Chapter 13 #2
Momentarily, Daisy felt as if she ought to be ashamed of enjoying herself so much in the Duke’s company, but then, she sent a sidelong glance in his direction, caught him beaming at her, and determined that it was best to relish this bit of luck while it lasted.
“Ladies!” Lady Archworth called as she stepped to the middle of the room. “Gentlemen!” She held up both hands to garner their attention. “Allow me to welcome you to my home…once again.”
The parlor where the game was to be played was emptied of all furniture aside from the myriads of bookshelves lining the wall and a circle of seats to be taken by couples who had finished the game. They would be handed a number according to how fast they managed to identify their partner.
“This game is quite similar to one we played before,” the Dowager announced as she drifted around the room, making eye contact with each participant. “You may recall that our little game of blind man’s bluff ended far too quickly for my liking…”
Daisy and the Duke, as well as the other couples, tittered. Lord Dennison and Lady Mary laughed loudly.
The Dowager arched a haughty eyebrow at them and continued, “So, I thought it only right to give that game another try. In this event, I’ve brought back the blindfolds, and the couples will attempt to find each other one by one.
Feel free to kibbitz as much as you like.
” She grinned broadly at them all, then turned abruptly and motioned to Lord Dennison and Lady Mary.
“The two of you won this game last time. Let’s see if history can repeat itself. ”
Daisy was certain that Lord Dennison and Lady Mary would rush into each other’s arms, just as they had done before, when they were separated by an entire lawn. But now, once they were trapped inside the room, and every other couple was prompted to make loud, raucous sounds, they floundered.
“Ha!” Daisy laughed brightly when Lady Mary stumbled from one gentleman to the next, pawing at the lapels of their waistcoats.
“She will never find her beau at this rate,” the Duke whispered.
He was wrong, of course. Lady Mary did manage to locate Lord Dennison, but it took more than three minutes for her to find him and sink down into his lap. When she took off her blindfold, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were glassy.
“I hope we can do better than that,” the Duke murmured.
“I’m sure we shall.”
Six more couples rose to take the challenge, and only two were more successful than Lady Mary and Lord Dennison.
That was when Lady Archworth decided to stride around the room once more.
“So far, the number to beat is two and a half minutes. Lady Jane Westfield and Lord Arthur Bailey have done rather well for themselves.” The Dowager Marchioness inclined her head slightly in their direction, indicating that she found their performance acceptable.
But Daisy was impressed. After watching the others go through the motions, she worried about how she might perform when it was her turn.
“Lady Daisy!”
She was drawn from her daydreams by the sound of Lady Archworth calling her name.
“Yes?”
“It’s our turn.” The Duke grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet.
Gently, he put a hand on her back and helped her spin, then he tied the blindfold securely around her head.
Daisy gulped nervously. She stood frozen in the center of the Persian rug, the heavy silk of the blindfold pressing darkness against her eyelids.
It’s my turn. I must find the Duke.
At the Dowager’s signal, around her, the room erupted into a cacophony of animal sounds.
“Hoo-Hoo!” chirped a woman from somewhere near the bookshelves, her voice a terrible imitation of an owl.
“Ribbit,” croaked a man’s voice from behind the heavy velvet drapes, followed by a muffled snicker.
They were trying to lead her astray, using the traditional animal calls to bait her. Her ears strained through the noise, searching for the one sound that mattered.
Nothing.
The Duke was completely silent.
Oh no! Where is he?
The seconds were ticking away. She could hear the rhythmic click-tick of Lady Archworth’s pocket watch. They needed a miracle to beat Lord Bailey and Lady Jane Westfield's combined time.
She strained to hear the sounds of a morning dove, but no such noise reached her ears.
Daisy took a cautious step forward, her hands extended, sweeping the empty air. The taunting chirps and barks intensified, pressing in from the left and right. She ignored them, centering her mind, relying on pure instinct.
Then, the air shifted.
A sudden warmth bloomed just inches from her right shoulder, blocking the chill draft from the hallway. And with that warmth came a familiar drift of cedarwood and the faint, clean scent of starch from a freshly ironed collar.
Edmund.
He hadn’t made a sound, but he had maneuvered his body with absolute precision, placing himself directly in her path. He was close enough that she could feel the faint radiation of his heat.
Daisy didn’t hesitate. She lunged forward, her fingers snapping out like a trap, catching the coarse wool of his lapel.
“Tagged!” she cried out. Hastily, Daisy tugged off the blindfold, letting it fall down to her neck.
Lady Archworth snapped her pocket watch shut with a sharp crack. “By the saints,” she muttered, peering down at the glass. “By a hair! A mere two seconds faster on the aggregate.”
A collective gasp rippled through the parlor. Lady Jane Westfield shot to her feet, her eyes wide. “But how? The Duke did not give a single clue! Your instincts, Lady Daisy, they are positively uncanny!”
Daisy smiled while untying the knot at the back of her head. As the fabric dropped away, she looked up to find Edmund already gazing down at her. A tiny, knowing smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“Instincts? It wasn’t instinct, Lady Jane,” Lord Bailey grumbled, getting up as well and brushing lint from his waistcoat. “It was sheer, blind luck. His Grace stood there like a statue. A millstone would have been more communicative.”
“It was actually his standing still that enabled me to identify his scent.” Daisy pointed a finger at her nose. “I’m part bloodhound, you know.”
Edmund gave her an amused look, then offered a faint, elegant shrug, adjusting his cuffs.
“I merely refused to make a spectacle of myself. If the rules of the house require me to bray like a donkey to secure a victory, then I am content to lose. But I had every confidence that you would find a way, Lady Daisy. You always do.”
Daisy could feel her cheeks heat with pleasure. Hearing the Duke compliment her always gave her such a rush.
“Splendid! Now for our next task,” Lady Archworth announced, clapping her hands together as the servants cleared the tea trays.
Edmund’s eyes widened.
Clearly, he did not think his aunt would test us twice on the same day.
Daisy sent him a reassuring smile.
She had not anticipated such a twist, either. But now that they had another win to their names, she was ready to accept the challenge that came next.
“A test of wit and deduction,” Lady Archworth continued. “Each pair will receive a single riddle. The solution will reveal the exact hiding place of a hidden treasure within the manor. The fastest team to return to this parlor with their prize wins the round.”
Lady Jane Westfield eagerly snatched an envelope for herself and Lord Bailey, while Daisy took theirs, stepping back to the Duke’s side.
“I suppose you will apply the same agonizing deliberation to this game as well?” Daisy teased, holding the envelope between two fingers.
Edmund took it from her, breaking the wax with a swift flick of his thumb. “Riddles do not require me to stumble blindly into furniture, my lady. They merely require logic. Let us see what we have.”
He unfolded the paper. Daisy leaned close, her shoulder brushing his as they read the neat script together:
I watch the room with silent grace,
A frozen smile upon my face.
Though I wear the stone that catches the light,
I keep it hidden from public sight.
Look behind the lord of woe,
To find the prize in his embrace.
“A lord of woe,” Daisy whispered, tapping her chin. “What do you think that is? Who might it be?”
The Duke looked over the verses not with confusion, but with the sharp focus of a scholar. “Look at the third line. Hmm, ‘hidden from public sight,’ but is worn… meaning…”
Daisy’s eyes widened. “The actual diamond ring is the treasure?”
“Watch the room...” he repeated thoughtfully. “That can only be a painting, correct? A painting of a person wearing a ring,” the Duke murmured, already turning toward the parlor doors.
The answer to the riddle implied that the treasure was hidden somewhere in the portrait gallery.
While the others labored over the riddle and some set out to search the house, the Duke used his knowledge of the place to lead Daisy onward. They were followed by a footman who was there, presumably, to confirm that they found the treasure without cheating.
“I think it’s behind a painting,” the Duke whispered to her as they stared at portraits of his ancestors. They walked slowly from one to the other. The Duke examined each thoroughly as he murmured to himself. Finally, he stopped at one. “This painting. Look at the stone on his hand.”
He was standing behind her, and she could feel the heat of him. It made it difficult to focus or think, but she tried her best.
“A diamond ring. You’re sure your aunt would hide something so valuable?”
“I think she knows us to be honorable. It is no notable risk to drop a diamond ring behind this painting when she trusts the couple who are competing.”
“True. Well…” She stepped aside. “You solved it, Your Grace. You should do the honors.”
Fortunately, he was right, and the diamond ring worn by the man in the painting was indeed tucked behind, just underneath the frame.
“I suppose in this case, it was an advantage to be related to the game host,” she murmured to him as they made their way back to the parlor.
“Indeed,” the Duke agreed mildly, his hand on the small of her back, gently guiding her.