Libba straightened her shoulders, assuming her most regal posture, and moved to follow them, only to be stopped by Jasper’s hand on her arm, a quiet squeeze just to the spot below her elbow.
She turned to look at him askance as Lem filed past them, apparently unconcerned with whatever they were up to now, and the servants began to swarm toward the table to clear up the remains of dinner.
He paused only a moment, then nodded forward toward the hall.
Ahead of them, Mrs. Templeton-Rath was talking about the house. “It belongs to a family friend, you see,” she was saying, assuming they were all in close quarter behind her. “But is often closed for most of the year. They only summer here to attend the Prince Regent, but it has kept the old place lived in!”
“What,” Jasper’s voice hissed, warm and breathy against the back of her neck, “are youdoing?!”
She shivered, turning her head slightly and slowing her gait so that the others would pull farther ahead of them. “Exactly what you asked me to do,” she replied, turning and gazing up into his face, which was blazing down at her, those eyes narrowed into tilted, golden slits. “And look. It’s working.”
In this light, she could hardly tell he was bruised anymore. Ah, but shecouldsmell him again. She took a step closer, fascinated with how the scents of dinner and dessert danced around the almond cherry notes in the warmth of his skin.
“Libba, you… You can’t just…” He cut himself off, running the tip of his tongue over his teeth and shaking his head, his hair glinting in the low light. “You can’t just walk around like that!”
“I believe that I can,” she replied, looking down at herself with a little smile. “Don’t you like it?”
Something flashed over his face. Something new and a little dark. His eyes glinted like firelit treasure and followed her own gaze, caressing down the effect of her body in the costume, lingering over the flash of bare skin exposed over her hip.
He took a shallow, little breath, blinking all those pale lashes, and opened his mouth, presumably to tell her exactly what he thought of her outfit. His eyes flicked back up to meet hers, the color opaque in this light, like rich, heavy ingots.
“Mr. Townsend?” called Mrs. Templeton-Rath’s voice down the hall. “Princess? Did we lose you?”
“We are just negotiating my proposal!” Libba called cheerily without turning around. “My apologies. We are coming.”
She gave him a little smile before turning around and beckoning him to follow over her shoulder.
“We can always talk later, my hero,” she added, low and purring, and only for his benefit.
And she hoped it unsettled him, even if only a little.
Chapter Sixteen
“Charades!” Agatha Templeton-Rathannounced, as soon as everyone was seated in the circular embrace of her drawing room. “But with a twist! Tonight’s game will be limited only to the names of ships that we’ve seen in various docks, harbors, and trade routes. The odder the better, I say.”
“But we’ve eight,” Miss Templeton-Rath pointed out, tapping her finger to count all assembled. “We usually play in teams of three.”
“Yes, well, your mother has accounted for that, as it happens,” her father put in with a little smile at his wife. “Ladies’ choice of teammates, and as the game is hers, she will choose first and only once.”
“Oh, of course,” said Miss Rath, shaking her head. “And she’ll choose you, Uncle John, and then there’s no game at all.”
“Nonsense,” said Mr. Templeton-Rath, gesturing toward Libba, Lem, and Jasper. “We’ve a new element in our midst. What say you, guests? Does this game sound worthwhile?”
“Oh, indeed,” Libba agreed, clapping her hands together. “Shall we say only ships with names in English? For I have seen some very clever ones in other tongues.”
“As have I,” Miss Rath replied with an arch of her brow. “In Yoruba.”
“English only,” Mrs. Templeton-Rath said, holding her hands up. “And yes, I choose your father. Princess Xandine, you are our only lady guest, so you may choose next.”
“Splendid!” Libba said, grinning and considering the room. “I choose Miss Templeton-Rath, of course. She will have seen all the same ships as the rest of your family and possesses a canny mind. I can tell.”
Jasper stared at her, wondering just what in the name of God she was playing at.
“Well, that skips me, then,” Miss Templeton-Rath said, rising from her spot between her cousin and uncle to join Libba on the chaise. “Ayo?”
“Mr. Lem,” Miss Rath said so quickly, it made her father’s eyes narrow. “For the same reasons, of course.”
Lem gave what sounded like a swallow of effort and also stood, crossing the room to take the seat Miss Templeton-Rath had vacated.
