Just then, he caught her watching him and a slow, sinister-looking grin spread across his handsome face.
Pox on it,he knew!
Her cheeks warmed.
“I know of just the game.” Sophia had risen to her feet to stand beside her husband. The duke absolutely doted on her. She could ask him for a star, and he’d likely find a way to bring it back to earth. “Cecily wrote me of a parlor game some ladies in her neighborhood played last winter. It’s called Beast of Burden.” She then went on to explain the rules and how it was played.
Carlisle looked skeptical, whereas the other gentlemen grinned stupidly.
“So, if I’m to understand correctly,” Lieutenant Langdon said, “the gentleman crawls around on the floor carrying the lady on his back so that other gentlemen might kiss her?” He gave a bark of laughter. “I’m game if the ladies are.”
Coleus grinned stupidly while Emily scowled outright. Rhoda ought to have insisted her sister retire.
Rhoda moved across the room, sat down beside Emily, and then squeezed her hand. “We’ll play, won’t we, Em?”
Emily squinted at some unknown object in the distance. A twinge of guilt pricked Rhoda at how lost her friend seemed without her spectacles. But a vulnerable side to her showed, soft and feminine. “I, er, suppose?” Emily answered uneasily.
Prescott’s scowl rivaled Emily’s. “I can’t abide my wife kissing anyone other than myself.”
Scrunching up her nose, Sophia placed her hand on the duke’s arm. “The kiss can be either on the cheek or the lips. Like brothers and sisters.”
Even so, Prescott’s arm pulled Sophia close to him. “As long as my objections are known.” The glint in his eye warned the other gentlemen present, however. Any fellow choosing to attempt more than a buss on the cheek with his wife would find himself in hot water.
“One more thing,” Rhoda added. “Everyone is blindfolded but the maiden and the beast.”
Sophia smiled secretly upon hearing this. It was not a part of the rules, but she and Rhoda had decided earlier that it could possibly make things more… interesting.
Sophia called for a maid to fetch scarfs for blindfolds while the gentlemen moved the furniture, placing eight chairs in a circle.
The scarves were handed out and everyone was instructed to sit gentleman-lady-gentleman-lady. Blakely grumbled, and Carlisle looked resigned. Always the peacemaker.
Sophia had put everyone’s names in two different bowls to decide who was to go first. “Emily,” she announced. Then she drew from the other bowl. “Blakely, you’re to be the beast.”
Unanimous laughter erupted. What with Lord Blakely’s reputation, even he could agree with being deemed a beast. Rhoda crossed her fingers for her friend as the earl removed his jacket and then got down on hands and knees. Emily glared in Rhoda’s direction and sat upon his back.
“Now we all put our blindfolds on,” Sophia directed.
The room went silent, except for a few hushed murmurs as the group donned their blindfolds. Rhoda sat between Prescott and Lord Carlisle and waited impatiently. It was up to Emily to guide Blakely toward the man she’d like to kiss her. This game was beyond risqué and if her mother discovered them, they’d all be in heaps of trouble. Her mother might even insist they return to London.
Rhoda listened, listened… heard some ruffling and then, far too quickly… “Blindfolds off!” This from Emily.
Her face had blushed beet red. Sophia and Rhoda met one another’s eyes meaningfully. Had she gotten a kiss out of Lord Carlisle? She certainly looked as though something had ruffled her feathers.
Glancing toward Lord Carlisle, though, one would think nothing untoward had occurred. Unexpected relief swept through Rhoda at his practical and calm demeanor.
“Rhoda is next,” Sophia announced, enjoying their game more than she ought.
Presumably, Rhoda resigned that she ought to steer her beast toward Blakely. If she intended to snag him, even for very unromantic purposes, it might be wise to make some sort of overture. “And the beast is Lord Carlisle.”
For some reason, this caused her heart to skip a beat.
Nerves she’d not expected kicked into gear as he removed his jacket. Without the heavy wool coat, his waistcoat, and cambric shirt revealed his lean but muscular build. Rhoda’s mouth went dry when she remembered how he’d looked after they’d had their dunking.
He efficiently rolled up his sleeves and then dropped to his knees. “Miss Mossant.” His brilliant blue gaze bore right through her. Was he mocking her? Judging her? What could that look be all about?
Rhoda rose and, feeling unusually timid, crossed to where he awaited her.
“Blindfolds on!” Sophia announced.
