Page 86 of A Foolish Flirtation

“What is the object of the game?” Emmie asked. “For him to guess who put what in the box?”

“Exactly.”

“Then you two have chosen extremely obvious items. He will identify you in a trice.”

“Some of us just want to get this over with,” Jeremy answered cynically.

“Not me. I intend to be very devious.” She rose from her cushion.

“Where are you running off to?” Jeremy asked, catching hold of her hand.

“To fetch my father’s pipe tamper; I kept it as a memento. I think he will like it. It is a brass one, in the shape of a booted leg.” He released her and she made for the door. “I won’t be a minute.”

“Well,” Pinky said, re-pinning her brooch, “if Emmie is going to enter into the spirit of things so wholeheartedly, my lord, then I think we must also rise to the occasion.”

Emmie did not hear Jeremy’s reply because she had already left the room, but when she returned moments later, he, too, was absent. He was back by the time Teddy had located a box fit for the purpose and great hilarity ensued for the next hour as an increasingly bewildering assortment of knickknacks were produced for each round of the game.

These included a tiny bottle of sal volatile, a stick of sealing wax, an egg-shaped trinket box, a brass button bearing the image of an anchor, and a piece of jet carved into the shape of a piglet. Teddy was quite giddy by the close of the game and begged to keep the pipe tamper in the hopes it could replace Carruthers’s missing leg.

Emmie doubted it would be a perfect match for the toy soldier but relinquished it in any case and Teddy bore it off with him when he went to bed.

“I hope that is not the only keepsake you have left to you of your father, Ballentine,” Jeremy said regretfully.

Pinky had retired to her guest bedchamber not long after Teddy, so it was just the two of them now sitting next to one another in the yellow spoon-back seats.

“Well, I sold anything of value,” she admitted. “His pocket watch and chain, his tortoiseshell cigar case, his cuff link collection.”

He was silent for a moment. “Do you want me to try and track down any of his former possessions for you?” he asked at last. “There’s a chance we could—”

“Oh no!” she interrupted him with a dismissive gesture. “Thank you for the kind thought, but that’s really not necessary.”

“I suppose you have letters of his, things like that,” he ventured.

Emmie shook her head. “No. I never kept anything of that sort.”

“No, I suppose you would not. You are not remotely sentimental, are you?” he said, and his voice sounded strange. “You did tell me that once before. Clearly, I was not paying enough attention.”

When had she said that? For some reason, his words discomforted her. He sounded almost…disappointed with her.

“How would you like to have a picnic lunch on our private beach tomorrow?” he asked in a sudden change of subject. “Just the four of us. It was a pink sky tonight, so, with luck, we may have sunshine tomorrow.”

Despite her sudden misgivings, her heart warmed that he thought to include Pinky in the treat.

“I should like that very much, my lord,” she said. “Will you be going down to the racing stables first thing? I only ask as Teddy wanted to show Pinky and me the maze in the morning, weather permitting.”

“Yes, that is my habit when in the country. I could meet you on the beach at midday if you like and arrange for Higgins to bring along the picnic hamper. Teddy can show you and Miss Pinson the way.”

“That would be lovely.”

“Well, then it’s a plan,” he replied smoothly. “Are you ready for bed? You’ve had a long day.”

Emmie told herself that she must have imagined that strange note of discord.

20

Emmie could not say why precisely, but she felt a lingering uneasiness on returning to her bedchamber. Jeremy accompanied her as far as the door, kissed her hand, and then retreated to his own rooms. This surprised her a little. For some reason she had thought he might want to join her.

Lottie appeared to let her know her bath was ready and to help her undress for it. After that was done, Emmie drew on her robe and settled at her dressing table as Lottie dried her hair with a cloth and untangled it with a comb. As she brushed it out, her maid chattered away excitedly about the trousseau that had arrived from the Bath modiste.