Scoundrel With A Noble Heart (sequel of Disgraceful)

Chapter 36

A light knock sounded at Marguerite's door before the wooden panel swung inward and Bill Wagner, Matthew's right hand man appeared there.
"You wish to see me?"

"Come in, Bill."

Wagner closed the door before entering, and stopped in the middle of the room.

"Please have a seat."
Marguerite signaled to the chair across her, but he remained where he stood.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Mags?"

Marguerite always admired Wagner's straightforwardness, though some people might take it for rudeness. Goddard had trusted him for more than twenty years for a reason, and her father was never wrong.

"There's something I need to know."
She took her time to consider her words. After a long pause, she brought herself to ask,
"Do you know if Matthew has been seeing someone? A woman?"

"Not to my knowledge."

Reaching to her side, she took the pocket mirror and showed it to Wagner.
"Bill, I found this in the carriage, and Ewan told me that last night Matthew went to the opera and spent time with the famous dancer. Bill, I need you to tell me the truth. How long has it been going?"

Wagner's eyes widened at the news, a moment later his expression darkened.
"Blast it! I knew this would happen if Matt kept associating with that scoundrel."

"With who?"

"It's Mannheim. He is such a pain. Matty seems to like him, but I don't trust that man. Something about him just doesn't sit right with me."
He paused, his expression shifted from anger to sympathetic when he looked at Marguerite.
"Look Maggie, Matty is not the sort of man who dallies with celebrities, not until last night. He wouldn't have gone to the theatre if not for that degenerate. I'll wager it was Mannheim who pimped the actress out to him."

Blushing at the vulgar term, Marguerite steeled herself against a rush of emotion as images of Matthew and the dancer in intimate moments pervaded her mind.
"Are you saying that he might be a bad influence on Matthew?"

"I don't have the slightest doubt about that."

"If so, can we refuse him entry?"

Wagner shook his head with a regretful sigh.
"We don't have a good reason for that, unless we can prove that he cheats, which I have been trying to do for the past few weeks."

"Bill, we can't accuse anyone without concrete evidence."

"He must have cheated or he wouldn't be able to beat all our dealers in any card games."

"It's not impossible. I know Matthew can beat every one of them."

"Don't mention that reprobate in the same breath as Matthew. Matthew is a prodigy, and Mannheim is nothing but a skilled cheater. He must have hidden cards under his sleeve or something like that, but he's got extremely quick hands, our men failed to figure it out."
Wagner paused as if a thought had just entered his head.
"Holy hell. Why hasn't it occurred to me earlier?!"

He whirled around and headed out with brisk, long steps. His shoes clacked across the marble floor as he strode to the balcony. Behind him, Marguerite hurried to catch up.

"Bill, have you just figured out something?"

He seemed not to hear her and kept walking, not slackening his pace until they reached the balcony. He stopped by the edge and rested both hands on the railing, his gaze swept over the crowded gaming hall.

"This is a perfect spot to spy on him. From this point, I can have a much better view than from down there."
A triumphant smirk formed in the corner of his lips as he pledged,
"I'm not going anywhere until I catch him red-handed. I won't even blink."