Chapter 9
Nine
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Supper passed without incident. There were a few moments when Nicholas wanted to ask Sadie a pointed question, but he didn’t.
Not in front of everyone else. He was convinced she wasn’t who she said she was, but he wouldn’t expose her to the other women.
His attempts to learn her true identity would be saved for private conversations.
Besides, it was rare that anyone besides Abigail even had a chance to speak over the course of the meal.
Then his mother ushered everyone into the parlor, and he found himself sitting across a chess board from Helen before he knew how it had happened.
Four of the other women, including Sadie, settled around a table with a deck of cards.
Jane sat next to his mother in the farthest corner from him, speaking quietly.
Because he couldn’t stop sneaking glances at Sadie, despite practically having his back to the card players, he noticed when Jane moved to the table and said something. Abigail threw down her cards and leapt to her feet, hurrying over to the dowager. Jane took her seat.
“Your turn,” Helen said softly.
Nicholas absently moved a knight, his attention drawn away from the game this time because he wanted to know what his mother was up to.
Helen hesitated, then captured his piece, looking up at him with wide eyes.
Since he couldn’t hear what his mother and Abigail were saying, he reluctantly turned his mind back to the game and realized that Helen was playing with enough skill that she shouldn’t have hesitated to take his knight at all. Was she afraid he’d get mad if she won?
He moved his next piece with more care. “It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed the challenge of a game. Thank you for indulging me,” he said, though they both knew playing had been his mother’s idea. Still, he hoped his words were enough to reassure her that he didn’t want an easy win.
He succeeded in paying more attention to his game after that, but he still noticed as each woman playing cards stepped away from the table to speak with his mother.
Eventually Helen caught his king in a trap and he conceded defeat with a genuine smile. “Good game. We’ll have to have a rematch later.”
Helen rose, a flush of pride in her cheeks, and it was the most expression he’d ever seen on her. “I look forward to it.”
“Helen, is your game done? Come sit with me,” Nicholas’s mother called out.
She was certainly up to something, talking with each woman the way she was.
He knew better than to move closer, his mother wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of him.
Probably by making him play chess with someone else.
As much as he had actually enjoyed the game with Helen once he started concentrating, he didn’t want to risk being forced to play with Abigail.
Helen had concentrated on the game. Abigail would not be as quiet. As luck would have it, though, Sadie was currently the lady sitting out of the card game, having just finished her conversation with the dowager. Nicholas made his way to her side, where she watched the others play.
“What’s my mother up to now?” he asked softly, and debated throwing a one-way aural ward around them for good measure. Then he decided he didn’t care if his mother heard him.
She looked at him in surprise, then grinned. “Nothing you can do anything about.”
“Oh, I know. Madeleine Huxley is a force to be reckoned with. But even if I can’t stop her, I’d still prefer to be forewarned.”
“And you think I will share her plans with you?”
“It is the least you can do, since you won’t share your own secrets.”
“That’s not how secrets work.”
“I guess you would know; you have plenty of experience with them.”
She flinched. Just the slightest recoil.
It took him completely off guard. She reveled in refusing to tell him the truth, despite knowing he knew she was lying. Then he remembered the shadows in her eyes at breakfast when he’d sworn to discover all her secrets. Just like it had then, her hand rose to the amulet at her neck.
He nodded toward it. The charm was barely pulling in any ambient magic. It had either been engraved by a witch with a rather weak earth affinity, or been made long enough ago that its power was waning. “That charm isn’t going to protect you, you know.”
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Sadie’s fingers clenched around the amulet for the moment, then she made herself relax and release it. “You’d be surprised.”
“I doubt it.” Nicholas reached out, and Sadie’s breath caught, but all he did was tap the agate. “Even if the glyph were a more powerful protection, it can’t do much at present. It is barely drawing any power. I could make you something stronger.”
Sadie couldn’t stop herself from wrapping her fingers protectively around the charm again, brushing Nicholas’s fingers away in the process.
When he’d mentioned having an earth affinity before supper, it hadn’t occurred to her that he might sense the power in her amulet.
Would he realize there was a second glyph on the back?
“No.” She swallowed, tried again. “No, thank you. It was a gift from my grandmother. I wear it more for sentimental reasons than practical.”
He dropped his hand, taking a step back, and his gaze cut to the left. Sadie looked over and saw the dowager still sitting with Helen, but her attention was on them.
She swallowed. “Should I be worried by how gleeful your mother looks?”
“Not nearly as worried as I am.”
They looked back at each other, and suddenly they were laughing, and everyone’s attention was focused on them.
“Sadie, why don’t you take my spot?” Abigail rose. “I’m tired of playing cards.”
Lenora licked her lips and stood up as well. “I am, too.”
Nicholas didn’t hesitate. “Perfect, I’ll take your place then.”
It didn’t take magic to know that Abigail was thinking of changing her mind and reclaiming her seat.
Sadie could have let her. It might even be entertaining watching Nicholas sit next to her for an entire game, since he wouldn’t be rude enough to flee the table simply because Abigail rejoined.
And yet, Sadie found herself sitting down before Abigail could react.
Not that the sudden lack of seats deterred her. “If everyone’s tired of playing cards, then we should switch to something else.”
Sadie continued to let the spirit of mischief control her. “It looks like we still have enough people willing to play. But you and Lenora can enjoy a different game. Perhaps Madeleine and Helen will join you.”
Oh, Abigail didn’t like that, but couldn’t object without looking like a complete brat—even she recognized that.
So, head high, she slipped her arm through Lenora’s and towed her over to the other end of the room.
She’d probably try to get extra answers out of Madeleine now, but the dowager could handle herself.
Nicholas looked at her, and his lips formed the words “thank you.” She nodded in acknowledgement. Poor Nicholas, forced to be polite to all these women he didn’t want in his home for an entire month.
She understood why he was putting up with the invasion now. It had been her question for Madeleine, since the ladies had decided not to share their answers. His mother had explained their bargain and hadn’t seemed worried in the least that Nicholas would end the month without deciding to marry.
In this case, Sadie thought the dowager might have miscalculated. Even with Sadie around to make everyone else look a little more refined and, well, pleasant, she didn’t think Nicholas was going to give up his solitude. Not unless he fell in love.
She tried to picture him with any of the women.
Abigail had no chance, though she hadn’t realized it.
He’d seemed content enough with Helen while they played, but the two hadn’t talked during their game, and it reminded Sadie of the way Nicholas had pictured Helen as a piece of furniture in his house.
He wouldn’t give up his bachelor status and two years without being pestered by his mother for that.
Given the way Lenora mimicked Abigail, she was an unlikely bride, too. Which left Beatrice and Jane. Beatrice was hard to read, even for a telepath like Sadie. Well, she could force her way into the other woman’s thoughts, but she wouldn’t.
She looked between Beatrice and Nicholas as she played.
In theory, they matched well enough: highborn, near enough in age, comfortable with who they were and their place in the world.
Yet Sadie couldn’t see it. There was no spark between them, no life.
They barely even looked at each other, even when the game called for them to exchange cards.
Meanwhile, Jane, on Sadie’s other side, couldn’t keep her eyes off Nicholas. He’d clearly made an impression on her during their walk together, for she hadn’t looked at him with that wide-eyed sense of puppy love earlier.
Sadie’s efforts with her amulet had dried up near the end of supper, and she’d been catching snippets of thought from everyone the entire time they played.
She played as if she couldn’t hear those thoughts, erring on the side of being too cautious and playing poorly rather than winning via unintentional cheating, but with only Jane, Beatrice, and Nicholas at the table now, she was inundated with Jane’s thoughts, which had nothing to do with cards.
The younger woman was in a tizzy, wanting to start a conversation with Nicholas and completely unsure how to.
She was in awe of the baron, her feelings more of a childish crush than true attraction.
Finally, she gathered the courage to break the silence at the card table.
“Thank you again for opening the brewing room to me.”
The words mixed with the various images of potions and ingredients Sadie had seen in Jane’s mind, and she finally understood why the witch was so in awe of Nicholas.
Sadie wanted to cry. If Jane had been given permission to use the brewing room, there was no chance she could sneak in and mix up a few potions herself without being seen.
“I see no reason for it to gather dust when there is a witch with the talents to make use of it in residence.” Nicholas wasn’t looking at Jane, but at Sadie. “The offer is open to anyone.”
Spirits save her. He couldn’t know that she was a witch. He couldn’t.
She needed to control her reactions better when the brewing room was mentioned, before she confirmed every suspicion he might have.
Why, why did Jane have to be a water-witch?