Scandal in Spring (10 page)

"It's better than stunted," Lillian said, "which is the only other word I can come up with to describe your lack of stature." She grinned at Daisy's scowl. "Don't make faces, dear. I'm taking you to a buffet of bachelors and you can pick any— oh,
hell.
"

"What? What?"

"
He's
playing."

There was no need to ask who
he
was…the annoyance in Lillian's voice made his identity perfectly clear.

Surveying the group, Daisy saw Matthew Swift standing at the end of the lane with a few other young men, watching as the distances between the bowls were being measured. Like the others he was dressed in light-colored trousers, a white shirt, and a sleeveless waistcoat. He was lean and fit, his relaxed posture imbued with physical confidence.

His gaze caught everything. He appeared to be taking the game seriously. Matthew Swift was a man who could never do less than his best, even in a casual lawn game.

Daisy was fairly certain that he competed for something every day of his life. And that didn't quite fit with her experience of the privileged young men of Old Boston, or Old New York, the pampered scions who were always aware that they didn't have to work if they didn't wish to. She wondered if Swift ever did something just for the enjoyment of it.

"They're trying to determine who's lying the shot," Lillian said. "That means who managed to roll their bowls closest to the white ball at the end."

"How do you know so much about the game?" Daisy asked.

Lillian smiled wryly. "Westcliff taught me to play. He's so good at bowls that he usually sits out because no one else ever wins when he plays."

They approached the group of chairs, where Westcliff was sitting with Evie and Lord St. Vincent, and the Craddocks, a retired major general and his wife. Daisy headed toward an extra chair, but Lillian pushed her toward the bowling green.

"Go," Lillian commanded in the same tone one would have used to send a dog to fetch a stick.

Sighing, Daisy cast a longing thought to her unfinished novel and trudged forward. She had met at least three of the gentlemen on previous occasions. Not bad prospects, actually. There was Mr. Hollingberry, a pleasant-looking man in his thirties, round-cheeked and a bit pudgy but attractive nonetheless. And Mr. Mardling, with his athletic build and thick blond curls and green eyes.

There were two men she had not seen at Stony Cross before, Mr. Alan Rickett, who was rather scholarly looking with his spectacles and slightly rumpled coat…and Lord Llandrindon, a handsome dark-haired gentleman of medium height.

Llandrindon approached Daisy immediately, volunteering to explain the rules of the game. Daisy tried not to look over his shoulder at Mr. Swift, who was surrounded by the other women. They were giggling and flirting, asking his advice on how to hold the bowl properly and how many steps one should take before releasing the bowl onto the green.

Swift appeared to take no notice of Daisy. But as she turned to pick up a wooden bowl from a pile on the ground, she felt a tingling at the back of her neck. She knew he was looking at her.

Daisy sorely regretted having asked him to help her with the trapped goose. The episode had set off something that was beyond her control, some troubling awareness she couldn't seem to banish. S
top being ridiculous,
Daisy told herself.
Start bowling.
And she forced herself to listen attentively to Lord Llandrindon's advice on bowls strategy.

Observing the action on the green, Westcliff commented softly, "She's getting on well with Llandrindon, from the looks of it. And he's one of the most promising possibilities. He's the right age, well-educated, and possessed of a pleasant disposition."

Lillian regarded Llandrindon's distant form speculatively. He was even the right height, not too tall for Daisy, who disliked it when people towered over her. "He has an odd name," Lillian mused aloud. "I wonder where he's from?"

"Thurso," replied Lord St. Vincent, who was sitting on the other side of Evie.

An uneasy truce had come to exist between Lillian and St. Vincent after a great deal of past conflict. Although she would never truly like him, Lillian had prosaically decided that St. Vincent would have to be tolerated, since he had been friends with Westcliff for years.

Lillian knew if she asked her husband to end the friendship he would do so for her sake, but she loved him too much to make such a demand. And St. Vincent was good for Marcus. With his wit and perceptiveness, he helped to bring a measure of balance to Marcus's overburdened life. Marcus, as one of the most powerful men in England, was in dire need of people who didn't take him too seriously.

The other point in St. Vincent's favor was that he appeared to be a good husband to Evie. He seemed to worship her, actually. One would never have thought of putting them together— Evie the shy wallflower, St. Vincent the heartless rake— and yet they had developed a singular attachment to each other.

St. Vincent was self-assured and sophisticated, possessing a male beauty so dazzling that people sometimes caught their breath when they glanced at him. But all it took was one word from Evie to make him come running. Even though their relationship was quieter, less outwardly demonstrative than those of the Hunts or Westcliffs, a mysterious and passionate intensity existed between the two.

And as long as Evie was happy, Lillian would be cordial to St. Vincent.

"Thurso," Lillian repeated suspiciously, glancing from St. Vincent to her husband. "That doesn't sound English to me."

The two men exchanged a glance, and Marcus replied evenly. "It's located in Scotland, actually."

Lillian's eyes narrowed. "Llandrindon is Scottish? But he doesn't have an accent."

"He spent most of his formative years at English boarding schools and then Oxford," St. Vincent said.

"Hmm." Lillian's knowledge of Scottish geography was scant, but she had never even heard of Thurso. "And where is Thurso precisely? Is it just past the border?"

Westcliff didn't quite meet her gaze. "Somewhat more north than that. Near the Orkney islands."

"The
northern edge of the continent?
" Lillian couldn't believe her ears. It took a great deal of effort to keep her voice to a furious whisper. "Why don't we just save ourselves some time and banish Daisy to Siberia? It would probably be warmer! Good God, how can the two of you have agreed on Llandrindon as a candidate?"

"I had to throw him in," St. Vincent protested. "He owns three estates and an entire string of thoroughbreds. And every time he comes to the club my nightly profits go up at least five thousand pounds."

"He's a spendthrift, then," Lillian said darkly.

"That makes him even more eligible for Daisy," St. Vincent said. "Someday he'll need your family's money."

"I don't care how eligible he is, the object is to keep my sister in
this
country. How often will I get to see Daisy if she's in bloody Scotland?"

"It's still closer than North America," Westcliff pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone.

Lillian turned to Evie in hopes of enlisting her as an ally. "Evie, say something!"

"It doesn't matter where Lord Llandrindon is from." Evie reached over to gently untangle a strand of dark hair that had caught in Lillian's earbob. "Daisy's not going to marry him."

"Why do you think so?" Lillian asked warily.

Evie smiled at her. "Oh…just a feeling."

* * *

In her desire to finish the game and return to her novel, Daisy had picked up the knack of lawn-bowling rather quickly. The first player rolled the white ball, called the jack, to the end of the lane of grass without going over the edge. The object was to roll three wooden balls, called bowls, until they ended up as close as possible to the jack.

The only difficult part was that the wooden bowls were deliberately less rounded on one side, so they never quite rolled in a straight line. Daisy soon learned to compensate for the bowls' asymmetry by casting a little to the right or left, as needed. It was a fast green with short grass and hard-packed soil, which was a good thing since Daisy was in a hurry to be done and return to Honoria and the ghost.

Since there was an equal number of women and men, the players were divided into teams of two. Daisy was paired with Llandrindon, who was a proficient player.

"You're quite good, Miss Bowman," Lord Llandrindon exclaimed. "Are you sure you've never played before?"

"Never," Daisy replied cheerfully. Picking up a wooden sphere, she turned the flat side to the right. "It must be your able instructions, my lord." Taking two steps forward to the edge of the delivery line, she drew back and released the bowl in a deftly spun roll. It knocked one of the opposing players' bowls smartly out of the way and ended up exactly two inches from the jack. They had won the round.

"Well done," said Mr. Rickett, pausing to polish his spectacles. Replacing them, he smiled at Daisy and added, "You move with such grace, Miss Bowman. It is a delight to witness your skill."

"It has nothing to do with skill," Daisy said modestly. "Beginner's luck, I'm afraid."

Lady Miranda, a slender blond girl with a porcelain complexion, was examining her delicate hands with concern. "I believe I've broken a fingernail," she announced.

"Let me help you to a chair," Rickett said in instant concern, as if she had broken an arm rather than a fingernail, and the two made their way off the green.

Daisy reflected ruefully that she should have deliberately lost the game, and then she wouldn't have to play another round. But it was unfair to one's teammate to lose a game on purpose. And Lord Llandrindon seemed positively delighted by their success.

"Now," Llandrindon said, "let's see who we are to face in the final round."

They watched the two remaining teams compete, Mr. Swift and Miss Leighton against Mr. Mardling and Miss Higginson. Mr. Mardling was an uneven player, following brilliant shots with awkward ones, whereas Miss Higginson was far more consistent. Cassandra Leighton was hopelessly bad and highly amused by the fact, giggling and tittering uncontrollably during the entire match. It was profoundly annoying, that continuous laughter, but it didn't seem to bother Matthew Swift.

Swift was an aggressive and tactical player, considering each shot carefully, displaying an easy economy of motion as he bowled. Daisy noticed that he showed no compunction about knocking the other players' bowls out of the way, or moving the jack to their disadvantage.

"A formidable player," Lord Llandrindon commented softly to Daisy, his eyes twinkling. "Do you think we can best him?"

Suddenly Daisy forgot all about the novel that awaited her inside the manor. The prospect of playing against Matthew Swift filled her with anticipation. "Doubtful. But we can give it a good try, can't we?"

Llandrindon laughed appreciatively. "We certainly can."

Swift and Miss Leighton won the game, and the others left the green with good-natured exclamations.

The four remaining players gathered up the bowls and the jack, and returned to the delivery line. Each team would get four bowls total, two shots for each player.

As Daisy turned to face Matthew Swift, he looked at her for the first time since she had arrived. His gaze, direct and challenging, caused her heart to thump hard in her chest, sending blood hurtling through her veins. His tousled hair fell over his forehead, and his sun-warmed complexion glowed with a subtle sheen of perspiration.

"We'll toss a coin to see who goes first," Lord Llandrindon suggested.

Swift nodded, his gaze dropping away from Daisy.

Cassandra Leighton squealed with delight as she and Swift won the coin toss. Skillfully Swift rolled the jack out to the head of the green in a perfect position.

Miss Leighton picked up a bowl, holding it close to her bosom in what Daisy suspected was a deliberate ploy to call attention to her generous endowments. "You must advise me, Mr. Swift," she said, sliding him a helpless glance from beneath curly lashes. "Should I throw it with the flat side of the ball on the right or the left?"

Swift moved closer to her, repositioning the ball in her hands. Miss Leighton radiated delight at the attention he paid her. He murmured some advice, pointing out the best path for the bowl while Miss Leighton leaned closer until their heads were nearly touching. Annoyance spiraled upward from Daisy's chest, tightening her throat muscles like a corkscrew.

Finally Swift stepped back. Miss Leighton moved forward with a few graceful steps, letting the bowl fly. But the drive was weak, and the bowl wobbled and rolled to a halt right in the middle of the grass lane. The rest of the game would be far more difficult with that bowl in the way unless someone cared to waste one of their shots to knock it aside.

"Hang it all," Daisy muttered beneath her breath.

Miss Leighton nearly collapsed with more loud giggles. "Dear me, I've fouled things up awfully, haven't I?"

"Not at all," Swift said easily. "It's no fun if it's not a challenge."

Irritably Daisy wondered why he was being so nice to Miss Leighton. She wouldn't have thought he was the kind of man who was attracted to silly women.

"Your turn," Lord Llandrindon urged, handing a bowl to Daisy.

She curved her fingers around the scarred wooden surface of the sphere and turned it until it felt right in her hands. Staring at the distant white shape of the jack, she envisioned the path she wanted her bowl to go in. Three steps, a back swing of her arm and a fast forward drive. The bowl shot down the side of the green, neatly avoiding Miss Leighton's, then curving at the last second to land precisely in front of the jack.

"Brilliant!" Llandrindon exclaimed, while the onlookers cheered and applauded.

Daisy stole a quick glance at Matthew Swift. He was watching with a faint smile, subjecting her to a survey that seemed to penetrate to her bones. Time stopped as if it had been tacked down with diamond pins. It was seldom, if ever, that a man ever looked at Daisy this way.

"Did you do that on purpose?" Swift asked softly. "Or was it a stroke of luck?"