As Matthew demonstrated, Vincent looked on with a small amount of interest. They were largely silent as they played their rounds, though Matthew wished to broach the subject of why the Viscount was there.
While they played, Julius flittered in with Madame Saunier on his arm. Matthew looked up at the couple for a moment, long enough that he lost his concentration and missed the ball entirely. Vincent looked arrogant at his mistake.
“What is zis game?” Madame Saunier asked. “It looks to be zee same as our game, but it is indoors, no?”
“Yes, this is billiards. We, too, once played it out of doors,” Julius explained gruffly, “though with the famed British rain, some intrepid fellow found a way to move the diversion inside.”
Matthew and Vincent finished their rounds, with Matthew ending the match victorious. He sought to extend his hand to Vincent for a sporting handshake, but the Viscount threw down his mace and stormed out, leaving Julius to stare at Matthew with an impatient expression.
“I’d best go see what has gotten into him,” Julius said with a scornful leer of disgust.
“I shall go with you,” Madame Saunier offered a little too quickly.
Matthew watched them leave, an air of perplexed silence taking their place in the room. The sconces, already lit against the growing darkness of the advancing afternoon, threw their light against the rich mahogany walls in a way that gave him cause to shudder.
He had long been regretting their presence in his house, yet he had hoped that attending the formal and final wedding would lead the Earl of Bronson and his guests to feel more at ease.Perhaps they were only at odds with how the marriage came about in the first place, Matthew had thought at first. Now, their strange behavior did nothing to alleviate his concerns.
“Matthew? Is everything all right?” Lydia asked as she entered the room, looking around curiously at the furnishings and the lights on the walls.
Of course, Matthew thought, she’s never even seen this room.How strange, given I’ve known her almost my entire life.
“Yes, of course,” he replied kindly, forcing down the unsettling feeling he’d only just experienced. “Just a friendly game that took a turn for the worse when one of us lost.”
“Permit me to venture a guess that it was the Viscount who did not fare so well?” she asked, smiling.
“Why, how could you tell?” Matthew asked, a tone of mock surprise in his voice.
“Just a woman’s intuition, perhaps, but the victors rarely stalk down the hallways, muttering curses to themselves.” Lydia walked around the length of the table and looked at it appraisingly. “So what is this game, then?”
Matthew smiled. He was not in the mood to be jovial following the guests’ unwelcomed antics, but he forced himself to appear more cheerful for Lydia’s sake.
“Here, we’ll have a go,” he replied, handing her the long wooden stick. He rearranged the three balls on the table, and demonstrated a few shots for her, explaining the object as he did. “Ready?”
“I accept your challenge, good sir,” Lydia replied formally, nodding her head curtly before breaking out into a light laugh. “Only do not be cross with me if I mar the table or send one of these balls through a window. Promise?”
“I could never be cross with you, Lydia,” Matthew replied evenly, then he cleared his throat and gestured to the table. “Take the first turn.”
Lydia did as Matthew had shown her, and she appeared pleasantly surprised when there was no disastrous result. Matthew breathed a quiet sigh of relief, then took his turn.
“Matthew,” Lydia began in a very low voice as she bent forward and tried to view her next shot. She placed the end of the mace near enough to the ball and struck it before saying, “if you do not wish to have our visitors remain here, but you do not wish to ask them to leave your house, I will do so on your behalf.”
“I could never ask you to do such a thing, not to your only family members,” he replied as he took a turn. “But thank you for the very considerate offer.”
“You are very welcome. This whole affair has been fraught with one foible after another, and I, for one, want my life to begin to resemble its normal course,” she explained. “If that means the risk of offending someone whom I truly do not know so well, then so be it.” Standing up straighter, Lydia smiled warmly and asked, “Did I just win?”
Matthew threw back his head and laughed. “Only this round, my dear. There are nine more the way I play.”
“Can I not end it now and just claim my victory?” she asked spiritedly. “I wish to look in on Elsie.”
“Of course,” Matthew replied, taking the mace from her hand and bowing formally. “It is an honor to lose to such a skilled and beautiful opponent.”
Lydia curtseyed quickly and giggled. “Thank you, good sir. I look forward to the opportunity to best you in competition again soon.”
“Lydia, wait,” Matthew called out before the left the room. “There is a question that has troubled me since your uncle’s arrival.”
“What is it?” she asked, her hand resting on the door frame.
Matthew looked away, somewhat embarrassed. “I know that I am the one who set some rather outrageous terms for our marriage, terms that you were so very accommodating about. But with your family here… will they not think it strange if we keep to our separate bedchambers? If only for this evening?”
