Jack of Clubs

Author: Barbara Metzger
Published: March 7, 2006 (Signet)
Category: Regency Romance
Series: House of Cards Trilogy #2
Rating: 9/10

Captain Jonathan Endicott has returned from the war and doesn't quite know what to do with himself. He doesn't want to follow any of his older brother Ace's suggestions, or his wife Nell's for that matter. They suggest the usual things, like becoming a man about town, or an assistant to Ace's estate, etc. Jack has know interest in those things.

So he opens up a gambling parlor called the Red and the Black. He intends to use it to bring attention to the Endicotts' continued quest to find their long-lost sister Charlotte. He figures that he'll interview blond women responding to the posters around the city. He's also looking for some female companionship, but to avoid sleeping with a woman who could be his sister, he decides to hire only redheads and raven-haired ladies to work in the parlor, and he can flirt with any of those he chooses.

While Jack is preparing for his opening, he doesn't realize more responsibility is headed his way. Miss Allie Silver is escorting his new ward Harriet to his doorstep due to the wishy-washy will of one of his former fellow soldiers. Harriet was supposed to go to her grandparents due to a series of unfortunate events. Her mother was murdered by her uncle, and her father died in the war. She was supposed to go to her grandparents, but her grandfather just passed away and her grandmother was placed in a looney bin.

Of course, Allie is appalled at the idea of Harriet living in close proximity to such debauchery, but they have no choice. Jack also isn't too happy about this development, as he'll surely lose his license if a child is discovered in the public rooms of his house. However, the naughty, conniving little imp soon worms her way into his heart, and little does he know, but Harriet has a plan for Allie to marry Jack, so she can have a real family that can't ship her off on a whim.

Unfortunately, Jack's ladybird doesn't take kindly to the intrusion of teacher and pupil. She concocts a story that Allie is a former lover of Jack's trying to pass off Harriet as their bastard. The ladybird is so vicious that she leaks the story to one of the biggest papers in London, thereby ruining Allie's chances of finding another respectable teaching position. There are positions aplenty in the homes of less-than-honorable gentlemen, but Allie's smarter than that. So it seems as though there's no choice but to stay with Harriet in the house of loose morals.

Allie actually saves the Red and the Black from arson, rousing the house and helping to put out the fire in good time, and it's after this near-tragedy that Jack kisses her for the first time and they realize how much they're attracted to each other, despite the doubts and warnings in each person's mind. Jack even tries to send Allie and Harriet away to stay at Carde House so Allie can save what's left of her reputation.

Harriet is not to be thwarted by a change of location. She goes "missing," visiting Allie's estranged grandfather. Apparently, Allie's mother had the nerve to marry for love rather than fortune and prestige, and the grandfather has wanted nothing to do with Allie, having the paper declare her dead in reaction to the gossip provided by Jack's ladybird. In reaction to the falsehood he had printed, Allie stood up to her grandfather with a smart speech about being a true gentleman. Anyways, Harriet went to Lord Montford to convince him to give Allie the dowry that was intended for her mother, as Jack needs to marry someone with a fortune. The child is so cunning that you can't help but smile at her schemes.

And so there's a humorous and happy ending, with Jack proposing to an unwitting Allie, who thinks he's actually asking her to become his mistress. At this point, she figures she'll take what she can get, and agrees, thinking she's the new ladybird. The shortlived confusion is especially hilarious when Allie blurts out her surprise in front of Lord Montford, who's decided to welcome Allie back into the family.

An excellent reformed rake read :)