“Pick your rock, Lord Reynolds,” the young man said,“and of the crowd, pick the most beautiful young lady among them.”
In the space of a beat, he said her name, “Miss Georgiana Wood.”
They knew her. All of them. They clapped and laughed, and two other men joined Reynolds to choose their stones for a chance to kiss Georgiana.
“No.” Georgiana shook her head, hands at her flushing cheeks. She waved off their attention. “Thank you, but no.”
“Come now, Miss Wood.” A young lady tugged her arm. Her friend took Georgiana’s other side. “Just a kiss. Just one!”
“We know you won’t mind,” someone older said from the crowd.
Georgiana looked back at me, panicked.
What couldIdo without making a scene? “She said no,” I told the girls. “Margaret?”
Maggie raised a brow like she thought it odd I’d want to intervene. “On the hand, then,” she directed them, and though the girls rolled their eyes, they led Georgiana to the front.
Reynolds had removed his coat, stone in hand. “Shall I try for five skims?”
“Six!” the crowd cried. The girls shrieked with delight, blushing for his attention. One threw her handkerchief out at him.
At once, the men lined up.
The first man’s stone went three skims.
The second’s, five.
Lord Reynolds turned and reared back his arm. With asmooth flick of his wrist, he released his stone, skipping, one, two, three—
All the way to seven.
The crowd cheered.
His eyes found Georgiana.
I knew that look.
“No,” she directed him. “On thehand.”
He bit his lip as he sauntered toward her, much to the glee of the crowd.
“Kiss her!” they called. “Here’s your chance! Kiss her soundly!”
The air shifted, cold. He wouldn’t ... would he?
I started moving, pushing my way through the crowd.
Reynolds reached her first, and he swiftly snaked his arm around her back. His other hand cupped her neck, and his lips pressed against hers with fervor.
I froze, stunned into a stupor until Lord Reynolds pulled back, grinning at his cheering new friends as though he’d won some great prize.
Georgiana pulled herself free, her face apple red, eyes watery, and I felt her distress like a knife in my chest. She’d told him no.
She’d told himno.
My hands were fists. Feet frozen as I watched her rush away.
An older woman laughed. “What a pair, those two. They both love a public scene.”
