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“Goodnight, everyone,” she replied, being sure not to raise her voice too high. The others each waved in reply. Arabella waited until she was out of their site before picking up her pace down the dark path, hoping that Milton hadn’t gotten too far.
* * *
Nathan cursed under his breath as his shot went awry, sending the balls in the exact opposite direction he’d intended.
“I haven’t seen you play this badly since Eaton, Milton,” Derry drawled, moving to take his own shot. The prince took aim and executed a perfect spin on the ball, as expected. Nathan couldn’t count how many times they’d all been thoroughly trounced by the man.
The excitement of the afternoon had given way to evening. Dinner had been a loud affair, Derry’s newfound presence taking the attention of just about every houseguest. He himself had been seated at the prince’s elbow, and Nathan had used the distraction of his friend’s presence to keep from staring at Miss Hughs in the same ridiculous manner he had only a day before.
“He’s got a lot on his mind,” Thurmont chimed in cheerily. “That horse won’t win itself, you know.
“Ah, yes. That silly bet of yours. Kirkwood told me about it. It’s Milton and Lockhart first, I hear.”
“Don’t remind me,” Lockhart grumbled, sinking into the armchair he sat in and taking a long swallow of whiskey. The baron had been unusually grumpy after the afternoon’s activities, and Nathan wondered if it had anything to do with the hushed and obviously heated exchange he’d seen him have with Miss Balfour on the way back inside. Kirkwood looked up from whatever notes he had been scribbling from his seat on an adjacent sofa and gave Lockhart a lopsided smile. “Doing poorly, as expected.”
“We’ll see if you have that stupid grin once Thurmont picks out your own difficult chit,” Lockhart snapped back.
“Why are you so late, Derry? Wander off again?” Nathan asked, steering the conversation to a safer topic before things got too aggressive thanks to Lockhart’s sour mood.
“In a way, yes,” he replied, and Nathan nearly rolled his eyes at the cryptic words. Derrick could be a coy bastard at times. He supposed it was natural for a prince to behave as such, as frustrating as it was for the rest of them.
“Get distracted by some fancy piece?” Thurmont inquired with a waggle of his eyebrows.
“Must everything be so lewd with you?” Derry scowled.
“You did not answer the question,” Kirkwood noted with a small smirk.
“A ship passing in the night, nothing more, nothing less,” he replied before adding with a grumble, “Bloody nosy bastards. This silly wager of yours is far more interesting than my affairs.”
“Will you take part?” Nathan asked. It would be amusing to see the normally placid man flounder around. It was a rare time that Derry was thrown out of sorts.
Alas, it seemed the prince was determined to disappoint them once again this evening, as he gave them a small shake of his head. “I will not.”
“Is there nothing we can tempt you with? There are some extravagant rewards on the line,” Thurmont said. “Milton here is getting that damn horse he’s been begging me about for the past year.” He wasn’t, but Nathan wouldn’t be sharing that for quite some time for the sake of his dignity.
Derry continued eyeing the table. “And I am sure the punishment is equally extreme. I’ll pass on the anxiety, thank you. Besides, I have my hands full with other matters.”
Nathan lined up his shot, knowing better than to pry into his business. If there was a serious issue afoot, the prince would tell him, eventually. He always did. The four of them knew far more about the inner, and incredibly dysfunctional, workings of the Warcian royal family than perhaps even members of the country’s own court. The ball missed its target entirely, and Nathan muttered another curse.
“Troubled?” Derry asked. “You are usually a decent match for me.”
“He’s besotted with Miss Arabella Hughs, the wallflower assigned to him.”
Nathan glared at Lockhart. “I am not besotted.”
“And that’s why you haven’t been able to keep your eyes off her from the moment you knew of her existence, in spite of your spectacular failures to secure the waltz.”
“She found out about the bet,” he supplied to Derry. “So I’ve been on my best behavior in order to sway her to my cause.”
“Is that really all?” Thurmont inquired. “I must agree with Lockhart. You’ve been mooning at her spectacularly since the beginning of the house party. Even Miss Caroline couldn’t distract you.”
“It does sound like things have gone well beyond this bet,” Derry said, casually leaning down to make another perfect shot. “Will you court her?”
“Will she let him?” Kirkwood asked from behind his book.
Lockhart crossed his arms with a smirk. “Now that is the question of the hour, isn’t it?”
“Are you still mad about me intervening during the bowling game?” Nathan said, hoping to divert the unhelpful conversation. He hardly knew where his own feelings lay, and his friends pontificating on the matter was not helping him sort things out in the least.
