Read Scandalous Wager: A Whitechapel Wagers Novella for Free Online Page B

that it doesn’t. Let us put the matter to rest there.”
    Before Lizzy burst in, Ainsworth had threatened official censure,
even demotion. Now, after finding Ian in a locked room with his daughter, he
was setting the whole thing aside?
    “You will take no official action?”
    “I’ve just told you I won’t, Inspector. Would you like me to
reconsider?”
    “No, sir”
    “Very well then.”
    Ian waited, expecting Ainsworth to dismiss him. But the man simply
sat and gazed at him, as if sizing him up.
    All Ian could think about was Lizzy. Despite her hasty departure
and the prospect she was finished with him, the urge to ask Ainsworth whether
he could court her, marry her, was powerful. He opened his mouth to speak, but
the sound of Ainsworth’s voice filled the room.
    “You’ve chosen the right one.”
    “Sir?”
    “I like to host the men that I command in my home, allow them to
meet my family, show them how hard work and diligence can pay off.”
    Ainsworth’s hospitality toward his men was legendary. Some saw it
as the guv showing off. Others thought Ainsworth desperate to marry off his
daughters. But Ian took it just as the chief inspector had intended. He wished
to motivate his men. Ainsworth seemed to value ambition as much as any other
quality.
    “Do you know how many requests I have had from men who wish to
marry Sara?”
    Ian dearly wished the girl would just marry someone and be done
with it.
    “No, sir.”
    “Four.”
    The number neither surprised nor interested Ian.
    “She could not be bothered with any of the poor besotted fools, of
course, and they don’t know how blessed they were.”
    Could Ainsworth be as tired of the issue of Sara Ainsworth’s
matrimonial prospects as he was? Before he could respond, if indeed Ainsworth
expected him to, his superior continued.
    “Sara would make a terrible police officer’s wife, no matter his
rank. Elizabeth is the better choice. Yet none of them chose her. None of them
noticed her merits. Until you. It is no surprise. You
are a fine detective, with too keen an eye not to see what is truly before
you.”
    It was the perfect moment to speak up, to proclaim his intentions
toward Lizzy, but Ainsworth had stunned him. The detective chief inspector
filled the silence.
    “Based on what I witnessed here this morning, I would venture to
say she is fond of you. And you of her. How exactly
did that transpire?”
    Ian had never stuttered in his life, but he suddenly tripped on
his own tongue. “I have... She is... We...”
    Ainsworth seemed to grow bored with his effort and offered up a
detective’s surmises.
    “I take it you have seen her outside of your visits to our home.
Goodness knows Sara and my wife would not have given you a moment’s peace to
speak to Lizzy on her own. So you met in Whitechapel, perhaps. By chance or
design? At Tregard School, where she does her charity
work, or perhaps here at the station when she came to visit and found me away.”
Ainsworth watched Ian closely as he spoke and his eyes narrowed. “Not Wellclose Square. Tell me my daughter has not visited your
lodgings, Inspector.”
    Ian could not tell him that Lizzy had come to him. Her scandalous
wager, asking him to give her carnal pleasure, as she called it, in exchange
for favor with her father and sister had never been worth considering. He would
have offered her anything, all the pleasure he was capable of giving, just for
the prize of touching her, kissing her, making love to her.
    “I see.” Ainsworth seemed to read Ian’s thoughts, though he hadn’t
managed to utter a word.
    What exactly had Ainsworth’s inquiring gaze deduced?
    “She came to you.”
    He had never lied to Ainsworth and didn’t wish to start now, but admitting
the truth might tarnish Lizzy’s reputation or damage the chief inspector’s
regard for his daughter.
    When Ian remained silent, Ainsworth continued.
    “Your silence tells me all I need to know, Inspector.” The older
man released a long,