Chapter Eleven
The afternoon had been a whirlwind of arriving visitors who all seemed to have colluded to appear at the same time. She’d barely had time to take a deep breath after sorting out all of the room assignments when the housekeeper rushed toward her yet again.
“My lady, we have a bit of a problem.” Mrs. Wollard was not prone to exaggeration, which made Louisa nervous. She was determined that everything was to run as smoothly as if her mother was here.
“Yes?”
“We are short a bedchamber. There are no more available in the wing we’ve reserved for the gentlemen.”
“Who has yet to arrive?”
“Only Lord Stowe, my lady.”
Louisa sighed in relief. Bless George for being the last to appear. “You may put Lady Kenworth’s brother with the family.”
That was one crisis averted, but now she must decide how to occupy the guests for the rest of the afternoon since it had been raining steadily for hours, which had also prevented them from going back to open the boxes in the pavilion. Wanting nothing to do with unpacking, the men had scurried off to the billiard room. Most of the ladies had assembled in the parlor, but they wouldn’t continue to entertain themselves forever. Though she had created a list of indoor activities for just this sort of situation, none of them seemed quite right for the circumstances.
What she needed was Thornbrook, who always seemed to have some clever idea or another to entertain everyone. Although, if she wanted to be recognized for her talents as a hostess, she ought to be able to entertain the guests on her own. Perhaps one of the games she used to play with her older sisters would be just the thing.
“Ladies.” She waited for them to quiet down before continuing. “Since the gentlemen have abandoned us in favor of the billiard room, I think we should have a bit of fun ourselves. Shall we start with hunt the slipper?” There were several enthusiastic responses, and as expected, Lady Phoebe turned her nose up at the idea. Louisa didn’t think anyone would miss her if she chose to sit out with the matrons.
Louisa spoke briefly with the footmen, who brought chairs from the dining room and positioned them in a circle. She didn’t think all of the ladies would be amenable to sitting on the floor like they had when she was younger. “Who would like to guess first?”
“I will,” Isa said, and moved to the center.
A maid handed Louisa an unworn slipper that they kept handy for just this sort of occasion, and she waved for the ladies to be seated. “Here we go.” She passed the shoe to the right and watched as the ladies perched on the edge of their chairs, focused on keeping their balance while they passed the shoe behind their backs. It had made it around the circle more than once when Isa opened her eyes and everyone froze in position.
“Who do you think has the slipper?”
“Lady Sarah?”
“Yes. I never have been very good at hiding things.” She smiled and switched places with Isa. When she closed her eyes, Isa passed the slipper.
She kept her eyes closed for much longer than Isa had. When she opened them, Lady Helen fell off of her chair while clasping the slipper against her side. Louisa was worried for an instant until Helen started to giggle, and then most of the rest of the room joined in.
“What is going on in here? I didn’t give anyone permission to have this much fun without me.”
Her stomach gave a jump at the sound of his voice. It was Thornbrook, of course. He always gravitated toward the ladies. It was one of the reasons she had been skeptical about him for so long, but over the last several months, he had stayed constant in his pursuit of her. She no longer doubted his sincerity. She was the one who wasn’t able to determine how she wanted to spend the rest of her life.
“My lord, what are you doing here?” Lady Phoebe asked. “The gentlemen assured us that they were not interested in playing parlor games.”
He moved farther into the room. “Well, I am. Ladies, what do you say to playing a game of bullet pudding?”
A few groans came from around the parlor. “But it’s so messy,” Lady Phoebe said, moving closer to him.
“Only if you make the bullet fall,” he said. “Flour wipes off easily enough. Besides, where’s your sense of adventure?”
Even the naysayers agreed to play after that. Thornbrook could be very convincing when he wanted to be. Louisa waved to the footman yet again. “We’ll need a large pewter dish filled with flour, and a bullet.”
“Yes, my lady.” He leaned a little closer. “Used to play that game at home.” Louisa smiled, relieved that he understood her odd request.
Thornbrook kept the ladies entertained with tales from the billiard room, some of which she was certain were completely fabricated, but she appreciated the distraction nonetheless. “I assure you I am not in jest. He hit the cue ball in such a way that it leaped off the table. It took a quarter of an hour for us to find it.”
“Where had it gone?” Lady Mary asked.
“Well, at first we searched along the floor. It was a sight to behold, with no fewer than ten gentlemen crawling about simultaneously. But the ball wasn’t to be found.”
“Did you find it?”
Thornbrook placed his hand over his heart. “Sadly, I was not to be the hero of this particular emergency. Lord Hamilton found it in one of the potted plants, of all things.”
Some of the sillier ladies giggled at his story. Louisa was just glad of his help because she would have had difficulty keeping them entertained for this long on her own.
“Ah, here we are now.” He directed the footman to set the dish on a round table, and everyone gathered around. Even Lady Phoebe had deemed the game interesting enough to come to the table, though more likely it was Thornbrook’s presence that drew her. Picking up the knife, he fluffed the flour up until a peak of sorts had formed and carefully laid the bullet on the top. He smiled at the ladies crowded around the table. Clearly, he was thoroughly enjoying the attention he garnered as the only gentleman in the room. His confidence with large groups contrasted with his seeming fragility at more intimate gatherings. What had happened that made him so vulnerable?
“Who would like to cut the first piece of pudding?” he asked.
“I’ll do it,” Lady Mary offered.
He handed her the knife, handle first, and nodded in encouragement. She lifted it, then closed her eyes and cut a slice. Mercifully, the bullet didn’t fall.
She passed the knife on to Lady Helen, who also managed not to drop the bullet. Lady Phoebe came next. Everything was fine on the downward cut, but when she lifted the knife out, the bullet fell into the flour.
“I’m sorry, my lady, but you must now find the bullet.”
She reached toward the dish with her hand.
“No, no.” He shook his head. “Per the rules of the game, you may only use your nose and chin to locate it, and must use your mouth to remove the bullet.”
A few titters sounded from around the table. Even Louisa was willing to admit that she would relish the sight of Lady Phoebe covered with flour.
She plunged her chin into the flour, but wasn’t able to locate the bullet. After an exasperated sigh, she stuck her nose down into the dish, pushing flour all over the table before finally grasping the bullet in her teeth.
Thornbrook raised his brows and Louisa bit her lip at the sight of Phoebe’s face dusted with flour. Her brows and lashes looked as if they were covered with frost. Not to mention her bodice, and much of her hair. Lady Sarah slapped her hand over her mouth, but her giggles were still audible.
Instead of glaring at the ladies, Phoebe decided to appeal to Thornbrook. “My lord, will you please help me remove the flour? You did say it would be easy.”
Louisa narrowed her eyes, waiting to see how he would react.
“Of course, my lady.” He pulled out his handkerchief and handed it to her.
She quickly swiped most of the flour from her face, then stuffed the handkerchief down into her bodice to remove the flour from her cleavage. That woman certainly knew how behave inappropriately. Thank goodness Thornbrook declined her offer to return his handkerchief.
“I would’ve given up my dowry to be able to witness that,” somebody said from the other side of table. It was difficult, but Louisa managed not to laugh.
“Shall we go again?” Thornbrook asked. “Or should we try something a little less messy?”
“I think the ladies might be ready to go prepare for dinner,” Louisa said.
Several of the ladies nodded. Thornbrook had a kind word for each of them as they exited. It looked as if Lady Phoebe was waiting to speak with him, but luckily her mother dragged her from the room, muttering about her having to take a bath before dinner.
They were finally alone, and suddenly Louisa couldn’t think of a thing to say.
“The look on your face was priceless when you saw Lady Phoebe lift her head from the dish.”
She grinned. “I still can’t believe she agreed to do it, though I have to give her credit for going along with the game.”
“I will make no such concession. She was deliberately attempting to bait me, as if I would be tempted by her flour covered…err…well, you know.”
“My lord, this is an entirely inappropriate discussion.”
“But those are the best sort.”
She shook her head, not wanting to further encourage his rakish tendencies.
“Did you notice that the rain stopped about an hour ago? If it holds off until tomorrow morning, it might be dry enough for us to go back to the pavilion.”
“This is so frustrating.” She narrowly refrained from stamping her foot. “We just need a few minutes to remove the boxes.”
“Are you suggesting we take the boxes down and bring them back to the house to open?”
She nodded.
“So you want to fetch the boxes, then set them aside and ignore them all day long while we entertain the guests, then wait through dinner, and whatever evening activity you have planned, and then wait for each of the guests to retire—”
“All right. You’ve made your point. There’s no way I have the patience to wait that long.”
“I thought not.”
“You needn’t relish my shortcomings.”
“On the contrary. Your spirit is what first attracted me to you.” He took a step closer and placed his hand against her cheek, sending tingles down her neck. “You wouldn’t be you without it, and I can’t wait to discover how you respond to…well, lots of other things.” He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and took a step away from her.
“Shall we meet in the library after dinner tonight and make plans for how to proceed?”
She nodded her agreement, then reached over and squeezed his hand. He met her eyes, looking as if he was startled that she had shown him some affection. As if maybe he didn’t think he was worthy of her regard, when in truth, it was the other way around. Most ladies would have long since succumbed to his charms, but she was torn asunder by having to choose between Thornbook and the beloved tenants of Walsley.