Page 25 of The Lion Duke's Proposal
“Miss Burbank.” Leander tipped his hat. “It seems I find myself without a partner after all. Would you like to team up with me?”
“I’d be thrilled, Your Grace,” she simpered, fiddling with a lock of her blonde hair. He was fairly certain she would be worse than useless at the game, judging by her stiff attire and chittering manner, but that didn’t matter. He didn’t need her help to win.
He took his place with the others at the starting area, catching Miss Norish’s defiant gaze for a moment before looking over to Anthony, who was the umpire for the day.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our very special Pall Mall!”
The game wasn’t the usual form of Pall Mall, which would normally be played on a soft, flat green with a regulation heightwicket. This version had been developed by himself, Henry, and Anthony when they were children, and involved obstacles, rough terrain, hills, and all manner of other additions designed to make the game more adventurous. As Anthony described the course and showed the locations of the various wickets, Leander enjoyed watching Miss Norish’s face turn from confident to surprised to incredulous.
There was absolutely no way he could lose.
Chapter Eight
Julia had not anticipated the difficulty of the Pall Mall course, but she found that once she got to grips with the placement of the wicket, she was actually rather good at it. It added a little extra thrill to the usually rather subdued sport, which made the competitive atmosphere all the more engaging. It wasn’t for everyone, however. She sighed as she watched Lord Blackwell almost topple into the stream for the second time.
She wished she hadn’t had to partner with him, frankly. But there had been no other available choice; nobody was willing to be seen with her or Poppy right now. Luckily, Poppy had chosen not to participate in the game, so Julia had immediately hurried over to Lord Blackwell and asked him to partner with her. She knew he would accept, if only to be safe from the clutches of his would-be wife, and it meant she could spend the day away from the Duke as well. Although she already knew she was going to agree to his offer, she wasn’t going to make things easy for him, not when he’d been so rude and forceful at the beginning of their acquaintance.
No, now it was her turn to make him prove how determined he was.
Lord Blackwell finally made his shot, red-faced and sweating with effort, and the ball rolled a pitiful distance, ending up just short of the wicket. Julia stepped in and knocked it through, finishing their final turn. At least the ball hadn’t ended up in the water, which would have been disastrous. Their score was by no means outstanding, but she could still win the bet as long as the Duke and Miss Burbank took more than three shots on their turn.
She watched him step up to the ball. His toned, athletic figure was no accident. She could tell from his posture and skill with the mallet that he was clearly very adept at this game, and so far, he had seemed to handle all the obstacles with ease, even the large tree with spreading roots that had stymied most of the other teams. Certainly, he was far outstripping the abilities of Miss Burbank, who seemed to be struggling almost as much as Lord Blackwell and was complaining loudly about it for all to hear.
The Duke was so focused on his shot that he didn’t even notice her watching him, which was… unusual. She felt like, normally, his eyes were always on her. In a peculiar sort of way, she almost missed the sensation. Just as he drew back his mallet to make the shot, Miss Burbank let out a high-pitched scream. Everyone turned to see what had happened, and the Duke’s shot went horribly wide as a result of the distraction, landing right by the edge of the creek, far from the wicket.
“Goodness, my dear, are you alright?” Lady Burbank bustled over to her daughter. “What happened?”
“My apologies,” she stuttered. “There was a bee. I couldn’t help myself.”
“Did it sting you? Should I fetch a doctor?”
“No, it didn’t touch me. It just flew away,” she admitted. “I was just startled for a moment.”
Julia could tell from his body language that the Duke was frustrated by the commotion, but to his credit, he behaved very graciously. “I am glad to hear that you are unharmed, Miss Burbank,” he said politely. “It’s your shot, if you are feeling calm enough to take it.”
“Yes, I’m quite well.” Miss Burbank shook off her mother’s hand and took up her mallet. Her dress was so long that it dragged on the ground behind her as she stepped up. Julia genuinely believed she was doing her best to win and impress the Duke, but unfortunately, she was simply not cut out for this kind of game, and once again, she spectacularly missed her shot. The ball rolled away, teetering and then finally landing in the stream with a splash.
“No!” wailed Miss Burbank. “Oh dear, I’m so sorry, Your Grace!”
“That’s quite all right, Miss Burbank, don’t upset yourself.”
Surely this had to be it. Their ball was in the water. She’d won. She felt a rush of excitement at her victory, happy to have beaten the man at his own game. It served him right for being so confident - and now he would owe her a favor, which would be particularly useful as they set about building their new lives. She wondered what she might ask him for with this one request.
Julia immediately began calculating the possibilities. Could she use this favor to demand he sponsor Poppy for the remainder of the Season? With the Duke of Ashbourne’s explicit backing, her sister’s matchmaking prospects would be ironclad, safely securing her future. Or perhaps she could use it to secure herself a respectable position. Not as a desperate, mistreated governess, but something that allowed her to keep her dignity. And yet, as her mind raced, a tiny, treasonous corner of her thoughts wondered if she might simply ask for his presence, to have those piercing eyes focused entirely on her, without the shadow of a game between them. She wondered what an evening with Duke would feel like. No titles, no airs, just a man and woman enjoying each other’s company.
Caught up in her daydreams, she failed to notice the Duke scanning the creek for any sign of the ball. She was alerted to what was going on by yet another screech from Miss Burbank. “Your Grace, what in the world are you doing?”
“I’m winning the game, of course,” he replied evenly. His gaze lingered for a moment on the spot in the stream where he had found the ball, then turned up towards Julia. He grinned confidently at her as he removed his jacket and stepped right into the water.
Everyone watched in disbelief as he readied his mallet. The chilly water rushing past his knees didn’t seem to bother him as he focused intently on the wicket. Julia held her breath. There was no way - it was an impossible shot. He needed to make it in one if he was going to beat her.
The way he stood there, muscles tense, the water clinging to his legs as he shifted his weight—every movement was fluid, effortless, like he’d been born to play this game. She found herself drawn to him in a way she couldn’t explain. Her gaze lingered on the way his jaw set in concentration. The slight sheen of water droplets on his skin caught the sun’s light.
With a final flourish, he brought down the mallet hard, and the ball chipped straight up out of the water and rolled neatly down the bank, straight through the iron hoop to stop right beside Julia’s.
For a brief moment, everything else faded. She forgot the game, the others watching, even the rush of the water. All she could focus on was the way he moved—graceful, commanding. A slow heat crept up her neck, and she inhaled sharply, aware of how his presence seemed to fill the air around her.
He raised his eyes to meet hers, the grin turning into a smirk. Julia quickly turned away, but her eyes had a will of their own and returned to him the next moment.
