Chapter 2For what seemed to him a very long time, although it can have been only a few minutes, the Duke stood staring at the empty balcony and as he did so, like a puzzle falling into place, he saw how he had been deceived and tricked.
The Duke was not only extremely intelligent, but he had a very retentive memory.
It had stood him in good stead both at Eton and at Oxford where he had found that by doing only the minimum amount of work he could win prizes and awards.
Now, seeing his past flash before his eyes as if through a magic lantern, he saw Jimmy Hudson telling him when they were staying at Warwick Castle that the Earl of Sedgewick had good horses and he was borrowing one to ride in the local steeplechase.
“Be a good friend, Raven and don’t enter for it,” he begged. “I want to w
