“What about hide-and-seek?” Frances said. Genevieve was not at all surprised by the suggestion. Hide-and-seek was Frances’s favorite game. She was very good at it, too. Genevieve only found the child about half of the time. That was particularly worrying, considering Frances had been running away when they’d first met.
“Brilliant idea,” he said. “I shall seek first. What shall I count to?”
“Wait a moment. We must have some rules.”
“Aww!” Frances said, giving her governess an exasperated look.
“No hiding in the servants’ area or quarters. Our game should not disturb their work or leisure.”
“Fine.” Frances nodded. “Count to one hundred, Papa.”
“I have one more rule,” he said. “No hiding in the attic. It’s dark and dusty. I need to speak to Gables about having it cleaned.”
“Very good,” Genevieve said. “Close your eyes, my lord, and begin counting.”
“One, two, three…”
Genevieve and Frances scampered out of the music room, and Frances giggled. Genevieve watched as the girl ran toward the parlor. She made for the library, where she could crouch behind the furniture and read a book while she waited to be found. But it didn’t take long at all for Lord Emory to find her, and then she helped him hunt Frances, who had somehow managed to squeeze herself behind a cabinet.
Genevieve counted next. She found Lord Emory in the dining room behind a curtain, and then they spent a good quarterhour hunting for Frances. “She’s almosttoogood at this game,” Genevieve whispered. “We had better hope she never decides to run away again.”
“Let’s look upstairs,” he suggested. They found her in Genevieve’s chamber, hiding in a trunk. As some of Genevieve’s items were still in the trunk and now certainly wrinkled, she rather wished they had made her room out of bounds.
They all trekked downstairs to the music room again, and Frances began counting. She counted very quickly, and while Lord Emory started upstairs, Genevieve decided to hide in the parlor, as it was close. But Mary and Mrs. Mann were in the parlor now, dusting and sweeping, so Genevieve had to choose another spot. She could already hear Frances halfway to one hundred. She remembered a small closet with cleaning supplies near the landing on the second floor, so she lifted her skirts and raced up the stairs.
“Seventy-one, seventy-two, three, four…”
Genevieve arrowed for the closet, opened the door, and found Lord Emory inside. “This spot is claimed,” he said, and closed the door again.
“Eighty-five, eighty-six…”
Genevieve looked about. Her room was nearby, but did she have time to find a place to hide? There was nowhere but under the bed, and she didn’t want to crawl under there.
“Ninety-one, ninety-two…”
Oh, drat.She could hide under the table in the nursery, but Frances would spot her immediately upon opening the door.
“Ninety-five, ninety-six…”
She opened the door to the cleaning closet again. “I’m out of time,” she said, and squeezed inside, closing the door.
“Ninety-nine, one hundred!”
“This is my hiding place,” Lord Emory said.
“There was no rule about sharing hiding places,” Genevieve pointed out.
“You are squishing me.”
“Shh! Or she’ll hear us.” But shewassquishing him. The closet was not made for two people, and she was pressed against him, her elbow probably jabbing him in the ribs. She pushed against one of the shelves on the side of the closet. The closet was black as night, but she could feel the rows of wood against her back. “See if you can fit better sideways,” she whispered.
He moved away from the back of the closet and slid past her. The scent of amber teased her nose, and the heat of him made her heart beat faster. Or perhaps the rapid beating was a result of running up the stairs too quickly. That must be it.
He slid into place across from her, but Genevieve realized she had misjudged the amount of space in the closet. If he were the same size as her, they would have been able to stand across from each other with a sliver of air between them. But he was considerably larger than her—broader and taller—and when he stepped into place, she was pressed up against him.
“Oh dear,” she whispered.
“I told you.”
