‘Oh, how unlucky,’ she crowed as his ball went in entirely the wrong direction.
He was about to reply when he heard a clapping of hands from somewhere they should not have been. It brought his attention to the fact that they were no longer alone, because he’d recognise the sound of his niece anywhere. Turning, he caught sight of her smiling broadly at him, as if he had done something heroic rather than idiotic. Lotte appeared to be under the impression that all her uncles were wonderful, even when they showed signs that they were definitely not. His heart squeezed at the sight of her. Her arrival in his life was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him, although he could have done without her presence right now. Because she was not watching them play in the company of her nursemaid or his sisters-in-law. That would have been fine, but no. Lotte was in the company of Edward and Tobias. Edward’s grin was utterly gleeful and even Tobias’ eyes held amusement, although there was no hint of a smile on his otherwise stern features.
A brush of fingers against his sleeve told him that Sophia had stepped closer. ‘Would you like me to lose?’ she asked quietly.
‘You mean you would throw the game?’ He was whispering, aware of how their heads bent together like this must look to his brothers, but unable to step away.
She nodded, smiling softly. ‘I know how obnoxious siblings can be, and your brother Edward looks like he is about to be monumentally so.’
His fingers ran over the smooth wood of the mallet’s handle, grounding him and reminding him that reaching out to touch her hand could not happen. ‘That is a very kind offer, but Edward will be vexatious towards me regardless of what happens next. He loves to torment me, as I do him, and if he has only an inkling that you let mewin, he will never, never let it go. Let us carry on as before and ignore his troublesome presence.’ He winked at her, hoping that he appeared his normal self, that the carefree persona he showed to the world was still intact and that there was no sign in his expression of the strange sensations going on inside him. Because it truly felt as if his insides were tumbling over one another, unable to settle down into their normal pattern.
It was a small thing she’d offered to do for him. Almost pointless in reality. His brothers would have spotted what she was doing immediately, because they were damned annoying most of the time, but they were not brainless. Edward’s teasing would be merciless and endless, which would mean that Freddie would latch on to it too, despite not having witnessed it for himself, and all hell would break loose. Christopher would deserve their mockery, because whenever he got the opportunity, he was equally as boorish.
The thing about her words that had reached into his chest and played havoc with his heart, was the thoughtfulness of the offer. She had seen him, had paid attention to his interactions with his brothers and had offered a solution that might make him feel better. Oh, he had plenty of other types of attention. He was often the centre of it in any given social situation. He made sure of it more often than not. His friends crowded round him because he was fun and had ideas that would frequently lead them all into an enjoyable scrape. But did any of the men he called friends see him for who he truly was? If he asked them for their help, would they give it freely? Even if it was for something as simple as this? He doubted it, had always known it really, but had never felt the loss of true companionship until his pretend betrothed had shown him what it could look like in real life.
‘Are you going to carry on playing, Christopher? Or are you going to accept defeat?’ Edward’s voice brought him back to the momentand he turned to glare at him. If his brother’s smile got any wider, his face would split in two. It would, quite frankly, serve Edward right if his face did fall apart; it would be no less than he deserved. That loathsome smile wasn’t down to his brother’s amusement that Christopher was losing at pall-mall but because he had caught Christopher staring at his pretend betrothed like he was a green boy with his first case of calf love.
‘I am just lining up the perfect shot,’ he called back, because it was one thing for his brothers to realise he was mooning over her, but it was quite another for Sophia to realise it too. She might expect things he wasn’t willing to give if she did.
‘Of course you are.’ Luckily for Edward, there were witnesses, which meant Christopher couldn’t do any damage, or even make a rude gesture with his hands.
Finishing the game was a new kind of torture. Ignoring Edward’s irritatingly loud snigger was difficult; concentrating on not looking at Sophia every few seconds was even harder. In the end, it was only a narrow loss for him, but that was not due to skill on his part. He was fairly sure that, despite his reassurance, Sophia had gone easy on him after the arrival of his brothers. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that and didn’t want to dwell on it overmuch.
He rubbed his forehead with the back of his sleeve. He could feel sweat gathering there, which was ridiculous, because it was not an energetic game.
Clapping broke out from his greatest admirer, Lotte beaming at him as if he were the most fabulous pall-mall player the world had ever seen. Sophia put her hand to her heart as she gazed at the little girl, clearly falling under Lotte’s spell like most people did when they first met her.
‘Well done,’ said his niece, in a way that sounded exactly like he did when he was praising her for something. Either Lotte had not understood that he had lost, or she did not care. ‘You did very well, Uncle Kissyfur.’
Christopher groaned. He should have somehow nipped that name in the bud and now it was out in the open in front of Edward of all people.
Next to him, Sophia pressed her lips tightly together. An actual smile was crossing Tobias’ face and Edward had the look of someone who had been handed a pile of gold.
‘I am not sure,’ said Edward-the-bastard, ‘what part of that name I love the most.’
‘Kissyfur,’ said Lotte, running towards him, oblivious to the chaos she had just caused. ‘Will you play with me now?’
He swooped down and lifted her into his arms, ignoring all the sniggering going on around him for the joy of feeling her thin arms around his neck. ‘Tomorrow, my love. I promise. It will not be long before it is time for your dinner, and I should not want you to miss that. I believe Cook is making one of her famous pies.’ Lotte’s eyes lit up, pall-mall forgotten. She loved food as much as her uncles did. ‘May I introduce you to my friend, Miss Jacobs. Miss Jacobs, this is my niece, Charlotte, but we all call her Lotte.’
Lotte ducked her head under his chin, resting her head against his chest. ‘Good afternoon, Miss Jacobs,’ she said shyly.
‘Good afternoon, Lotte,’ said Sophia. ‘Your uncle told me earlier that you are very good at this game.’
Lotte nodded against his chest, agreeing with that statement. And why wouldn’t she? All four of her uncles had told her she was the best player. Some day they may need to tone down their praise. It wouldn’t be a good idea to unleash a spoilt young lady onto the Ton. But thattime wasn’t going to be today. Or any day in the near future, or probably in the distant future.
‘How clever you are,’ said Sophia. ‘I should love to play a game against you one day, if I may.’
Lotte nodded again, and just when he thought it was safe, she said, ‘Your dress is pretty.’
‘Why, thank you, Lotte. Yours is too.’
‘Yes.’ Lotte held out the skirt of her dress as if for Sophia to get a better look. ‘But yours sparkles in the sun, which is prettiest. Kissyfur thought so because he kept looking at it.’
On the terrace, one of his brothers made a wheezing sound, or perhaps it was him. Either way, it was just as well he was holding Lotte so he could hide his burning face behind her body.
It was time to take Sophia home.
Chapter Twelve
