Alexander lifted one brow. “Impressive.”
Lady Salford straightened slowly, smoothing an imaginary crease from her sleeve as though such accuracy were entirely routine.
“Experience,” she replied with great dignity.
Diana laughed softly, though she could not quite tell whether Lady Salford was joking.
When it was her turn, she stepped forward with a little more caution.
At least she intended to be cautious.
She positioned the ball carefully before the arch, inhaled slowly, and tried very hard to ignore the fact that Benjamin, Emma, and Georgina had already begun to gather behind her with expressions that suggested they were expecting entertainment.
Diana raised the mallet and tried to focus.
And swung.
The moment the mallet connected with the ball, she knew she had misjudged the strength of the strike.
“Oh no.”
The ball flew forward with alarming enthusiasm, racing past the arch entirely without even pretending to acknowledge it.
It continued rolling across the lawn, then across another stretch of grass, until it finally disappeared triumphantly into a patch of low hedges at the far edge of the garden.
Silence fell for one full second as everyone stared in the direction the ball had vanished.
Benjamin was the first to recover.
“Well done,” he said cheerfully.
Emma burst into laughter.
Georgina covered her mouth, though the laughter shaking her shoulders made the attempt at composure entirely ineffective.
Diana stared helplessly at the hedge. “I may have miscalculated slightly.”
“Only slightly?” Benjamin said.
Lady Salford sighed deeply, shaking her head with theatrical disappointment.
“My dear girl,” she said, “we were meant to defeat Alexander, not relocate the equipment.”
Diana groaned. “I will retrieve it.”
She set down the mallet and walked toward the hedge, pushing aside the branches until she spotted the ball resting deeper in the grass beyond.
Just as she bent to pick it up, she heard footsteps behind her.
Her pulse quickened before she even turned.
Alexander’s voice came from directly behind her. “I thought you might need assistance.”
CHAPTER 13
“Ithought you might need assistance,” Alexander’s voice came from directly behind her, close enough that the warmth of his breath brushed faintly across the back of her neck as the words settled between them.
Diana froze.
