amazed at the brightness of the painted illustrations within. Considering it was several centuries old, it was remarkably well-preserved.
Fantastical borders of colorful flowers and plants decorated the edges and encroached onto the beautiful medieval script. Huge gilt letters filled with dragons and angels, soldiers and birds added to the incredible richness.
“Can you feel good fortune seeping into your body?” Harry teased with a smile. He slid his finger over a page depicting a great feast, brushing her thumb as he did so, and her heart missed a beat at the seemingly innocuous contact.
Nothing he did was an accident.
Oh, he was wicked, bringing her to a slow boil.
“Put it somewhere safe,” she urged, pushing it toward him.
He crossed to the bookcase behind her and, after a moment’s perusal, selected a large, leather-bound book that appeared to be a weighty treatise on agricultural practices. It opened, however, to reveal a hollowed-out space within, where the central parts of the pages had been removed to create a hiding place the perfect size for the jeweled book.
He placed it inside with a wry glance at her, then put the book back on the shelf.
Ellie had to admire the simple but effective strategy. The brown leather binding blended perfectly with the other books. Finding it would be like trying to locate a needle in a haystack.
“There. Now, I promised to show you how to cheat at cards. Still interested?”
He indicated two chairs set on either side of a green baize-topped card table. She sat, and watched in awe as his nimble fingers picked up a pack of cards and shuffled them with such dexterity and speed that it was as if they came alive in his hands.
“I first saw this done in Venice, when I was just sixteen,” Harry said. “In Italy it’s known asgioco delle tre carte. In France it’s calledbonneteau. There are several variations on the theme, but the important thing is the way the three cards are held and tossed on the table.”
He selected three cards from the pack, two black jacks and the queen of hearts, then turned them over so the backs were uppermost. He picked up one of the cards in his left hand, and two in his right, and showed her the queen as the bottom card of the pair. “Now, watch closely.”
He tossed what appeared to be the bottom card—the queen—onto the table, then followed with the other two, laying them down in a straight line in front of her. He then moved the three cards around, switching their positions until he stopped and looked expectantly at Ellie.
“Where’s the queen?”
Ellie pointed to the card she was sure was the right one. He turned it over to show a black jack.
“What?!”
He chuckled at her astonishment. “I made it look as though I threw down the queen first, but in truth I discarded the upper card, the jack. Watch again.”
He picked up the cards and repeated his movements extremely slowly, using exaggerated motions to show how it was done. He curved the cards slightly in his hand,his big palms making it look easy. Then he repeated the trick at full speed, his hands moving so quickly that it was impossible to detect the substitution. Ellie chose the incorrect card again.
“It takes a lot of practice to be able to deceive people,” he said, when she shook her head.
“But surely the person you’re fooling occasionally chooses the queen, just by sheer luck.”
“True. And when that happens, they win the pot. The frequency with which that happens, though, is very small. The odds are strongly in the dealer’s favor.”
“Don’t you feel the slightest bit guilty for conning people out of their money?”
“Why should I? It’s their greed and foolishness that makes them enter the game. They take part with the absolute certainty they’re going to win. It’s their choice. Shouldn’t such arrogance be punished?”
Ellie frowned, unwilling to debate the point, but still stubbornly determined to beat him. “Give me one more chance.”
His dimples appeared. “Think you’re going to win?”
“Now that I know what you’re doing, perhaps.”
He laughed. “Very well. Let’s make a bet. If you win, and find the queen, I’ll kiss you.”
She shook her head at his shameless maneuvering. “That’s very magnanimous. And what if I lose?”