“I did, but Penny made me promise to bring you for a visit.” David still had the same look on his face when he mentioned his wife that he’d had when he first met her.
This was true love, Bram thought.
“Each will shoot four arrows at the target!” Malcolm said loudly. “We shall commence, starting with Lady Miller and moving down the line.”
“Does he think we can’t hear even standing a few feet away?”
“He is putting on a show for you, Bram,” David said. “You know how jealous he has always been.”
“I never understood why, considering he inherited everything.”
“Have you not looked in a mirror lately then? You are everything he could never be. Plus, people usually like you for who you are, not what you are.”
“Cousin, I do believe I’m about to weep.”
“You know what I mean, Bram.”
He sighed. “Yes, and thank you for your kind words, but I’m sure I was an arrogant ass before I left England.”
“Undoubtedly, but you were charismatic with it.”
Bram knew that his face annoyed Malcolm because women thought him handsome. Bram had long since given up caring about his looks, but Malcolm hadn’t.
“Who do you think will win?” David asked him.
Bram noted that Ivy was last, which he was sure his brother intended her to be. Malcolm would hate that she dressed as she did. He liked women dressed in the latest fashions. Appearances meant a great deal to the viscount.
“I’m unsure,” he lied. Bram was in no doubt Ivy would win.
Did he remember her from their first season? Had Haldane kissed her?
“Please begin, ladies!”
Lady Miller, Miss Wainwright, and Miss Letitia Burrows shot well enough. Their arrows hit the target, and Miss Wainwright was closest to the center. She preened when they all clapped her achievements.
Come on, Ivy.Bram watched as she prepared to fire the first arrow. He loved archery and had practiced since he was a young boy, and he could see she knew what she was about. Her form was good, and she was taking her time to get set up before she released the arrow.
“When you are ready, Miss Birdwhistle,” Miss Burrows said with a false smile.
Bram actually held his breath as Ivy’s arrow flew through the air toward the target. He let it out as it hit dead center. A ridiculous swell of pride surged through him.
What was the matter with him? He barely knew the woman, and suddenly he was proud that she’d hit her target dead center.
“That was an excellent shot,” David said.
Bram grunted. His eyes went to her aunt, uncle, and cousin. They were all focused intently on Ivy. He wondered why it was she lived with them? Where were her own family? Bram clapped loudly with them.
The ladies shot their next three arrows around the target; Ivy kept hers in the center. She didn’t smile, just lowered her bow after each and awaited her next turn. Her eyes were on the target and didn’t deviate. The other ladies were giggling and smiling with the other guests in between throwing Ivy glares.
“She is an excellent shot,” David said. “Who is she?”
“Miss Ivy Birdwhistle.”
David had an excellent memory, and even though he no longer walked in society, often still went to London to see old friends.
“Ah.”
“Ah?” Bram didn’t look at his cousin. For some reason Bram did not want to take his eyes off Ivy. She was looking down at the ground now, and the back of her neck was bare. She looked vulnerable and isolated, even surrounded by people.
