Rules of Engagement

by Tracy Cooper-Posey

  “You may say that,” Annalies said. “Only, our offspring seem to be determined to surpass us with greater scandals every year.”

  “And what is your shocking announcement?” Raymond asked Cian.

  Cian shrugged. “Eleanore has decided she would like to learn how to play croquet. I will wager fifty pounds against anyone who dares pick up the wager that she will win.”

  Jasper whistled. “Fifty pounds!”

  “Cian, no!” Eleanore whispered.

  Cian reached for her hand where it lay on the table cloth, picked it up and kissed the back of it. “I have faith in you.” He glanced around the table. “Does anyone dare?”

  Eleanore could feel heat and color in her cheeks. She wanted to slide her hand from his, only he held it firmly, right where everyone could see.

  Natasha’s gaze was upon their joined hands. She said nothing.

  “Morgan?” Cian coaxed.

  “Not me,” Morgan said, in his deep voice. “I witnessed Eleanore’s cricket abilities two days ago. I am not a fool.”

  “For interest sake, I will take that bet,” Raymond said.

  “Who will she be playing?” Jack asked.

  Eleanore looked around the table helplessly. She had spoken offhandedly about learning to play croquet because most of the women in the family played. After last night, she had no objections to spending more time with the women in the family. Too, Mairin and Bridget made the game seem as complex as cricket. They certainly took it just is seriously as cricket players.

  “Eleanore will play with Lilly against Mairin and Bridget,” Cian said.

  “I will?” Eleanore asked, surprised.

  “I arranged the game this morning, just before breakfast,” Cian said.

  Peter shook his head. “No one wins against Mairin and Bridget.”

  “So, take the bet,” Cian said.

  “I will, then.”

  “In the interest of marital harmony,” Will said, “I will wager in favor of my wife.”

  Iefan cleared his throat. “I will also wager in favor of my wife,” he said. “Not through a desire to avoid marital disapproval, but because I know my wife can win.”

  Will rolled his eyes. “Naturally, that goes without saying.”

  “If it went without saying then I would not be wagering against it,” Cian said.

  Eleanore’s heart sank. Cian’s hand was still in hers, though and he was not letting go.

  “And another day of the gathering begins,” Stephen said. He was smiling.

  ELEANORE UNDERSTOOD THE PRINCIPLES of croquet from watching many matches in the past. It was a favorite game of society. She had never wielded a croquet mallet before, though.

  Cian showed her the basic stroke, his big body behind her and his arms around her as he guided her hand and showed her the swing. Her cheeks were flaming by the time he was done, although no one said anything. Lisa Grace was the only one to show any reaction. Her smile was small and warm and her eyes danced with merriment.

  “Perhaps I should take the first turn,” Lilly said, as she picked up her mallet. “It will give you a chance to regain your composure.”

  The game proceeded steadily after that and Eleanore learned precisely how skilled Bridget and Mairin were. Strategy could win or lose a game. When Eleanore realized that, she relaxed. Cricket only appeared to be a game with a bat and a ball. It was really a game of strategy, too.

  Eleanore studied the lay of the ball and the hoops and recalled Lilly’s abilities, which were considerable. Then she drew Lilly aside and explained what they should do for the rest of the game. Lilly smiled and hid her merriment with her hand over her mouth. “Oh, that is wicked!” she breathed.

  Lilly was skilled enough to place the ball exactly where it needed to be, which set things up for Eleanore to strike out in two more turns, while Mairin and Bridget had to drive their balls back onto the court, their jaws set.

  They were still a stroke behind when Lilly pegged out, too.

  As the entire family had gathered around the court to watch the game, when Lilly pegged out everyone clapped and cheered, including Peter and Will and Iefan, who had lost fifty pounds apiece.

  Cian came up to Eleanore, took her face in his hands and kissed her, as the family laughed and teased the losers.

  Eleanore froze, alarm searing her nerves. Cian’s gaze met hers. The look in his eyes made her forget about the family and everyone around them. It was the look she saw at night, when it was just them.

  That was when she realized she wanted to stay. She wanted this life. She wanted Cian in it, always.

  Then she remembered it could never be. She had always known, of course. Only, now she understood it in a way which shredded her heart.

  “I desperately want a brandy,” she whispered, for she could not speak the truth. It stung her eyes, instead.

  Cian stroked his thumb over her cheekbone. “For you, I will carry a barrel of brandy up from the basement with my own bare hands.”

  She dared to rest her hand on his chest, to feel the heat through his jacket. Her throat squeezed painfully and her eyes ached. “Oh, Cian, what are we to do?”

  His face shifted, his expression grew cloudy. “I do not know,” he said softly.

  The truth pressed against her lips, and hammered against her chest, looking for a way out. “Cian, I—”

  He pressed his fingers against her lips, silencing her. He shook his head. His eyes were stormy. “Don’t say it,” he begged, his voice low.

  Raymond came up to them and put his hand on Cian’s shoulder. “That was well worth the loss of fifty pounds to witness. You are an extraordinary woman, Eleanore.”

  She dropped her hands. “Thank you,” she replied, fighting to make her voice sound as normal.

  Cian shifted, putting more distance between them. “Eleanore has demanded brandy in celebration.”

  “Not champagne?”

  “I cannot stand champagne,” she admitted.

  “Brandy it is, then,” Raymond said easily. “It is only ten in the morning but to the victor goes the spoils. Come inside. I know where Cian keeps the good stuff.”

  “What’s this?” Will cried. “Cian has broken down enough to open the old barrels? We’ve been drinking his swill all week!”

  Cian shook his head. “Not that you noticed, until just now.”

  Jack looked interested. “You’re really going to open one of the forty-year-olds?”

  “I really am. Eleanore deserves it and I’m suddenly two hundred pounds to the better.” He shepherded Eleanore toward the house.

  Ten minutes later, Eleanore found herself in the library, drinking exceptional brandy with most of the men of the great family, including Raymond, Vaughn and Rhys.

  A great many rounds later, Peter suggest a friendly game of Whist. Accordingly, Travers had his footmen set up a pair of round tables with green felt cloth so two games could run simultaneously.

  There were nearly a dozen people in the library, which meant at least four of them must sit out the games, so a third table was set up.

  Then Princess Annalies arrived and her face lit up in a smile. “May I play?”

  “Me, too,” Lilly said, behind her.

  A fourth table was squeezed in.

  Eleanore was sipping her fourth brandy when Will sat back, his cards tucked in his hand and said with a casual air, “Are you as good at cards as you are at sports, Lady Eleanore?”

  Eleanore smiled. “I am better at cards than I am at sports.”

  “I believe I deserve a chance to earn back my fifty pounds,” Will said.

  “Fifty pounds on a round of cards, Will?” Jasper asked.

  “Someone mentioned two hundred pounds,” Eleanore said. “Not for the round, but for the game.” She met Will’s gaze and kept hers steady.

  Will smiled. “Two hundred pounds on the game?”

  Jasper put his hand down. “That’s too rich for my blood.”

  “You don’t have to put up stakes if you
don’t want to, Jasper,” Eleanore told him. “I’m wondering how confident Will really is, though.”

  Raymond, the fourth at the table, shook his head. “I will stay out of this one, too,” he said. He looked at Will. “I thought you were smart enough to learn by your mistakes, Will.”

  “This is a different sort of mistake,” Will said. “I’m not counting but I do believe Eleanore is on her fifth brandy.”

  “Fourth,” Eleanore said.

  “I’ve never met a man who can drink and play cards well at the same time,” Will said.

  “Eleanore is no man,” Raymond pointed out. “Well, it’s your funeral.” He picked up his cards once more and glanced at Jasper. “Let’s play.”

  Eleanore reassembled her cards in her hand. Will leaned over the table, picked up the decanter Travers had wisely left for them and refilled her glass. “Have another, Eleanore.”

  Eleanore picked up the glass and raised it toward him. “Cheers, Will.”

  FOUR HOURS LATER, JACK and Peter helped Will to his feet and walked him upstairs. Before they left, Jack looked at Eleanore and winked. “When he is sober once more, we’ll have him write you a note for what he owes you.”

  Raymond, who had given his seat at the table to Tor, who had in turn given his seat at the table to Annalies, who currently sat opposite Eleanore, came up to the table wearing a small smile. “I see Will is exactly as foolish as I thought he was.”

  Annalies smiled and placed her cards face up on the table. “Apparently I am as well. I don’t think I have been trounced quite so badly at this game since I learned it.” She inclined her head toward Eleanore. “Once my dignity has recovered, I would like another game with you, if you don’t mind playing with such a poor player.”

  “I would be honored, thank you, Princess.”

  “If the game has finished, then may I steal you for a moment Eleanore?” Raymond said. “There are at least four more people who would like to have a game, waiting in the drawing room.”

  Eleanore jumped to her feet, mildly alarmed. “Have I been keeping people from playing?”

  “On the contrary,” Jasper said from his seat at the table. He had not moved throughout the four hours. He seemed to be enjoying himself even though he lost every hand. “I think they suddenly want to play cards now because you are slaughtering everyone. Foolishly, they want to experience that, too. I suppose this family is known for its madness.” He grinned. “It makes life interesting, at least.”

  Raymond beckoned and Eleanore followed him out of the library and into Cian’s private study. The room was awash in leather and studs, polished hickory and velvet drapes. Raymond did not move behind the desk. Instead, he rested against the front edge of it.

  Eleanore did not sit down either. Raymond’s posture on the desk put his head at the same level as hers. Perhaps he had intended that. He looked at her with a friendly expression. “You and I, Eleanore, have something in common.”

  “Cian?” she asked.

  “Yes, Cian, too. What I was thinking of, though, was that we have sat on the edges of the family for years, unable to let go of the slender hope that one day we might be members for true.” His brow lifted. “Or did I misread your face out there on the croquet court this morning?”

  Eleanore’s heart jumped. She wasn’t sure how to answer that question. Instead, she said, “I thought you had been a member of the family all along?”

  “Not in a way which was real to me,” he said. “Until I married Natasha, I felt I was a pretender. Now, though, I often find myself standing right between the heads of the families and their offspring. I belong to both generations, you see. It gives me a unique perspective.”

  Eleanore longed for another brandy. Her heart skittered along unevenly. “I suspect you have bought me in here to ask me if my intentions toward Cian are honorable,” she told Raymond.

  Raymond smiled. “With someone like you, it does not seem to be such an extraordinary idea. However, I have no need to ask. I only have to look at Cian to have my answer.”

  Eleanore knew what he was saying, for she had seen it, too.

  Raymond continued to speak. “When Seth Williams died, Cian was only eleven years old. He became fatherless and the head of the family at the same moment. Natasha shielded him from the adult responsibilities for as long as she could. At twenty-one years of age, he was required to manage the estate and the title and all the responsibilities which came with them. Cian has been doing that for many years now. In some ways it made him far older than his years.”

  “Yes,” Eleanore said. “I know exactly what you mean.”

  “This week, however,” Raymond said, “I have seen a much younger Cian appear. That is your doing. You are letting him enjoy life once more.”

  She held her breath.

  Raymond considered her. “I am aware of the animosity your family holds for ours,” he finished.

  It sounded as though he was trying to shift the subject. Eleanore knew he was merely getting to his point. She said, “What you are suggesting is that I go against my brother’s wishes. He is the head of the family now. He wants to abide by my father’s wishes, for honorable reasons. You are asking me to disregard that history.”

  “I have not asked you anything at all,” Raymond pointed out.

  “You and I both know what you are asking me to do.” She threaded her fingers together and squeezed them. “Do you not think that if it was merely a matter of making people happy, I would abandon every expectation my family has of me in a heartbeat?”

  Raymond considered her. “I have learned over the years,” he said softly, “that the only important consideration there is, is one of happiness for all concerned.” His gaze was steady. “Including yours,” he added.

  “My family has a long history—“

  “So does the Williams family. So does the Wardell family. Princess Annalies is related to every royal family in Europe. You cannot use the excuse of ancestral expectations upon me. That is not a game you can win with this family. We can outbid you at every front.”

  Eleanore fell silent. Her heart was hurting now. Where was Cian? She wanted another brandy. She wanted to be out of this room.

  Raymond’s expression was steady and kind. “I only want to see Cian happy,” he said softly. “You make him happy.”

  “And in doing so,” she said, “I would be making my own family very unhappy. If happiness for all concerned is the major consideration, then you are asking me to make a great many people unhappy for the benefit of just one.”

  “For the benefit of two people,” Raymond corrected. He got to his feet. “I do understand your obligations, Eleanore. I just wanted to show you possibilities you may not have considered. It is permitted to choose just for yourself. In this family, that is a choice people can understand. Will you think about it?”

  Eleanore replied truthfully. “I have thought about nothing else for this entire week.”

  Raymond got to his feet and moved toward the door. He put his hand on the latch. “You fit in very well with us.”

  “It seems that anyone fits in with your family. That is your greatest strength. You accept people as they are.”

  Raymond nodded. “Inside the family, we do as we please. You are particularly good at that.” His eyes danced. “Anyone would think you have had a great deal of practice at doing as you please. I know that tomorrow, Will’s regret for underestimating you will be comprehensive.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The day of card playing ended at supper, when everyone discovered they were ravenous. The meal was rowdy, which Cian didn’t mind at all, even though he was sitting amid it with his head pounding from too much brandy. Unusually, he did not wish to steal away to his study to pretend to work, so he could be alone for a few precious moments.

  Eleanore did not come to supper. Her absence was like a missing tooth, gnawing at his conscience. Travers assured him Lady Eleanore had asked for a small meal to be sent to her room and appeared well enough w
hen he spoke to her. Although, Travers added, the lady had asked that she not be disturbed.

  Cian would determine for himself if Eleanore really wished to be alone. Before he could act upon the intention, though, Raymond tugged on his elbow and drew him away from the table.

  “There is half a decanter of the good brandy left in the library,” Raymond said. “Let’s finish it, you and I.” He turned and walked toward the drawing room entrance to the dining room, which led to the library.

  Cian hurried after him and said, “My head is thick enough already, thank you, Raymond,”

  “Then I will drink it and you can watch,” Raymond said. He kept moving.

  Cian matched his stride. “This isn’t about drinking brandy, is it?”

  “No.”

  “Eleanore?”

  “Actually, it’s about you.” Raymond pushed the library door open.

  The aroma of cigars and brandy wafted out. It was a slightly sour smell, for Travers and his staff had not yet cleared the library. The four tables remained, with cards and glasses and ashtrays scattered across them. In some respects, it had been a successful day. There had been much laughter and teasing, which was not usual for a room of card players. Everyone had enjoyed themselves, which was also unusual.

  Eleanore had been in her element. The illicit games she had attended over the years had always been hidden away from society. Today, she had been able to sit in sight of everyone and thoroughly trounce any man who tried to beat her. She had enjoyed herself.

  Raymond strode over to the table which had the decanter on it. He picked it up and looked around for a clean glass. There was none. Instead, he shrugged and picked up an empty one, then poured himself a hefty portion of brandy.

  He sat on the closest chair, put his elbow on the back of it and looked up at Cian. “You took a risk, having Eleanore attend the gathering. It might have backfired badly, if she had not been the woman she is.”

  “It is because she is the woman she is that I brought her here.” Cian growled. “Are you about to wrap my knuckles for bringing a non-member into the gathering?”