Chapter 23 #2
“Cut. Please.” Phoebe smiled, and Harriet felt as though she could fly.
As they ate their food, they chatted of little things. Phoebe showed Theodore some of her drawings and Harriet told Phoebe all about their time in London.
When they had finished, Harriet stood up and started searching through the games bag. She pulled out three mallets and several balls for Pall Mall. She had managed to find one she thought would work for Phoebe, the girl seemed to be growing by the second.
I wonder if she will be as tall as her uncle. From what she had learned of Rose, she had not been far from her brother’s height.
“Pall mall?” Theodore’s voice broke into Harriet’s thoughts.
“Sort of.” Harriet shrugged. “It is a version Fiona and her brothers taught us. The aim is still to get your ball through this hoop, but we create obstacles between us and the hoop.”
Harriet stood up and picked her way across a patch of very uneven ground, stabbing the hoop behind a fallen tree. She wiped her hands off and walked back to Theodore and Phoebe.
“We each pick a ball and set it up, like so.” Harriet demonstrated with her own balls.
“Then we take turns to strike. However, you can of course, distract one another, interfere with another player’s ball though you must never strike someone with your mallet.
That last one we added after Fiona’s brother broke his nose.
Oh, and you cannot interfere with the hoop. ”
Harriet looked at Theodore and Phoebe. “Does that make sense?”
They both nodded. Phoebe pointed to her chest and then held up her mallet. Harriet understood. “You may go first, then me and then your uncle.”
Harriet watched as Phoebe lined up her shot, striking her ball as hard as she could. Then she went, the ball sailed straight, hit a bump and spun away from the hoop. “Drat.”
Theodore took his place and struck his ball. It sailed into the air, arcing gracefully before it landed just beside Harriet’s. Harriet watched Phoebe stalk towards her own ball, striking it but sending it wide and scowling after it.
Harriet moved to her own ball, with Theodore’s resting beside it. She looked up at him, and grinned. He froze part way through a step.
She raised her mallet.
“You would not.” Theodore shook his head.
“I would.” She struck her ball, sending it careening into his.
As she had hoped, when her ball struck his, her ball spun towards the hoop while his tumbled further away. Her ball struck a bump and changed course, landing beside Phoebe’s feet.
Harriet saw the impish determination in Phoebe’s face, saw the way the girl’s eyes darted towards the bushes. “Phoebe.”
“Sorry Auntie.” Phoebe grinned at her and hit Harriet’s ball as hard as she could, sending it tumbling into the brush.
A booming laugh filled the meadow, mingling with Phoebe’s giggles as Harriet walked towards the bush. She could not find it in herself to be cross, not when Phoebe was clearly enjoying herself. As she got on her hands and knees to peer under the bush, a shadow fell across her.
“Lost something?” Theodore’s voice still held the edges of his laughter.
“You know, the chivalrous thing would be to help me search,” Harriet said, kneeling in front of him and glaring up at him.
“Perhaps I am enjoying watching.” Theodore flashed her a smile that made her knees go weak.
“Hardly a gentlemanly thing to say,” Harriet retorted, grateful her sun hat hid how red she was as she stood up.
“I am a duke.” Theodore stepped towards her, so close she could feel his breath against her cheek as he whispered. “And that means I play to win.”
“Is that so?” Harriet murmured.
Theodore nodded, shifting away from her. “You started this duchess.”
“I suppose I did.” Harriet pressed a hand to his chest, feeling his muscles ripple beneath her fingers. “But I think your niece is about to finish it.”
Theodore’s eyes widened, and he turned around in time to see Phoebe darting away, holding his ball in her hands.
“You are both in for a world of trouble.” Theodore growled, and as he tore after his niece, Harriet watched, her own ball completely forgotten.
“You can’t catch me!” Phoebe leapt over a fallen tree, still clutching the ball to her chest.
“Oh yes I can.” Theodore dove towards her, and in one fell swoop, scooped his niece into his arms.
“Put me down.” Phoebe laughed as she dropped the ball in her hands.
“If you wish.” Harriet watched as Theodore swung Phoebe, throwing her into the air and catching her with ease.
Phoebe clapped her hands in delight as Theodore threw her again, and kicked his own ball back towards the hoop. His deep, earthy laughter mingled with his niece’s and Harriet felt the pressure build in her chest.
She watched Theodore score a goal, saw Phoebe take advantage of his distraction to score her own point. They chased each other with ruthless efficiency, each trying to outdo the other. They were both just as stubborn as the other, just as cunning and just as determined to win.
Theodore was just as competitive as his niece, but he could temper it, never putting her at too much of a disadvantage. There was an ease between the two of them, and the more Harriet saw them play with one another, the more she realized who he reminded her of.
A father.
The wind caressed the side of her face. I think it is time I asked my question.
Later that night, she stood outside of Theodore’s door. She had not yet changed for bed, and she was glad because the thickness of her evening dress hid the shaking of her knees. She wrapped her knuckles against the door.
It swung open and Theodore stood in front of her, his shirt open. Harriet’s eyes traced his well-muscled chest and she swallowed.
“Harriet?” He canted his head towards her. “Is everything well?”
She shook herself and nodded. “Yes.”
“You do not usually come to visit me at such an hour.” He leaned against the doorway. “Are you sure everything is all right?”
“Yes. I…” Harriet licked her lips. “I wanted to thank you, for today. It… It meant a lot to me and I know you had your doubts.”
“I did.” Theodore smiled at her. “But you proved me wrong. As you so often do.”
“Do I?” Harriet wished her mouth was not so dry.
“Frequently.” Theodore reached towards her, his fingers lightly brushing against her cheek. “I do not think I have ever enjoyed being wrong quite so much.”
“I rather like doing it.” Harriet leaned into his touch. “Especially when you laugh like you did today.”
“It is easy to do, especially when I am with you.” He let his hand drop, but did not step away. “I had forgotten how good it felt.”
“I am happy to remind you.” She reached to his forehead and brushed a lock of hair from his face. “You caught the sun today.”
“So did you.” Theodore’s voice was husky. “You… Harriet, you were the sun.”
Their eyes met, and he closed the distance between them. His lips found hers, the faint scratch of his stubble against her skin sending shivers through her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer to him.
He met her pressure with his own, deepening their kiss. The heat of him against her drove all thought from her mind. She kissed him, losing herself in it completely as his muscles tensed against her touch.
When they broke apart, they were both breathless, his eyes as dark as the night sky. Harriet tidied her hair. “I should go.”
She glanced behind her, hoping he would hear the question in her voice. When she looked at him, his face was turned from her. “I suppose it is late.”
She nodded. I want to stay. Ask me to stay.
She felt him lean towards her, and thought he was going to kiss her again, but instead he brushed his lips gently against her cheek.
She walked towards the door.
“Harriet.” She whipped around at the sound of his voice.
“Yes?” Her heart sped up, he was going to ask. She knew it.
“Good night.” His words were like a dagger.
“Good night, Theodore.” She felt something inside her shatter as she turned away.