Her sister pointed to her nose to indicate she’d got it. And on it went, Abigail next pretended swordplay, then she died dramatically. Cage grinned. The girl was a top-notch actress.
Caroline giggled next to him.
The duke called out, “pirates.”
Abigail tapped her nose again. Then she began to nibble on her arm and the room burst into laughter. Caroline bounced in her seat. Then she clapped a hand over her mouth.
The Dowager Duchess leaned over to address him and Grace. “She’s awfully competitive. It takes all her effort not to call out the answer when she figures it out.”
Lady Davenport nodded. “Caroline has ruined many a game of charades when it’s not her turn.”
“Well, I stopped myself, didn’t I?” Caroline huffed. “I can’t help it if I know the answer before everyone else.”
The duke gave Caroline a smirk. “I’m surprised you haven’t popped your laces with that ego of yours, Sister.”
“Gilchrest! Watch your mouth,” their mother admonished. “Maybe if you paid better attention, you would have figured out the answer yourself.”
“Cannibals?” Davis asked.
“Gulliver’s Travels!” the duchess called out.
Abigail clapped her hands together. “Yes!”
“Even if I knew the answer, I wouldn’t ruin Emma’s fun. She also loves to win.” Gilchrest winked at them before turning to congratulate his wife.
“Good job!” Caroline said to the duchess. “All right, what’s our clue?” She reached for the tin which held little slips of paper and selected one. Rising from the settee, she turned to their team, and she said, “Your clue is a household object.”
Caroline pretended to pinch a small object between two fingers, and then she squinted as she pushed another pretend object through the first. She kept repeating the action.
Cage leaned over to Grace, who had been very quiet all evening. “Do you have any idea what she’s doing?”
Grace shook her head and gave him a tight smile.
Lady Davenport guessed, “Needle and thread?”
Caroline nodded. Then she began to make a scooping motion, bending down to pick something up, maybe? Cage had no idea what she described, but he did enjoy the view of her décolletage each time she bent over.
“Shoveling?” Davenport offered.
Caroline shook her head. Her nose scrunched as she thought of what to do next. Then she picked up an imaginary object and swung her arm as she walked in a tight circle, occasionally pretending to put something in it. “A basket?” Cage guessed. He received a dazzling smile in return.
“A sewing basket! That’s it, right?” Lady Davenport declared.
Caroline turned her smile toward Lucy Davenport.
“Good job, darling.” Davenport wrapped an arm around his wife.
“Well, Lord Wrotham figured out the basket.”
The chatter continued as the other team decided who would go next. Cage let the cheerful river of conversation flow around him. He hadn’t been a part of such comradery since his days in the field sitting around the campfire sharing a meal with his brothers in arms. Next to him, Grace rose abruptly from her chair. Her eyes shone with tears, and her hands clasped tightly together.
“Grace?”
“Excuse me, please,” she murmured. Then she fled the room.
Caroline glanced over at him with a frown from where she stood next to her brother and sister-in-law. Her gaze followed Grace as she sped across the room to the French doors that led outside.
He turned to Lord and Lady Davenport, who sat next to him on the sofa. “Will you excuse me, please?”
