Errors of Judgment(24)

Fifteen minutes later they were at Blunt’s, a private members’ gaming club in Mount Street. Edward seemed to know just about everyone there. An extremely tall, thin man in an impeccably cut suit wove his way through the crowd to greet him.

‘Darius – good to see you!’ Edward and the thin man shook hands. ‘Meet my friend Anthony Cross.’

Darius nodded at Anthony. ‘Haven’t seen you here before. New member?’

‘I’m Edward’s guest.’

‘Jolly good. You don’t seem to have drinks.’ He snapped his fingers and a waiter shimmied across. ‘What do you chaps fancy? Cristal? Pol Roger?’

‘Cristal,’ said Anthony. ‘My treat,’ he added to Edward. God alone knew how much it would cost, but he had firmly decided he didn’t care. Those days were gone.

‘Where’s the old man?’ Edward asked Darius.

‘He’s around somewhere. Probably in the gaming room.’

They followed Darius into the busy casino. Anthony was intrigued by the different atmosphere at each of the tables. The roulette table was buzzing with laughter and excitement, a gaggle of pretty girls shouldering near to watch the wheel spin and the ball drop. Further on at the card tables things were quieter, with only the murmur of the croupier’s voice as he dealt the cards.

Darius’s father, Caspar Egan, was pacing the room, his manner relaxed but watchful. Like his son he was tall, but fleshier, with cold eyes and smooth features ready for all social eventualities. Edward, who was an excellent customer, received his widest smile and most cordial greeting. Edward introduced Anthony.

‘Tony’s something of a casino novice.’

‘Really?’ Caspar turned his razor smile on Anthony, weighing him up. ‘We’ll have to find the right game for you. You enjoy poker?’

‘I haven’t played much.’

‘Try our stud poker table. You’ll enjoy it.’

‘I don’t really gamble,’ said Anthony. This confession instantly left him feeling foolish. He caught the amusement in Darius’s eyes.

‘Well, tell you what – as you’re a friend of Edward’s, allow the house to make you a little present of twenty pounds’ worth of chips. Just to get you started.’

‘No, really—’

A waiter arrived with the champagne and glasses. ‘Come on,’ said Edward, ‘let’s splash this around, buy some chips, and get down to business.’

Anthony decided the most politic thing would be to accept the chips, but not use them. He would remain a disinterested spectator, and let Edward and his friends do the gambling. He followed Edward to the roulette table, and watched as Edward dropped the better part of five hundred pounds in twenty minutes.

‘Ed,’ Anthony said, knocking back his second glass of champagne, ‘stop betting on the same number. Nineteen’s never going to come up. This is a complete waste of money.’

Edward shrugged, grinned, and dropped another two black chips on nineteen. Anthony groaned. The chattering crowd fell quiet as the croupier spun the wheel and the ball clattered and bounced. Anthony happened to glance up, and there, standing on the other side of the table with a group of friends, was the girl who had been in the pub the other day, when he and Leo had been having lunch. She was dressed in a very short, silver-grey dress, her hair was loose about her shoulders, and her eyes were fixed on the wheel. He didn’t think she had seen him. Suddenly a shout went up and Edward was punching the air and whooping.

‘You jammy sod!’ exclaimed Anthony. ‘How much is that you’ve netted?’

‘Seven grand!’ replied Edward. ‘See? Just a question of holding the old nerve. Come on, Tony, time you had a go.’

‘Unlikely, I’d say,’ came a drawling voice behind them. Anthony glanced over his shoulder, and saw Piers Hunt-Thompson. It was seven years since they’d last met. Piers was a big, ugly, loose-limbed man, with a prominent chin and broken nose, but with an exceptional air of swaggering self-confidence which managed to intimidate men and charm women. He smiled at Anthony with lazy insolence. ‘Probably as tight-fisted as ever. Still watching the pennies, Anthony?’

‘Still cheating at cricket, Piers?’ replied Anthony.

A pretty blonde appeared at Piers’ side, dressed in a low-cut, tight-fitting red dress. When she saw Anthony, her eyes widened and she gave a little gasp of delight.

‘Anthony! How lovely!’ Julia leant forward and kissed his cheek as though they were old friends, as though the last time they’d met she hadn’t been shattering his heart into a million little pieces with her lies and betrayal.