Chapter 1

 

The Viscount buried his head in his hands. He could not believe he had gambled it all and lost everything! He now only literally owned the shirt on his back!

How could he be so stupid and reckless?! It had seemed like such a good idea at the time, after drinking himself silly with his good friend Josh, who now lay blacked out on a seat behind him. He wished he had also had the good sense to give himself up to sleep, but instead his eyes had remained wide open. He had felt lucky, and had been in the mood for a bit of a gamble, so they had headed to Brook's for some light entertainment. He had almost immediately sat at a table to get himself involved in a game of cards.

It had all started out so well. He had thought he was on a winning streak: he had won three games in a row. Then it had all changed for the worse, and he had started losing game after game. It had not really occurred to him at any point to turn away, count his losses and go home. He thought his winning streak would restart again, with him winning back all that he had lost and more. But now he owed a certain Mr Carter all his estate and worldly possessions and more, but the only problem was that he did not have the money to pay the man everything he owed to him. Part of the reason his drunkard self had gone to Brook's in the first place was to see if he could win some money to fund his preferred lifestyle. Just that morning he had learnt the tragic truth: his childless uncle, who had sadly passed away earlier that week, had left him with the title of Viscount and the estate where he had lived, but little else in terms of funds to manage the property and provide for living expenses.