Page 30 of The Best of Friends
“That is where you are wrong, my friend. He is intrigued, and if you cannot keep me updated on the progress of that intrigue, I shall be forced to send out spies.”
“How many of those spies bear the surname O’Doyle?” Daria asked.
Gillian laughed, slipping away to rejoin the others.
Daria watched Mr. Greenberry a moment, wondering if Gillian was correct. He was kind, certainly. And he hadn’t laughed at her when she’d not expressed herself well. She had seen nothing in it but friendliness. And as she pondered it, she realized she felt curious about the possibility but not hopeful, not anxious for it to be true. Her heart was more tugged by Toss’s absence than by the potential for Mr. Greenberry’s interest.
She glanced at the windows once more, thinking she’d seen movement on the street only to be disappointed once more. Why hadn’t Toss come?
Tobias set his hand on her arm, pulling her attention into the room once more. “We likely should start the evening’s festivities.”
Her nervousness returned with added intensity. “You could do that.”
But he shook his head. “This is your evening, Daria. You not only ought to be the one holding the reins, but I think you need to see for yourself that you are fully capable of doing so.”
Daria let her lungs empty, then nodded. She could do this. Certainly, she could. Not everyone had come, but those who had deserved to enjoy themselves.
The housekeeper appeared in the doorway of the drawing room in the very next moment and announced, “Mr. Thomas Comstock.”
Hearing him announced and seeing him step inside after having watched for him with waning hope, Daria didn’t know whether she felt more like smiling or crying. It was an odd contradiction, one she didn’t quite know how to reconcile.
The gentlemen greeted him jovially and teased him rather mercilessly for his late arrival. He took it in stride, as he always did. As much as Daria had missed her dear friend since last being in company with him, she found herself unexpectedly reluctant to approach him herself. Something almost like bashfulness was tiptoeing over her, and she was at a loss to explain it.
Deciding her best course was to move forward with her duties as hostess, she addressed the group. “I thought it might be fun to play games this evening. All the Huntresses have come with a game in mind. We would have asked the gentlemen to do the same, but as they lack the creativity to even fashion a group name, it seemed unlikely to work out.”
Laughter and quips flew about the group at that bit of humor. She’d made them laugh, which felt good. Tobias offered her a subtle but undeniable nod, one she knew was meant to acknowledge that she was doing quite well at the job she’d attempted to fob off on him.
“I thought we might begin tonight with a few rounds of Musical Magic,” Daria said.
Enthusiastic agreement met her suggestion.
The game was a simple one, really. Someone was chosen to leave the room. Those who remained decided upon a particular task or performance the absent person was meant to undertake using something in the room. Among some gatherings, those tasks might be embarrassing. Daria hadn’t the least worry on that score tonight. Once a thing was decided upon, the participant was invited back into the room. He or she would move about, drawing closer to the item they were meant to interact with. The onlookers would hum a previously chosen tune, growing louder if the person moved farther and softer as the person grew nearer. Upon discovering the chosen item, the humming began again as the person attempted to stumble upon what they were meant to do with that thing. The evening could get ridiculous very quickly and was always vastly entertaining.
Charlie was chosen to be the first charged with leaving the room, which meant the game would begin on a tone of delightful absurdity. Only Toss was likely to be as entertainingly ridiculous.
Once Charlie was out of the room, they decided upon “An English Garden” for their hummed tune. It was then decided that he was to pick up a particular book and make a show of reading it, but he was to hold it upside down. It was a complicated task, but they were all quite convinced that Charlie was equal to it.
The humming was discordant, and Charlie’s guesses grew more and more entertaining. At more than one point, laughter was so all-encompassing that the tune grew impossible to identify. He did eventually stumble on the book he was meant to pick up and did so. After several misdirections, he realized he was meant to pretend to read it upside down.
Whilst the group applauded his eventual solving of the riddle, Daria looked at Toss, fully expecting to see him grinning and laughing along. While he seemed to be enjoying himself, there was an unusual heaviness in his eyes, a hint of soberness that he was clearly doing his best to hide. She had not known him as long as his friends had, but she felt she knew him well enough to recognize that all was not entirely well.
When Gillian, upon having her turn, realized she was meant to attempt to play the pianoforte with her nose, something Daria was certain would amuse Toss in particular, Daria’s worry grew sharper to see that he was struggling to keep his heavy thoughts hidden. She couldn’t think of anything particularly objectionable about this game. And Gillian’s task did not belittle the actual playing of the instrument.
Had Daria done something wrong and not realized it? Had she made a particularly grave error? As the game continued on, she found herself wholly distracted by her growing doubts. This was an evening meant to be enjoyed. If the most delightfully happy person she knew was displeased, she must have done something amiss.
Why was it she so often made a mull of things? It was little wonder her parents had wanted to leave her behind.A mind like a sieve,just as Father always said.
Needing a moment to regain her composure, she made a quick excuse between rounds and slipped from the room. The sitting room, where her parents usually sat reading and embroidering, dimly lit by the candle sconces in the entryway, sat empty. She found her parents’ absence to be an absolute mercy.
Where had she gone wrong? Toss couldn’t have been disappointed in the food, as it had not yet been served. He liked music, which should have endeared the game to him. She’d not greeted him personally. Perhaps he was offended. But then, hehadbeen greeted by so many of the others upon his arrival.
“Daria?”
She spun about at the sound of Toss’s voice, having expected no one to follow her here, let alone him. “I didn’t mean to pull you away from the game.”
“I suspect I ought to be the one saying that to you. It did not escape my notice that you recognized my low spirits this evening. And I suspect, because I’ve come to realize you worry a great deal about whether or not you have done something in error, that you are likely convinced my poor mood is owing to a misstep on your part.”
It was precisely what she’d feared. “Have I neglected something this evening? What ought I to have done differently so you could enjoy yourself?”
