Grace’s brow lowered, and she wrapped her arms about herself. “Perhaps we should leave off this subject. I can see how much it distresses you.”
He shifted his weight, placing his hands behind his back. “You have always been quite perceptive, Miss Lenning. I believe you are right. Besides, you have only caught one snowflake on this adventure.”
Her answering smile reaffirmed the decision to end the unfortunate discussion had been correct.
“Which means I am one snowflake ahead of you.” Her cheeky remark caught him off guard as she opened her mouth to catch another. It floated past her mouth, but she was not deterred.
“Is that a challenge?”
“It is, Your Lordship.”
He raised his eyebrows at her use of the honorific, and she laughed.
“You know I am quite competitive,” he taunted.
“I am counting on it.” She quickly leaned to the side and caught a big flake on her tongue, while another landed on her eyelash. She blinked rapidly, and the white ice disappeared. “That’s two.”
He shuffled around until he also caught one and then asked, “Who will keep track of how many we catch?”
“We are operating on a policy of honesty. I will honestly say how many I have caught if you will do the same.”
“And if I do not?”
She stopped, mirth twinkling in her eyes. “Are you so desperate to win that you would stoop to dishonesty? You are not intimidated by being bested by a woman, are you?”
She caught two more before he could even answer, the wind being in her favor. He spun and faced the same direction. When she opened her mouth to catch another, he gently nudged herout of the way with his shoulder, and the flake landed on his tongue.
“Excuse me.” She giggled.
“Oh, by all means.” He stepped aside again, but when she opened her mouth to catch another, he grabbed her about the shoulders and spun her to face the other direction. Her giggles turned into peals of laughter as they pushed and shoved each other to get the better position. They would have had much more success had they stepped apart and found their own catching places, but it was far more entertaining to keep the other from gaining another snowflake.
Grace jumped to the side and caught a flake, cheering in triumph. Not willing to let her win go unrequited, Alan wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her away from her next target. Unfortunately, he misjudged the solidness of his footing, and for the second time in only a few days, they were sprawled on the ground in the snow. Laying side by side, their laughter echoed off the trees.
Snow crunched and soon Miss Prudence was standing over them. “And Mama scolds me for being impetuous.” She waggled her finger, and they laughed even harder.
Miss Prudence’s face blossomed into a full smile and she plopped herself down on the other side of her sister. “We should make snow angels.” She laid back and swept her arms up and down.
It was a childish pursuit, but the idea of being able to return to a time when life was not so hard appealed to Alan. However, Grace lay far too close for him to move his limbs without striking her.
She raised her arms, testing the space. Her fingertips grazed his side. The frissons of awareness at her touch made him bolt upright. Their position had been entirely inappropriate, and yethe could not bring himself to regret how they’d come to be that way.
“Thank you.” She swiped her arms up and down, the space where he’d once lain filling with her snowy wings.
He looked at the imprint, so similar to the way it felt to have her in his life. It was like touching the wings of an angel, but only with his shadow. He’d never be permitted to have such a beautiful, wholesome creature for himself. Not unless he wanted to taint her by association. And he could never do that to his Grace.
Chapter 10
Grace settled into one of the wooden chairs that had been brought into the drawing room for the express purpose of playingToilette. The day out of doors had been delightful, but she was grateful for an evening in front of a warm fire.
Not that she’d suffered from the cold. Quite the opposite, as the snowflake competition with Lord Gladsby had heated her in a way nothing else could. Even now, his content smile made any resolve to keep her distance melt like the snowflakes they’d caught.
“Before we start,” Lady Hamdon said, “shall we settle on a forfeit?”
“Yes,” Bradley and Anthony said in unison.
Grace covered her laugh, but Prudence did not bother. They all knew what the favored forfeit would be.
“I can see you two are eager to kiss your sweethearts,” Pru said, “but perhaps we should choose a different forfeit for those of us without a beau.”
