Of course he would. Amelia sighed, for this was going to be a greater challenge than she’d suspected.
“You are not here to be a wall hedge,” Amelia reminded him. “That’s not the reason you were invited.”
He sent her a sidelong glance. “And here I thought I was meant to enjoy myself?”
She stopped, realizing that in her quest to bring her sister and the earl together, her meddling was transforming her into a shrew. Which wasn’t her intent at all.
Amelia forced herself to soften her tone. “Of course, I want you to enjoy yourself and get to know my family.” She smiled, trying to make him see. “But I don’t want you to feel left out, either.” The more he remained outside the others, the less likely it was that she could engage in matchmaking between Margaret and him.
His blue eyes locked upon hers, as if he were trying to see past her carefully laid plans. At last, he nodded. “Only if you come with me.”
She let out a sigh. “I don’t think you need a chaperone in a room full of people, Lord Castledon.”
“Either you play with us, or I don’t play at all.” He crossed his arms and regarded her like a man who had nothing to lose. She didn’t know why he was forcing the issue, but he was leaving her with no choice.
“We play for wagers,” Amelia cautioned him. “And we cheat all the time. You’ve been warned.”
He offered her his arm as they walked toward Margaret. “I thought your family was honorable.”
“Not when it comes to children’s games. Prepare to be beaten soundly.” He was going to regret cornering her like this. Amelia brightened at the thought, but the earl’s hand moved to the base of her spine when they reached her sister.It means nothing, she told herself. But the fleeting touch was enough to scatter her thoughts.
“Margaret, we’re going to teach Lord Castledon howThe House of Virtuesis truly played,” she began, taking a seat across from her sister and thereby forcing the earl to sit between them.
“Are youtryingto frighten him off, Amelia?” Margaret sent her a dismayed look. “I’m certain he has little interest in a children’s game.” To the earl, she added, “There’s no need for you to endure it, my lord.”
Her sister was not helping. Didn’t she realize that this was their way of getting to know one another? Amelia sent her a dark look, but Margaret ignored it.
“I am intrigued by the promise of rampant cheating,” the earl said. “Rest assured, Miss Andrews, I am quite capable of keeping up with the pair of you.” The earl sat down and reached for the teetotum. “Shall we spin to see who will go first?”
“No, the youngest goes first,” Amelia said, snatching it out of his hands. She spun the teetotum, and when it landed on a one, she promptly rotated it to a four.
“That was a one,” the earl pointed out. “I saw it.”
She sent him a brilliant smile of innocence and was rewarded by a faint look of discomfort in his eyes. “It looked like a four to me.” Then she passed it to Margaret, who spun a six.
The earl’s teetotum landed on a two, but he didn’t adjust the number. Instead, he rested his palms on the table, studying the board the way he would an enemy. His piercing blue eyes narrowed upon the embroidered linen game board, as if forming his strategy.
Amelia held out a handful of tin tokens. “Which would you rather be? The knight, the dog, or the maiden?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Not the maiden.”
“The dog it is!” She beamed at him, just as he stole the knight from her hands.
“A valiant effort, Miss Andrews. But the game has only begun.” The sensual tone of his voice made her mood shift. There was a hint of a smile on his face, and she wondered if he was talking about more than this children’s game. Sometimes the earl could be deceiving, revealing only what he chose to convey. His clothing was impeccably neat, and his dark hair was combed back so that it contrasted against his skin. Amelia found herself wondering what it would be like to rumple that hair. She suspected that behind his polished exterior was a wilder man, one whodidn’tobey rules.
Or perhaps that was only her imagination. So often, he hung back from everyone else, content to be alone.
Margaret handed the tin dog to Amelia, and the game began. But with each move, Amelia sensed that the pair was plotting against her. Every once in a while, her sister would exchange a look with the earl, one that suggested she knew something Amelia didn’t. There seemed to be an unspoken conversation happening between them.
Although the pair of them likely intended to cheat in order to win the game, Amelia didn’t mind. If it meant losing this match to make her sister smile again, it would be worth it.
But when Amelia made her next move, she saw the earl’s eyes upon her. A shiver rose up over her skin, and she couldn’t stop her pulse from quickening.
He was staring at her, and she shifted her piece forward too many squares.
“I saw that,” he remarked.
“No, you didn’t. I’ve heard that men often need spectacles as they get older.”
