Page 7 of Two of a Kind
He finally gave in, slapping the bonnet hard against his leg, after which he marched back over to the pile of belongings and threw it down. Silence hung in the air for a moment.
When Guy turned back to her, the angry look on his face was gone. He had managed to school his features into something socially acceptable. But his right hand was held in a tight fist, the whites of his knuckles clear from where she stood.
Leah blinked and looked to Caroline. “Your turn, I believe, Caroline,” she said.
Caroline stepped past to take her place on the bowling mat. “Well done, Leah. You held your ground,” she whispered.
I wonder how long my victory will last.
Caroline swung her arm back and the bowl flew out of her hand. It tore along the green and knocked Guy’s bowl clear out of the way. Hers also went careening off the green and disappeared under a bush. She turned and gave a shrug, then gifted Guy with a beaming smile. “Oh dear. Sorry about that. I think I might have put a little too much into the throw.”
Leah knew she should have held back on applauding Caroline’s overzealous efforts, but the look of outrage and frustration which now shone on Guy’s face was simply too much for her to resist. “Well done, Caroline! You killed Guy and yourself all in one foul swoop. We may need to mount a search party for your bowls.”
James now stood at the end of the green and looked down at the bowl in his hand. Leah placed a silent bet with herself. She had her money on him putting too much into the delivery and having his bowl join both Caroline and Guy’s past the jack and out of bounds. It would mean he lost, but it would placate Guy and his obviously bruised pride. James had said nothing while the battle of wills over the bonnet had taken place and Leah had him pegged as a people pleaser.
He bent, and taking what appeared to be careful aim, dropped the bowl into a smooth, clean delivery. It wasn’t running fast and for a moment Leah worried that he had not put enough on the throw. But as James slowly walked behind his bowl, faint hope began to build in her heart.
The bowl kept rolling, closer and closer to the jack. Closer to where Leah’s shot had stopped. She dared not look at Guy, fearing that her growing sense of joy would show on her face. James was playing the game exactly as he should and was not pandering to Guy and his ill temper.
So, you do have a spine. Well done, Mister Radley.
A hush fell over the small group as the bowl inched its way nearer to the jack. When it finally came to a stop, it was almost touching Leah’s bowl. For a moment, everyone froze.
James turned and, to Leah’s surprise, cast a smile in her direction. When she caught the glint of mischief in his eye, her earlier opinion of him changed. Guy might think he was in charge of the day, but to her relief it seemed that James Radley was his own man.
“Well played, James,” said Francis, who got to his feet and ambled over to where the two bowls lay on the green. He stood with his head tilted, studying them for a moment. “I can see we have a close game and as an impartial spectator, I am claiming the right to declare the winner.”
James looked to Leah. “Are you happy for Mister Saunders to call the winner? I must, remind you of course, that as he is my cousin he may not be as impartial as he claims to be.”
Francis gave Leah a cheeky wink. “Impartial, but not impeccable. I am open to all forms of bribes, including but not limited to money.”
Caroline, James, and Leah all laughed at the outrageous remark. Guy, she noted, was too busy fiddling with his jacket to be paying much attention to the outcome of the match. It was clear that he had decided since he no longer had any skin in the game, he was not interested in its outcome.
James put a hand into the small pocket of his waistcoat and pulled out a single coin. With a grin and a flourish of his hand, he attempted to slip the coin into Francis’s jacket pocket. Francis, meanwhile, kept his gaze fixed in the other direction. Caroline let out a gasp, then held her hands to her cheeks in mock horror. Leah found herself snorting with laughter at the silly pantomime.
When James cast another grin in her direction, Leah felt her heart skip a tiny beat. This was what a garden party should be like: fun, with a touch of flirting. Not tight arguments over the wearing of a bonnet.
She considered the situation for a moment. What could she offer to Francis that James had not already done? And what could she do that might give Guy reason to question whether she was actually the one for him?
It was worth the risk.
She walked over to where James and Francis were standing, still chuckling at one another in the middle of the bowling green. Upon reaching them, she stood in front of James.
“If this is the way you wish to play, Mister Radley, then so be it.” She then turned to Francis and, rising up on her toes, placed a soft kiss on his cheek. “I hope that was payment enough, Mister Saunders,” she whispered.
Francis, to his credit, showed neither surprise nor outrage at such flirtatious behavior. As she moved away, she caught the look of disapproval on James’s face. She simply smiled back at him. She also ignored the loud, angry huff which emanated from Guy. Her message to both James and Guy was clear; she would be the judge of what was acceptable behavior.
Francis looked at Caroline, who nodded toward Leah. He raised an eyebrow in silent question, but Caroline nodded a second time.
“I declare Miss Leah Saunders the winner,” he announced.
Victory tasted sweet, though Leah secretly wished that Francis would hand over James’s coin as her prize. With her pin money running low, she could do with an extra coin.
She gave herself a moment to enjoy the applause from the other players. All, of course, except Guy. Her curmudgeon of a suitor refused to acknowledge her win. He simply waited until the others went to pick up their things before handing her the bonnet and saying, “Now put it on.”
If she was honest, Leah didn’t really care about the outcome of the game; her victory had come a little earlier when Guy Dannon had shown his true self. She had wondered as to how far beneath his veneer of polite and gentlemanlike behavior the devil lurked. She was certain she now knew.
The uneasy feeling, she had been carrying since he had asked for permission to court her finally settled like an unwelcome but familiar guest in her mind. Her instincts hadnotbeen wrong. He was nice when it suited his purposes. Nice when she was doing exactly what she was told. Once she dared to step over that line, his mask of civility fell.
