Page 89 of The Earl She Once Saved

Win stopped. “You require sense.”

“That has never been available in sufficient quantity,” Ezra chuckled.

She placed the blanket over the chair. Ezra pressed the handle toward her.

“No, sir.”

“Ezra.”

Her eyes narrowed at him. “No, Ezra.”

“Better,” he grinned. “Take it.”

“I have work.”

“So have we all. It has not protected us.”

Win looked toward Verity. “My lady?”

Verity’s eyes were bright with suppressed amusement.

“It may be wise to assist him. His dignity has suffered.”

“I have none left,” Ezra confessed playfully. “You cannot worsen matters.”

Win took the battledore with a heavy sigh. Ezra’s fingers remained around the handle a moment after hers closed upon it. He released it slowly. Win’s eyes lowered. She moved onto the lawn before anyone could remark upon it.

The game dissolved almost at once. Ezra invented teams, then changed them whenever his side began to lose. Win proved better than any of them and attempted to conceal it until Verity accused her of deliberate mercy.

Rafe struck the shuttlecock toward her. Win returned it neatly. Verity reached high, her skirt brushing the damp grass, and sent it back across the lawn. Sergeant launched himself between them. The shuttlecock vanished into his mouth.

“No,” Verity cried.

Sergeant bounded away.

Ezra raised his cane like a sword. “The enemy has taken the colors.”

Win laughed. The sound surprised her. She brought one hand to her mouth, but Ezra had already heard it. His whole face softened.

Sergeant circled the flowerbed with all four of them behind him. Rafe lasted less than half the distance before breathlessness stopped him.

Verity noticed at once. She abandoned the chase and came back.

“You are breathing badly,” she told him, with worry weaving through her voice.

“I am recovering from a fever and pursuing a criminal.”

Sergeant paused twenty yards away, with the shuttlecock protruding from his jaws.

“He has surrendered,” Rafe concluded.

The dog turned and ran again.

“He has not.”

Verity’s hand lifted as though she meant to steady him. It stopped short of his sleeve. Rafe saw the movement. So did she. Her fingers curled inward.

“I shall sit when the game is finished,” he said more quietly.