Melody shook her head. “No. This is fine.”
Natalie waited for her to take a mouthful, but she did not. Something inside her heart twisted and as Natalie looked at Melody’s small frame, she wondered just how long she had not been eating.
“You know, peas are one of my favourite foods.” Natalie said, loudly.
The Duke raised an eyebrow at her, but she ignored him, instead focusing on Melody. “Would you like to know why?”
Melody’s eyes flicked to her, and she shrugged. Natalie decided to take that as agreement. She broadened her smile, ignoring the pin prick of worry spreading through her, and leaned towards Melody.
“Because they are the most fun.”
“Fun?” Melody canted her head towards her. “How can peas be fun?”
Natalie sensed she had caught the child’s interest and gave her a conspiratorial wink. “Anything can be a source of great joy and amusement if you know the right game.”
“Game?” Melody bit her bottom lip, but Natalie saw a spark of excitement in the girl’s eyes.
She smiled. “Indeed. Peas are excellent for playing Catapult.”
Melody’s eyes widened and then she frowned. “What is Catapult?”
“Oh, it is one of my favourite games, my brother and I used to play it all the time as children, though…” Natalie pursed her lips thoughtfully, and affected an air of shyness. “Maybe you will think it is silly.”
Melody leaned forwards, and Natalie had to hide her smile as she saw the girl’s eyes light up. “I promise, I will not think it is silly.”
Natalie gave Melody a serious look. “But you do not know what it is yet. You may well think it a silly game. Perhaps… Perhaps I should not have brought it up at all.”
“Well, if I think it is silly could we still play? I promise I will not laugh.” Melody said, her voice earnest and somber.
Natalie paused as though considering this and then nodded. “Very well. But I think we should make sure your father plays as well. Or he might feel left out.”
“I-” the Duke began, his eyes narrowing but Melody interrupted, “Father will play. He likes playing games with me.”
“Wonderful!” Natalie clapped her hands together, and resisted smirking at the flash of irritation on the Duke’s face. “Now, therules of Catapult are quite simple. The goal of the game is to finish all the food on your plate.”
“That does not sound very fun.” Melody’s brow furrowed.
“Ah, but you see, you cannot eat in the normal way.” Natalie grinned broadly and grabbed a spoon. “Now Melody, would you like to be my assistant for this little demonstration?”
“What will I need to do?” Melody asked.
“Open your mouth as wide as you can. Then I will try and get this pea into your mouth by flinging it from my spoon.”
Melody looked at her father, who nodded and she opened her mouth. Natalie placed a pea in her spoon, took aim and flung it towards Melody. It sailed into her open mouth and Melody’s eyes widened. She swallowed and grinned at Natalie.
“Thank you, Melody. That was perfect.” Natalie clapped. “Now, to play the game you must keep your mouth open unless you are chewing or swallowing your food. After all, there must be a little decorum.”
“Little being the operative word.” The Duke muttered under his breath.
Natalie ignored him. “Now, if food hits your face and lands on the table, you must eat it. If your mouth gets tired and you need a break, and do not want food flung at you, you must takethe biggest mouthful of food from your plate and eat it. Do you understand?”
“What if the pieces of food are too big to fit in someone’s mouth?” Melody gestured to the slices of meat on her plate.
“It is the same – if you do not want food flung at you whilst you are cutting up the pieces, you must take a big mouthful and eat it.” Natalie tapped her lip thoughtfully. “Which reminds me, you cannot fling food with a mouthful. You must swallow and then fling. Otherwise, you are liable to choke. We introduced that rule after Peter, my brother, turned blue from inhaling an artichoke.”
“This game sounds like it is going to get very messy.” Duke Blackwood looked pointedly at Natalie’s wedding dress.
“Well, perhaps I shall have to allow you and Melody to have all the fun.”
