Isabella looked rather regretfully at the pieces in front of her. She was certain that she was well-positioned now to win the game and that having her flow broken like this might jeopardise her chances of triumph. But she knew that her mother would want her and Daphne to join the gathering of guests rather than remain playing their game. “It is no matter,” she replied. “We can finish the game later, can’t we, Daphne?”
Daphne nodded. “Lady Evermere, Lord Evermere, it is a pleasure to see you,” she greeted Isabella’s parents politely.
Lord Evermere stepped forward and stared at the board. “Gosh, I don’t know how the pair of you manage to play such a complicated game,” he said. “I could never understand it. Better suited to more practical things, I suppose.”
Lady Evermere laughed. “Well, Isabella’s education was our top priority, was it not? And now we see the fruits of her tutors’ labour!”
Lord Evermere coughed. “Well, let’s see about that, shall we.” He turned away and poured himself a glass of brandy from the decanter on the sideboard. “I’m not sure that many young men will see chess playing as an important skill in a potential wife.”
Her father’s last comment had been muttered under his breath, but Isabella heard it, nonetheless. She knew that her parents expected her to make a good marriage, and that time was running out as far as they were concerned.
No doubt they saw the upcoming house party as a perfect opportunity to enable her to spend as much time as possible with any potential suitors. One suitor in particular, she thought, with an inward groan.
Before she had time to think much more about it, though, more people arrived in the room.
Her sister Faith, with her husband closely following behind, entered the library. Faith swept Isabella into a warm hug, and Isabella felt a surge of joy at seeing her; since her marriage to Benedict, the Marquess of Millton, Isabella had not seen Faith as much as she would have liked. Even though several years had passed since the marriage had taken place, Isabella still missed having her sister at home as her constant companion.
Now, the party was becoming quite jolly, and their final guests for dinner arrived: Lord Victor Harrow and his daughter Felicity, who was Isabella’s older cousin.
Isabella rushed across the room to greet Felicity, but Felicity shrank back from her a little, her blue eyes cold, and barely returned her smile.
“Felicity …” Isabella began, feeling that she should try to discover what was troubling her cousin.
But before she could speak, Felicity pushed past her and approached the chess board.
“This set is so fine,” she breathed, picking up one of the pieces and feeling its weight in her hand.
Daphne looked at her, a little shocked. “Please,” she said quietly, her voice coming out almost as a yelp. “Make sure you put the piece back where you found it!”
“Oh goodness,” Felicity snapped. “How pleasant it must be for you and Lady Isabella to spend your days playing games and having nothing else to worry about than where your pieces go on the board!”
She set the piece down deliberately, in the exact place where she had found it, all the while glaring at Isabella, then crossed the room and went to look out of the window. The light was fading now as the afternoon drew on, and the gardens of the Evermere estate looked very pleasant in the orange glow of sunset.
“Shall we have some drinks before dinner?” Lady Evermere said, catching Isabella’s eye. “I know we ought to retire to the drawing room, but it is so cosy here, and we are just family for now.”
Isabella nodded and rang the bell. Clearly her mother had noticed Felicity’s rather distant and cold reception of her cousin and wanted to deflect attention away from it. Felicity was now chatting cheerfully with Benedict and Faith, and Isabella wondered why she had shown so little warmth to her earlier.
Perhaps she was envious, Isabella pondered, taking a glass of champagne from the footman who had just entered the room with a tray loaded with drinks. She had to admit that her life here at the Evermere estate with her parents was charmed, and life had not been so easy for Felicity and her father, Lord Harrow.
He had lost his wife just after Felicity’s birth and had to fight for every penny that he had. When she really thought about it, Isabella could see why Felicity might be jealous of her cousin’s good fortune in life.
Isabella decided to switch her focus towards more pleasant things and made her way over to where Benedict and Faith were standing, with everyone gathered around them.
“So where did you go in Switzerland, exactly?” Lord Harrow was asking, his eyes bright with interest.
Benedict smiled at Faith, squeezed her hand, and then turned to face everyone. “We travelled around the lakes for several weeks, and it was wonderful, wasn’t it, my love?”
Faith’s face lit up. “The scenery was beyond my wildest dreams, I must say. One evening, we were sitting on the terrace at our hotel, looking out over the lake. The mountains were just visible on the other side of the water through the mist. And all at once, the heavens opened, and it began to pour with rain!”
She laughed, her face opening out into the most beaming smile. “And then the thunder and lightning started. We went inside but kept the doors open, and we watched as the storm made its way across the lake. It was spectacular.”
Isabella let out a soft sigh. She could not imagine anything so romantic as watching a thunderstorm over a lake with the man she loved. And then being able to stay together for the whole night, not having to part at all … She shook her head, pushing the thoughts out of her mind.
She should not allow herself to be thinking these thoughts, she knew very well, but as her mind returned again to the Duke of Harbridge, she felt a twinge of anxiety. She had met him once or twice before, and danced with him at a ball in the summer, but she had not had the chance to get to know him properly. She wondered if he was the kind of man with whom she would like to watch a storm.
“I remember travelling in the Swiss alps, many years ago,” Lord Harrow said, his deep voice cutting through Isabella’s thoughts. “Perhaps not in the same level of luxury as you travel, Lady Millton, but I still appreciated the scenery. And I hear that the railways will be coming soon, which will open up the country even more.”
Benedict nodded. “It seems that the railways will be everywhere soon.”
