Page 60 of Redemption of a Marquess

He poured two sherries, then faced her, glasses in hand. “Shall we sit?”

An idea struck. “Can we play a game of chess?”

He lifted a brow. “You play?”

She nodded. “My father loved to play, but none of my cousins played with him, so he taught me.”

Grey approached and handed her one of the glasses of sherry. “Your father sounds like an enlightened man.”

She laughed. “It’s more likely he was just desperate for someone to play with. I am a fair player.”

Grey canted his head. “We can start a game and finish tomorrow, if necessary.”

They sat at the game table and set up the pieces. Jeanine felt as if they existed in their own private world with the candlelight enveloping them in soft light while the rest of the room lay in shadow. Grey took the black pieces, of course, and she the white. Jeanine went first, and took her time deciding on the first move. Grey decided his first move more quickly than she did, but she intended to draw the game out as long as possible. Her head slightly bent as if her attention was on the board, she lifted her eyes and studied his serious expression when it came his turn to move.

Twenty minutes into the game, he leaned back in his chair and sipped his sherry, his eyes on her face. “I can see why your father liked playing with you. Was he a good player?”

“Oh yes, much better than me.”

“Then he was quite good.”

Jeanine moved her knight. “Your turn.”

She sipped her sherry. “What are your plans for tomorrow?”

“I have no particular plans. I seldom do.”

“Really? But you always seem to be busy,” she said

His mouth lifted in a tiny smile. “Do I?”

“What do you do all day?”

“Nothing that would interest you.”

She leaned forward. “But it would interest me.”

He studied the board a little longer this time.

“Did it please you to take me as your ward?” she asked.

“It did.”

“Despite all the trouble I’ve been?”

He smiled, but kept his attention on the board. “Despite all the trouble you’ve been.” He moved his queen.

“I’m very sorry about the trouble with Lord Gordon.”

He looked sharply at her. “That was not your fault.”

“But I went to his house and I shouldn’t have.”

The marquess picked up his sherry glass again and leaned back his seat. “True, you shouldn’t have. But Lord Gordon was troublesome long before you came along.”

She frowned. “He said something about saving another innocent from your clutches.”

Grey’s expression darkened. He downed the last of his sherry in one swallow, then rose and crossed to the sideboard. “Did he say anything more?”