Helena lined up for her shot, distractedly, glancing at the Duke of Bridstone and Nancy. The two of them were laughing about something. When Nancy’s shawl dropped from her shoulders, the Duke caught it. It was reminiscent of the same kind thing he had done for Helena when they had gone walking in the park. Yet those strong hands now wrapped that shawl delicately around Nancy’s shoulders.
It's not jealousy; it’s not. What else is it then!?
She repeatedly shouted in her own mind, trying to make sense of herself, and looked down at the ball. Rather than hitting it with wild malice, she breathed deeply, kept calm, and struck a perfect shot through two hoops.
Her shot caught everyone’s attention who looked her way.
“Goodness, Helena, how did you do that?” Nancy asked, walking round her to take her own shot.
“Luck,” Helena murmured as she waited for her next turn.
“Or skill.” The Duke of Bridstone appeared at her side. She couldn’t help smiling victoriously, pleased with his appearance. “You are fond of winning this game, Lady Helena?”
“Are you asking if a person likes to win?” she smirked, watching as he matched her expression. “I never knew the object was to lose.”
“Challenging talk. Very well, you have your match now.” He held the mallet higher in his grasp and walked forward. He eyed up his shot for a minute or so before managing to mimic her exact shot. Helena cursed inwardly, for he was too good. “Well, shall we go onto the next one?” He gestured to the hoops further along. Helena raced to catch up with him, aware out of the corner of her eye that they had all switched places, and Lord Sheylough now walked alongside Nancy.
For the next few hoops, the match was close. Lord Sheylough and Nancy were equally poor in their shots but laughed it off easily. Helena and the Duke of Bridstone concentrated hard, each trying to win. Rather than Helena being irked by his competitiveness, she found it endearing and followed him around the lawn with ease.
“Well, you leave me no choice,” he said as he lined up his next shot. “In order to beat you, I am going to have to become more inventive with my gameplay.”
“How?” she asked.
“Sabotage perhaps?” He smiled and lifted his head enough for her to see that mischievous look.
“Would you play in such a dirty manner?” she asked, pretending shock as she moved to his side.
“I’d say you were the one intending to sabotage now, for you stand so close to me as I prepare my shot.” He turned his eyes down to the mallet and the ball.
“I am simply standing here; how could that be distracting?” She pointedly moved closer to him, and a chuckle escaped his lips. He glanced up, clearly checking that Lord Sheylough and Nancy were deep in conversation before he added his next words.
“You’re very distracting indeed.”
Helena felt a jolt in her chest. She couldn’t take the smile off her face as he hit his shot. It went through one of the hoops but wasn’t quite a perfect shot and lined up the next one to be difficult.
“I blame you,” he said with a playful glare.
“I knew you would.” She took her mallet and prepared for her own shot, very aware that he chose to copy exactly what she had done and moved to stand close to her. “I see you are now intending to sabotage my shot.”
“I am simply returning the favor of your company that you so kindly offered me,” he said with dry wit. She laughed deeply, rather startled when she heard him laugh too. She looked up from her mallet, the two of them sharing in that laugh, then looked down again.
She swung the mallet a couple of times, preparing to release, when she heard a thud beside her. She missed the ball entirely.
“What did you do?” she asked accusingly. She had felt him brush her arm; she was certain of it.
“I merely jumped. Startled you though, didn’t I?” he laughed. “My turn again then.” She watched him go, shaking her head at the outrageousness of his action. He had brushed her arm, and there was no chance he could not know it though from their position it would have been hard for anyone else to see what he had done in this garden.
“Very well, then I shall have vengeance for the sabotage.” She followed him toward his ball then stood in front of it, holding the mallet to the ground beside her with her other hand on her hip.
He tipped his head back, laughing to the clouds. It was a joy to her, for some reason, to see the Duke of Bridstone having so much fun. It was not something she had ever seen of him before.
“You know that is beyond sabotage. That is just making me throw in the game.” He gestured toward her. “How am I supposed to hit the shot now with you there? At least if I stood where you are, you could hit the ball between my legs, but you gown gets in the way.”
“How fortunate,” she declared, smiling.
He chuckled and looked away, glancing at Lord Sheylough and Nancy. Nancy was struggling with her shot, and Lord Sheylough was giving her tips. They were completely distracted, not looking Helena’s and the Duke’s way at all.
“Then you leave me no choice,” the Duke said in a low tone and stepped over his ball, moving toward Helena.
