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“Oh, she did,” Miss Drawlington, a lady with an aquiline nose and a sharp forehead interjected as she peered at her own hand of cards. “We were talking just this morning out on the lawn, and she said you only invited forty couples to attend.” She placed a six of clubs on the stack and leaned in so she could whisper secretly, “Forty couples is just the right number. Any more, and you’d be overdoing it. Any less and…” she paused and harumphed, “it just wouldn’t be grand enough.”
“That’s precisely what I said,” Miss Loery agreed charmingly as she hunched her shoulders prettily. “Your Grace, isn’t that what I said just this morning?”
“Umm—” Richard murmured absently. He knew that his bride-to-be had just uttered his name, but he had no idea what she’d said, or why she was including him in the conversation now. For the past half hour, while playing at this game of whist, Miss Loery and Miss Drawlington sat talking endlessly over every detail of the wedding. As Miss Drawlington was considered a dear friend, but she had been unable to arrive at the house when the festivities first began yesterday, there was much—so much— his future bride needed to share with her, and Miss Drawlington was a very eager and engaged listener. Not at all like Richard himself, who wasn’t even pretending to pay attention.
“Oh yes,” Harry broke in, saving Richard from any further embarrassment. “I heard you say it myself. And I do say, I agree with you, Miss Loery. The procession for your wedding will be much heralded by all who attend.”
“Quite right, Mr. Hudson,” Miss Loery murmured, but then she turned her attention back toward Miss Drawlington. “And has anyone told you yet of what we plan to do after the ceremony?”
Richard rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, unwilling to listen once again while his bride went on and on about the nuptials that were set to take place the next morning. Harry gave him a good, swift kick under the table, and while it stung a tad, Richard was not annoyed with his friend. Instead, he threw down one of the cards in his hand and mouthed a quick “thank you” in Harry’s direction.
“Your Grace,” Miss Loery sighed despairingly. “Trumps are clubs. Have you really got not a single one in your hand?”
Richard gazed down at his cards and the numbers and pictures printed on them all blurred together. He squinted at the cards, trying to make sense of them, but even the red and black suits seemed to be all the same. Just then, a fit of riotous laughter rose from the table next to them where Leticia and a whole crowd of merrymakers were participating in a rousing game of commerce. As he looked on, Leticia tipped her head back and laughed without restraint, and he watched the way her dark brown curls jounced with the movement.
Wish I was over there…seems to be much more fun.
Once again, as if he could read his friend’s mind, Harry sent a kick at Richard’s shins underneath the table, and this time upon impact, Richard gave a little yelp. He winced, and while he didn’t thank Harry for bringing his attention back toward the game this time around, he turned away from the jolly party at the commerce table and stared at his own cards. “I do apologize. I don’t think I understood what you said.”
Miss Loery narrowed her icy blue eyes and said crisply, “We just lost another trick because clubs are trumps, and you put a spade on the pile. Don’t you have any clubs?”
Miss Drawlington leaned toward Harry, and in a faux whisper she said, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that they were trying to cheat us just now.”
“Oh,” Harry chuckled lightly, “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“But it must be against the rules for one partner to ask the other about the cards in their hands,” Miss Drawlington persisted, her words sounding a tad nasally to Richard’s ear.
Harry winked at Miss Drawlington and remarked, “Seeing as they are the bride and groom, I think we can let them get away with it just this once, don’t you think?”
Miss Drawlington relaxed at once, blushing and fussing with her own cards. But Miss Loery maintained her cool stare. “Your Grace,” she said politely yet with a stiffness that was evident. “Is something the matter?” She nodded toward the cards in his hands. “You still haven’t examined your hand.”
“Yes, of course,” Richard mumbled, looking at his cards. He shuffled them about a bit, trying to organize and rearrange the hand so that each suit was matched up properly. “I have no clubs,” he said triumphantly, giving Miss Loery a small smile.
She snorted. “I appreciate you taking the time to look, but seeing as we’re trying to win this game, your revelation doesn’t exactly help matters.”
“I—” Richard began, quite unsure of how to react. This was the first time he’d ever heard the fair Miss Loery be cross with him, and he was slightly stunned by the way she held her head high now and looked down her nose superciliously at him.
“Oh, Miss Loery, go easy on him,” Harry interceded. “He can’t help the cards he has in his hands.Idealt them, remember?” Now, he laughed brightly in that infectious way of his and the tension around the table eased.
“Yes, I suppose he can’t,” Miss Loery said, patting her gloved hand lightly on Richard’s forearm. He thought she meant to say something else, but she held her tongue, and the game continued. Richard paid close attention to the next few tricks as Miss Loery kept her hand steady on his forearm, but as soon as she pulled back, his eyes darted toward the commerce table. He was just in time to see Leticia smile impishly before knocking on the tabletop.
She must’ve won again—
His eyes lingered on Leticia’s face then, and he saw how the soft candlelight only enhanced her features. While he always thought of her as being comely, tonight especially, she looked luminous. For the card party, she’d changed into a gown that was a pale blue color. The bluebells she always wore in her hair had been refreshed when her hairstyle was simplified into a loose twist. Breezy tendrils framed her face, and one fell, most alluringly, down the side of her neck. Richard’s fingers itched to brush against that spot, smoothing away the errant curl and tucking it back into the twist with the rest.
As he had these thoughts, his mouth became quite parched, and he reached forward to take a small sip of the wine that sat before him.
Bitter—
Ever since he’d consumed the entire bottle of claret the day before, everything he drank, whether it be tea, wine, or even a sip of lemonade, had a slightly sour, almost displeasing flavor. He pushed the small wine goblet off to the side, threw one of his King of Hearts down on the table as he recognized that it was his turn to play, and went back to gazing at Leticia.
How can she turn a card party…so boring…so mundane…into a riotous good time?
“And once we return here, to Braxton Manor, there will be more than three hundred spectators from the village waiting for us,” Miss Loery’s voice floated back to him, and Richard was pulled out of his reverie.
“Three hundred?” Miss Drawlington gave a small gasp. “Do you truly think so many people will be here? Can there even be that many people who live in this small village?”
“Of course,” Miss Loery replied nonchalantly. “His Grace’s tenants are all very loyal to him and this Manor. They won’t want to miss out on our wedding celebration.”
