Ruin Me Please (24 page)

“Good
.
 
Believe me when I say that I
will not have this conversation again
.
”
Parker
smiled grim
ly at each one of his friends while on the i
nside
he found
the whole situation
a little
humorous.  He now understood what his father went through many times
over
as they were growing up
.

Seymour rubbed his hands together
.
“And here I thought this was going to be a
d
ull summer
.
”

***

“This is a disaster,”
Freya
cried out
.  “I have ruined this visit for everyone
.
” 
She
paced
back and forth.
“I told you I should have taken a tray in my room
.
” 
She wrung
her hands in ag
i
tation.

Piper sat at the pianoforte and pounded l
oudly
on the keys
, paus
ing
before replying
to Freya’s comment
, “
Don’t be ridiculous.” 
She was missing every
third note, her tong
ue stuck be
tween her teeth as she
concentra
ted
.  “I daresay the men are clueless
to your involvement
anyway.”  A jumble of notes poured from h
er less than skillful fingers and she sighed.
“I rea
l
ly should practice more…
”  S
he
trailed
off,
a
t
tempting
the popular melody again.

“Piper dear
.
”
Miss
Harris cringed.  “
Sweetheart, would it be too much to ask that you
practice at a lat
er time?  Tonight your
play
ing
is very distracting.  We would not want to scare away all of the men at one time.” 
She grimaced, plugging
her ears with her fi
n
gers.

Practically playing all the keys at once, Piper ended with a dramatic flourish. 
Then she stood, curtsying
to the group
with a wide grin
.

Poppy giggled and clapped
her hands.  “Well done, Sister.”

Freya burst out laughing.

“You two will never marry
,
”
Miss Harris said.
  “You
’re
both
completely hopeless
.
”
S
he sighed
dramatically.  “We will all be old maids living in Bath
taking
the he
aling waters for our rheumatism.
” 
S
he shook her
head
. 
“You two find great pleasure in
provoking
me
.
”

Chloe i
nterrupt
ed
Miss Harri
s
’s
humorous
tirade, “No Freya
, you
have not ruined ever
y
thing darling.
”
 
She gave
Miss Harris a significant look.  “Miss Harris, tell her she has not r
u
ined everything.”

“
Lady Freya
, boys
will always be boys
,
”
Miss Harris calmly announced.  “You cannot blame yourself for their unfortunate bouts of thoughtlessness.  You need only concern yourself with learning how to assist with limiting those times. 
You must learn
how to make them feel as though they are making all the correct decisions as you truly direct them
.
”
S
he smiled secretly.
  “You hold more power than you give yourself credit for my dear.” 
She kept a
secretive look on her fac
e.  “Do you want Lord Durham?”

“Yes, no, yes,
I do not know
?
”
  Freya
moaned
.  “I do not mean to be a tease, but he truly hurt me.” 
With a look of shame
a
cross
her face
,
she
began to crumple agai
n with tears.

“If you truly
want him, then keep teasing him,”
Miss Harris advised.  “
Men are simple creatures. 
He will want what he thinks
he cannot have.  Do not forget,
” Miss Harris admo
n
ished.
“L
eave him wanting more
and he will come back for it.”

“Ooh
, you
are truly wicked
,
Miss Harris.
”  Piper laughed.  “I knew we needed you fo
r a reason. 
You are
a
sly one.”

“I am also watching you
,
Poppy
,
”
Miss Harris said shaking her finger with
a twinkle in her eyes
.  “I
’ve
see
n
that
look in your eyes
before
and that means there is trouble brewing.
”

Poppy
chuckled
as she gave Miss Harris a saucy wink.

“Poppy, you will be the death of me
,
” Miss Harris moaned. “Here is what we need to do tonight…”  Miss Harris strategically laid out their plans like a general in
Wellington’s
army.

***

“I think
it could work
,
” Freya agreed.  “
Let’s
put it into practice tonight.” 
She squared her shoulders,
brac
ing
herself in expectation of an unpleasant encounter
.  A
s she w
ai
t
ed for the men to join them, she
nervously
pac
ed
back and forth in front of the fire
place, glancing fretfu
l
ly
at Poppy
,
she warned
, “I fear I am going to wear a path in your
Aubusson
rug
.
”
  S
he glanced
at her feet, giggling a little.

***

The elegantly dressed
men
strolled into the drawing room in their u
sual arrogant and bold manner.

“Ladies
,” Seymour
greeted silkily, bowing slightly.

“Sorry to h
ave been gone longer than usual,”
Parker apologized.  “We had a few items to discuss.” 
He looked
towards Poppy with a hard set to his jaw. “Were you ladies
interested in playing
some whist tonight?”

Poppy
lifted her chin,
glanc
ing
at Declan
wish
ing
she could stay and talk
but
knowing she m
ust first think of Freya
. 

Well, there was always tomorrow. 

S
lowly s
tanding straight and tall she turned
with a
knowing
look towards
Miss Harris
,
took a deep breath
,
and paste
d a sorrowful smile on her face.
“
I
fear
we ladies have
exhausted ourselves today.” 
She covered her mouth with her hand pretending to stifle a yawn.
“
We are g
o
ing to retire early, you know with the traveling and all.” 
Poppy’s mouth turned down in pout. 
“
Our delicate constitutions need to be revived by a long night of rest.” 
She shrugged her
shou
l
ders nonchalantly.
  “I’m sure you gentlemen will understand.”

Chloe chimed in with a
s
weet smile, “
It has been a pleasurable evening though gentl
e
men.” 
She bobbed
a little
curtsy
.
“
Pleasant
dreams
to
everyone
.
”

Perplexed
by
their
actions
, all the men bowed slightly
when they
left the room in a si
n
gle file line.  Each
of the men’s
confused gaze
s
follow
ed
their exit with stunned
eyes.

Durham stoo
d with his mouth hanging open.

Pushing up Durham’s chin Seymour stated flatly,
“Do shut your mouth or you will
most assuredly
catch some flies
.
”

With a
fascinated
look
in his eye
s
, Declan turned to
the men
and
laughed
. 
“I believe we have
been fairly
warned
.
”

As soo
n as the door shut, Parker inquired with his brow raised
, “
Billiards
anyone?”

Journey’s end in l
over’s meeting.

Twelfth Night

*William Shakespeare

P
oppy climbed into her canopy bed
fit
for a princess
with gauzy curtains
that
billow
ed
down to shelter her sleep
.  The
delicately carved columns jutt
ed
upward in fanciful swirl
s
. 
With a si
n
gle candle burning on her nightstand
,
she
lay
on her back
and
stared up at the ceiling
,
ga
z
ing at
the deli
cate scene
commissioned by her father that seemed to float
above her.

The
c
upids
search
ed
for someone to shoot with tiny bows
and arrows
.  T
he
smiling cherubs
search
ed
for lovers
and
all frolicked
playfully above her bed
.
T
hey
usually
made her smile.
To
night, however, her mind
occupied
with something real instead of
with
the
chubby b
a
b
ies
that
float
ed
across her ceiling
.  Her mind inundated
with
visions of the
fascinating eme
r
ald eyes of a
d
uke.
  Oh, but he was so much for than a duke.  He was a man filled with an abu
n
dance of charm and kindness.  He was Declan, a face to put with her dreams.