Lady Dobberham had planned a game of croquet, bowls and boccia. That wasn't too bad, Ellen decided. She knew how to play croquet; she played regularly with her pupils, and she wasn't half bad at it. Bowling was more of a man's game, although she would like to try throwing a bowling ball, and boccia was something she was familiar with too. As long as they were playing, she wouldn't have to talk. Or so she hoped.
The first hour went well, and Lady Gosford won, followed by Ellen. She'd swung the mallet and hit the ball cleanly through the hoop.
"What an excellent swing," said Monteroy, a tall lord whose face wore a perpetual sneer. "Where did you learn to play croquet like that?"
"At the seminary," she was about to say, but she bit her lower lip just in time. She did not want to perpetually remind them that she was, or had been, a schoolmistress. "I liked to play with my brothers and sisters," she replied instead.
There were more refreshments under a tent. Next to it was a circle of chairs.
Louisa clapped her hands. "Ladies and gentlemen, we will now proceed with our next game…”
Ellen was ready to crack her knuckles and try her hand at boccia.
“…Seated Buffy!” Louisa beamed at her. "With modified rules. The object, ladies and gentlemen, will be for you to find a particular person—blindfolded. The ladies shall sit, while the gentlemen will have to guess the identity of the person by sitting on her lap."
The ladies shrieked. The gentlemen groaned.
"And pray, who shall decide which person we have to find?" drawled Monteroy.
"I shall.” Louisa lifted a silk handkerchief. There was an impish look on her face as she walked around. "As Mistress of Revels, I'll also choose my first victim. The first person to play is ... " she paused for a moment in front of Mr Ellington, a handsome gentleman with tawny hair and a shy smile, who raised both hands in horror. Louisa laughed and walked on, stopping in front of the man next to him. "Tewkbury."
He pulled a face. "Spare me, Louisa."
"Oh no! You are the perfect one to start the game. Your task is to find ... " Her eyes swept down the row of ladies.
Ellen felt an uncontrollable urge to hide.
Louisa's eyes fell on her. "Lady Tewkbury," she said triumphantly.
"That should be easy enough," Tewkbury said, turning to allow Louisa to tie the blindfold over his eyes.
He stood in the centre of a circle of chairs in which all the ladies were invited to sit, but once his eyes were blindfolded, everyone scampered off to change places.
"Ready?" Louisa spun Tewkbury around until he protested. "Faith, I don't know up from down," he complained as he groped his way forward. His knees bumped into Miss Anne's legs, and she giggled.
“Begging your pardon ma'am, but I shall have to sit on your lap." He sat gingerly on her lap.
She clasped her hands over her mouth to squelch a laugh.
Edmund smiled. "Ellen doesn't giggle like that. Next." He groped his way to the next chair, where Lady Gosford sat. This time he did not sit, but he touched her shoulder; his fingers trailed down her arm, and he lifted her wrist to his nose. Lady Gosford made a funny sound in her throat. Edmund dropped her hand.
"That must be Lady Gosford, I think," he murmured.
"Amazing!" she exclaimed. "How did you know?"
"Lily of the Valley by Floris."
"That's right! What an excellent nose you have!"
He bowed and stumbled on to the next person.
The lady in the next chair raised her hand to his nose before he could move.
A slow smile spread across his lips. "Jasmine and vanilla. The base note is white cedar, to balance the sweetness. The scent is called Elegance, a special combination from Adonis. I congratulate you on your exquisite choice of perfume, Miss Elinor. It is the best on the market at present."
Her hands fluttered to her bosom. "It is, isn't it? I was lucky to obtain a bottle, for they were well sold out by the time I left the shop. The brand is quite new."
"What did you say the perfume was called?" demanded the Duchess.
