High Stakes Chattel by Andie Blue Page A

together in glee. “Oh, my goodness, Sam! You really do almost look like a boy.”
    Samantha went to the full-length mirror on the other side of the room and inspected herself critically. “Almost won’t do. I have to really look like a boy or this will never work.”
    Jole ne bit her lip. “It will be far more convincing once we complete the last step.”
    “Cutting my hair,” Samantha said, staring at her wild locks in dismay.
    “Yes. Are you sure you want to do that, Samantha? You have such beautiful hair. It will take forever to grow back. What about Lord Chattel? Or other possible paramours?”
    Samantha thought of how Nico had forever been tucking her hair behind her ear, his eyes filled with passion and tenderness. Resigned, she shook the memory away. “Really, Jolene, that’s finished. I’ll probably never see him again. It’s time for me to take control of my own future and stop waiting around for a white knight. Get out the shears.”
     

 
     

     
    Nico stopped reading his notes and looked out the window of the steam train headed for Paris. Samantha would be preparing at this moment to go to the tournament, and he wished that he could witness her courage. Most of all, he hoped he had prepared her enough to win. He wanted her to be cared for and not to struggle through life. He wanted her to be able to help her mother while she was still living. If she didn’t win, he would find a way to give her the money himself.
    He was glad to be on his way to the institute , where he wouldn’t have time to think about her or to regret the choice he had made to let her go. He spoke the truth when he told her that he could never make her happy. Hopefully, she realized that he was right. What woman wants a husband who spends night and day inventing things or discovering cures? He needed a wife who would be happy to have him on her arm for the occasional party and content to spend the rest of her days spending his money in the shops. He tried to convince himself that was the kind of wife that he wanted.
    His mind turned back to the tournament and he felt that familiar worry he’d been having since Samantha left. He knew John would be at the tournament, but he still felt concerned. Perhaps he should have worked harder to discourage her plan. If she were discovered, who knew how the men would treat her? They may even brand her as insane or imprison her. It was hard to tell, since it had never happened before. One thing was for sure, she would never again be treated well by society and her life would be much more difficult.
     
    ***
     
    Samantha spent the next two days in a kind of dress rehearsal in the town of Barkston. She wore her costume and walked around pretending to be a man, getting the feel of the walk, and talking to people using a low voice.
    She walked as though she was still riding a horse, jaunty and slightly bow legged. She even went to church in the costume and pretended to be a man while praying to God for help and protection during the contest. She would definitely need protection from the wrath of the men in the contest if they discovered she was a woman.
    To her relief, no one seemed to question her manhood. She’d learned that people were usually so self-involved that they tended to take things at face value. With a pang of longing, she wondered if Nico would be fooled by her disguise if she ran into him today. Somehow she doubted it. He struck her as someone who always looked a little deeper than everyone else.
    On the morning of the competition, she took extra care with her costume, spending nearly an hour in front of her mirror before she finally deemed herself ready for the charade.
    As she entered the great hall where the tournament was to take place, anxiety rose within her. Her hands were sweating as she went to the center table to register. What if she couldn’t even get through this first hurdle, and the registrar immediately saw through her disguise and ordered her from the