Page 48 of Her Tiger of a Duke
The game continued and overtime the group split apart to move to their balls. Beatrice was with Levi and Leonard, who continued to be surprised by how well she was doing.
“I must say,” Levi said as they made their way around, “I did not expect this from you at all.”
“Did you practice as a girl?” Leonard asked.
“Heavens, no. My father never would have allowed that. I had to be a proper lady, which meant anything like this was out of the question. If he saw me right now, lifting my skirts to improve my stance, he would be positively apoplectic.”
“That is a shame. I was hoping that I was at least going to be beaten by a lady that had years of experience.”
“You may blame your wife,” she said to Levi. “She is the one who made me start playing with her in the first place.”
“I blame your husband,” he chuckled. “In all the years that I have known you, you have never been so eager to mingle. I would say that your match has been making you stronger, which is no doubt because of how much he likes you.”
He said it as she took her shot, and she was so thrown by his words that she missed her mark entirely..
The ball went straight into the woods.
CHAPTER 20
Owen had never been any good at Pall Mall, but the joy he felt watching his wife far outweighed any misery he might have felt at losing terribly.
He had not given her a lucky mallet at all; he had not lied to her when he said he did not believe in superstition. Instead, he had given her one he selected at random and gave it to her in the hopes that she would believe it to have a special ability and not be so afraid to play.
His ploy worked, it seemed.
“She is much happier with you,” Dorothy said as the two of them lingered behind the others. “I have never seen her feel so much. I can tell that you are taking care of her.”
“I do what I can as her husband, but you should know that all these changes have been of her own accord. I assume you all know that she had been the one to renovate the household?”
“Indeed, and she never would have done that before. You have met her father, so you know as well as I do how she was never allowed to even have an opinion before.”
“I did assume that when I met him. It is as though he hates his own child, and I cannot begin to understand why.”
Suddenly, her eyes widened.
“Do you not listen to gossip, Your Grace?”
“You may call me Owen, you know. We are friends.”
“My apologies,” she whispered. “But, do you truly not know what is being said of her?”
“If anything is being said of my wife, I believe she would tell me.”
“That is the thing, I do not believe that she knows. We were prepared to comfort her, but she has not said a word about it, and we do not want to ruin the event.”
Owen raised an eyebrow, slowing as he prepared to take his turn. It was true that, since their arrival, they had not spoken to anyone that frequented London, and so if anything was being said about either of them, they would not have known.
“Might you be so kind as to tell me, then?” he asked.
“I can, but I do not think it is wise to tell Beatrice, not yet at least. She is enjoying herself, and I do not think it is the right time. Then again, when is the right time for such an awful thing?”
“Dorothy, if there is something about my wife that is a source for gossip, I would like to know. Then, we can find a way to inform her of it.”
She nodded, eyes darting around as she tried to find the words.
“Her father has left the family estate,” she explained. “He has not said why, but there is a rumor that he and Lady Jennings were unhappy for a very long time, since the birth of their daughter, in fact.”
“I can imagine. It was clear to me that he wanted an heir, so it is no surprise to me that he was disappointed when he had a daughter instead. Granted, I never would have assumed it enough to ruin his marriage.”
