Now that was unfair. However, armed now with a little of his history, she could almost forgive his low opinion of some women. She tempered her reply to be less caustic than it might have been. “How do you know that is true for me?”
He gave her a look and went on as if the answer was self-explanatory. “Now. You want to get your ball close to that little one. Think of it as a battle. It must stop near enough that if it was your enemy, you could stab it. Close means we win.”
She couldn’t help it. She laughed. “That is an unusual way to explain a game of skill.”
“And of cunning,” he warned. “Play to win, Mrs. Radcliffe. If you dare.”
Sophie gulped. Winning wasn’t her strong point, but Jasper was clearly competitive. She would do her best not to be a complete disappointment to him.
She followed him and went where told to await her turn. She studied the other players’ techniques carefully while testing the weight of the bowl in her hand. Lord Jasper was an excellent player. His bowl came to rest less than three inches from the smaller ball. Much closer than any of his brothers had managed so far. She saw him hide his elation and pride in that achievement, though.
The spare’s spare. His achievements dismissed as unimportant. Sophie clapped for him, but he scowled at her.
When it was her turn, Sophie tested the weight of the ball in her hand again. It had a comforting weight, and she easily imagined the person she despised at the end of the green stretch of lawn, as Lord Jasper had suggested she do. She stepped up to the designated spot, but Lord Jasper was by her side in an instant, taking up her hand holding the bowl a different way.
“Turn it like so,” he told her, turning the ball on her palm with careful fingers until it was properly aligned to his liking. “Remember to bend your knees as you step forward and think vindictive thoughts. Shouldn’t be hard for someone like you.”
With that remark ringing in her ears, any sympathy for his situation as third son diminished markedly. She had done nothing to Lord Jasper besides speak her mind when he put her down. He had no other cause to think ill of her, unless he, too, suspected she was interested in capturing his older brother’s affections. Lord Nash had been determined to have her as his partner, but so had Lord Jasper.
Sophie stepped up to the designated spot, frustrated by all men yet again. She should not be playing games with her employer and his family as if she were one of them.
Sophie had made that mistake before.
She took aim and pictured the man who’d lied about loving her standing over the little ball. The man who had taken her innocence and then tossed her away like garbage. Lied and deceived his way under her skirts with promises of a happy forever.
Unfortunately, Sophie had underestimated the depths of her remaining rage for that man as she flung the bowl from her hand. The bowl sped past the smaller one and promptly disappeared into the darkness amid hoots of laughter from the other players. When Lord Jasper cursed roundly, Sophie hitched up her skirts to bolt into the dark after the bowl, her face flaming with embarrassment and wishing to disappear forever into the darkness, too.
Chapter Three
“Would you just get in the damn carriage and go,” Jasper demanded of his younger brother, Stratford, pushing him toward the open carriage door. Stratford had his lady waiting inside, and Win appeared to be growing impatient with her husband’s dawdling and babble too.
“We could stay,” Stratford offered, turning back again.
“For heaven’s sake, and do what? Till the fields yourself? If we are to have a better next year, it will not be through everyone staying behind to watch others at work. Go visit Aston, paint a portrait of him,” Jasper demanded with a laugh, then lowered his voice. “We cannot afford the expense of you home for the summer.”
That wasn’t strictly true, but it was a useful suggestion to throw out.
“We don’t eat that much,” Win grumbled just loud enough that Jasper heard her.
“But your husband eats enough for six,” Jasper informed his sister-in-law with a shrug. “I’m staying to make sure the right things are getting done and our brother is free to make his proposal. You go off and enjoy a proper honeymoon. Enjoy yourself and each other and, for heaven’s sake, do not fall out with your host, Aston. We cannot afford him to conjure up any reason to call in the remaining debt.”
“I’ll try not to,” Stratford promised solemnly, to which Win laughed. But then a bright smile flooded his face. “Try not to miss me.”
Jasper rolled his eyes. “I cannot miss you if you don’t leave.”
Stratford suddenly pulled Jasper into a fierce embrace. “Be good, brother.”
“Ha,” he snorted, shoving his brother away. “That’s not my motto.”
“I know,” Stratford said, grinning. “It’s never get caught enjoying yourself too much.”
“Exactly.” Having fun had not exactly been encouraged by his family. From an early age, he’d learned to enjoy any pleasures in life quietly. But things were different, his father dead, his brother now the duke. Jasper had awoken this morning knowing he could live a little more loudly. “Get out of here,” he urged, shoving Stratford into the carriage. He’d already said a prolonged goodbye to everyone else who mattered. “Have a pleasant journey, both of you.”
Stratford finally sat himself down beside his patient bride. Jasper waved them off and then turned back to the steps as soon as the carriage moved. “I thought they’d never go,” he complained to his older brothers, who had wisely chosen to remain at the top of the stairs.
“Stratford has always enjoyed making us all stand about to wave him off,” Nash noted sourly.
“It makes him feel loved,” the Duke of Ravenswood said. “Now it’s our turn to bid you adieu, Jasper.”
Jasper barely kept himself from shouting with glee. He had so much to accomplish today. “The carriage should be here at any moment,” he promised, hoping his jubilance was safely hidden.
The duke adjusted his gloves. “I am sorry about this.”
“I understand and know what to do,” Jasper replied. “See off as many of the servants who want to go to visit their relatives and ensure as many of the items on Nash’s list are taken care of before your return.”
Ravenswood nodded. “Send word if there are serious problems.”
Jasper didn’t expect there could be but nodded. “The carriages for the servants leaving will be drawn up here shortly after yours departs. I hear from Seymour that they are all quite excited about having an unexpected holiday.”
“Good,” the duke said, but he looked pained as he glanced about. His reluctance to leave was palpable.
Jasper clasped him on the shoulder as the ducal traveling carriage came into view. “I promise to return the estate to you without a scratch at the end of summer.”
“Was there ever a reason to suspect Ravenswood wouldn’t be safe in your hands?” the duke asked, looking serious for a moment. “I know you always do the right thing.”
Jasper winced inwardly and turned his gaze on Nash, who had made a sound of disagreement. “Pity someone else doesn’t share that opinion.”