“I’m too old for such childish games,” Hortensia said with great dignity.“Besides, I’m sure Miss Lancaster wouldn’t approve.”
Jenny recognized the longing in her voice.“I don’t see why not.The fresh air would be good for you both.”
“But I don’t want to get hit with a snowball,” Penelope complained, looking torn.
“But wouldn’t you like to throw some?It always comes with a risk of retribution,” Jenny pointed out like a proper governess.
“You’re right!”Penelope brightened.“When do we start?”
“We have lessons till lunch, and then we’re free.Do you want to come too, Miss Lancaster?”
“I wouldn’t miss it,” she said firmly.Anything was better than waiting around in the huge old mausoleum of a house for someone to make an appearance, someone she shouldn’t want to see.
It was beyond brisk that afternoon, though the bright sunlight made the snow sparkle on the trees, and the girls set to working on the fort with good will along with the rest of the children.Jenny counted nine of them, seven of them belonging to the prolific Miranda and the Scorpion, two to Benedick and Charity, and they ranged from a sturdy four to a rangy seventeen-year-old.With the twins’ help, the snow fort soon began to take shape.
Jenny contented herself with structural suggestions, sitting on a cleared marble bench and enjoying the weather.It was a beautiful day, and despite the gloominess of the big building, the countryside was lovely.The grounds went down to the lake and she eyed it warily.There was some ice near the shore, but farther out, it was still blue water, and she didn’t fancy letting the girls skate on such a treacherous surface.She didn’t fancy chaperoning them when they went out with their cousin either, though she was probably making too much of it.As she’d said, Brat was bored, nothing more, and she was the only unrelated female in the household.Soon enough, he’d set his sights on one of the pretty maids and leave her strictly alone.She hoped.Didn’t she?
Before she realized it, the snowballs began to fly, and the children set to with abandon, everyone giving and receiving with good temper, until one flew into Jenny’s neck, bits of ice trickling down her dress.Naturally, she had no choice but to join the fray, getting thoroughly pelted for her troubles, and a soft snowball hit her smack in the face, momentarily blinding her.She ran, only to come up against something extremely solid and quite warm.Fingers removed the snow from her eyes, and she found she was looking up at Brat.
She was laughing from the pounding she’d received, and even his cynical countenance couldn’t dim her joy in the day, the sun, the snowball fight.He was holding on to her as she laughed, a good thing because her balance was questionable as the snowballs rained down on them, one catching Brat in the face, momentarily startling him.And then he was laughing too, that dark expression vanishing in the afternoon sun.
He released her, scooping up some of the soft, wet snow, and immediately returned fire, with far better aim than his myriad of siblings.Jenny followed suit, and the battle raged for several minutes of hilarity before she collapsed in the snow as all the other combatants had.With Brat beside her, still laughing.
She missed the sound of a man’s laughter.She turned her head in the snow to look at him, and his eyes caught hers.The laughter died, quite suddenly, as he stared at her, and the moment stretched between them, silent, portentous, until Hortensia flung herself beside Jenny, breaking the spell.
“I’m freezing,” Hortensia said, still bubbling with laughter, “but I think we won.”
“Were there sides in the battle?”Jenny asked, acutely aware of the man beside her in the snow.
“Oh, yes.You and Penelope and me, plus Mary and Alexandra.I’m not sure which side Brat was on.”
“Yours, Horry,” he said, getting to his feet in one fluid gesture and holding out his hand for Jenny.She didn’t want to take it, but scrambling to her feet would be undignified, and she’d already disgraced herself.She put her hand in his and let him pull her up, so easily.It wasn’t until she was standing in front of him that she noticed his wince of pain.
“Are you hurt, Mr.de Malheur?”she asked, suddenly anxious.
“I’m fine.”He dismissed her concern.“I had a slight accident out in the field.”
“You did?”Penelope said.“What happened.Did someone shoot you?”
“They tried,” Brat said in a lazy voice.“Some fool wasn’t looking properly, and they winged me.It’s little more than a scratch.”
For the first time, Jenny noticed the tear in the sleeve of his navy blue greatcoat.“You should go inside and have it looked at,” she said urgently.
“I will.It’s nothing,” he said.
One of the little ones had succumbed to the cold and excitement and had begun to cry, Penelope was shivering, and belatedly, Jenny reclaimed her senses.“We’d best go in and warm up.We might be able to persuade the cook to bring us hot chocolate and biscuits.”
The little one immediately stopped crying, and Jenny turned back to face Brat, only to find that he was gone, heading into the house ahead of them without another word.She watched him go, the lean, panther-like grace of him, and for one brief moment of self-indulgence, she sighed,
“Are you all right, Jenny?”Horry asked anxiously.
“Fine, dear.Just a little wet and cold.”And she heard the group inside, determinedly putting Brat out of her mind.
“Damned appalling,”Benedick, Viscount Rohan said at the dinner table that night.“Any closer, and Brat might have been killed, and yet no one will admit to the misfire.”
“Language, dear,” said his wife.
“Yes, it would have ruined Christmas,” Brat drawled.He’d joined them for dinner that night, but he’d barely glanced at Jenny, something she counted as fortunate.He was far too distracting, and the last thing she needed to be thinking about.He was as far from her as his uncles, and she needed to maintain her equilibrium around him, something that was a lot easier to do when he was ignoring her.
