Two hours had passed by the time Charles had drunk himself beneath a card table.

"Looks like you need a hand, Lonsdale." James Fordyce, the Earl of Pembroke reached under the table and offered a hand to him. Charles gripped the hand and allowed himself to be hauled up on his feet. His vision cart-wheeled and he blinked rapidly, trying to get a steady fix on the man's face.

"Ready to go home, Lonsdale?" Pembroke asked.

"Suppose I ought to. Bloody hell, what a ...