Twelve

Eveline

“Might I assist you with your bow, Mrs. Turner?” We had only just begun the archery tournament and I stepped up to the table to select a long bow when Lord Trenton appeared beside me. The man professed to be at least ten years my senior and tried on several occasions to remind me of how a young woman like me might benefit from his life experience. I chuckled inwardly. Sir Colin had fifteen years on me when we wed.

When Lord Trenton pressed for me to accept his help, I attempted to hide my irritation behind my smile. Then from a sidelong glance, I saw Zachary smirk. Inhaling slowly, I chose my words carefully.

“Thank you, my lord, but I have shot a bow and arrow before.”

“Well, that may be the case.” He opened his snuff box and retrieved a smidgeon of tobacco. “I don’t doubt you and many women have passable archery skills, but I am part of the Archers at Scorton and compete every year for the Ancient Silver Arrow.” He inhaled a pinch of snuff. “As a finalist three years ago, I can claim proficiency. You might gain some insight from my assistance.”

I smiled tightly. “No, thank you.”

He persisted, “Are you certain?”

Now I quietly breathed through my nose. “I am certain, but thank you.”

Lord Trenton stiffly turned away from me and marked his stance more hastily than I expected anyone to do so. His first arrow hit the right-side target face, midway between the blue and red rings. I bit my inner cheek to keep from smiling. His performance hardly exhibited a result comparable to a Silver Arrow competitor, but it would be unladylike to point this out.

Secretly, I hoped to humble this man. Though he bore handsome features, the nobleman’s arrogance often came out each time we played a competitive sport, most recently lawn bowls, and Pall Mall. Come to think of it, his haughtiness surfaced even when we played charades.

I traded my lace gloves for my leather ones, retrieved my bow and arrow, stepped up to the mark, and assumed the correct stance. Though I could no longer claim the space to practice that I had at Ashton Hall, my childhood home, archery was a pastime I refused to let slide and I shot twice a week at Highbury Barn in Islington.

Holding the bow steady, I placed my arrow at the nocking point on the bow string, then presented the bow toward the target. With my left hand gripping the bow handle, I drew the string back to my anchor point with the fingers of my right hand, feeling the barest of brushes against my cheek.

“You are aiming for the circle, love, any circle,” Viscount Glade teased and the men around him chuckled. I felt my hands tremble with the slightest provocation and lowered the bow to readjust my grip. I did not turn around since catching sight of any face would have unsettled me.

“Show them how it’s done, Evie,” Lucas called out.

I started over. This should not be so arduous. The steps have always come naturally. My father taught me archery at a very young age, and I could not count high enough the number of times Lucas, Zachary, and I hosted our own playful tournaments in the forest. I had even earned an occasional win.

I narrowed my sights, focusing on the right-side target’s yellow center. Target aligned, I released the arrow and yet I held my breath until I heard a solid thunk . I smiled at the result. Though it did not claim a bullseye, it managed to hit the lower left side of the yellow circle.

Gwendolyn, Hunter, Helena, and Lucas all cheered ridiculously loud while the remaining spectators clapped in the quietest manner possible.

On my way to return my bow, I peeked just long enough to see the astonishment displayed across the men’s faces. Two of my admirers quickly formed smiles and openly congratulated me on a splendid performance. The same two who scrambled over each other to sit beside me at meals—Sir Charles and Viscount Glade. I tried not to giggle at the absurdity of it all.

After I set my bow down on the table, I turned to find myself facing Zach. He appeared preoccupied with the display of weaponry before him and didn’t seem to notice my performance and subsequent result at all.

Why was I letting his inconsiderate behavior bother me?

Just this afternoon when we took tea in the garden, he escorted Lady Victoria, one of Gwendolyn’s friends from school, around the luscious foliage. I couldn’t help but notice how often he brought a smile to her lovely face and my chest stirred with envy.

“As you can see,” I declared in his direction and pointed to the mark. “Not much has changed since we played last.” I referred to one of the few times I actually bested both he and Lucas in the sport.

He didn’t look my way when he spoke; in fact, it appeared as though he held his breath. I silently fumed. I did not stink. In fact, several gentlemen recently complimented me on the beguiling scent of my perfume. One equated it to being heaven sent . Zach peered over to the target. “I concede that you are still adequate enough to compete against me.”

“Adequate?” I whispered hotly. “I am in the first position, sir.”

His roguish grin lifted part way, and it instantly vexed me. When he tilted his head in my direction, he arched a brow. “I have yet to take my turn, love.” Now he smiled fully. “Enjoy your victory while it lasts.” He retrieved his bow and arrow and stepped away.

Love? Drat! I wanted to slap him… again.

We had not even spoken of the first time, and, with as deep in his cups as he was, I doubted he even remembered it. In truth, here we were two days later and had very little interaction since. When I entered a room, Zach departed, and twice now I had done the same. Lucas asked me several times if something had occurred between us. I didn’t know how to answer him. Something had occurred but I could not account for it. I did not know precisely why Zachary hated me so.

Just as Zach prepared his first shot, Sir Charles appeared at my side. Lifting my hand to his lips, he congratulated me once more on my brilliant archery performance. I smiled, appreciating the effort he made to make me feel valued. “It is only the first of six,” I said, then wrapped my arm through his and led him away from where Zach stood.

Though I did not have clear sight on Zach’s face from my angle, I could see Lucas’. His brows furrowed as he glanced between me and Zach. How odd . I circled around to see Zach’s eyes shift from me to the target in the split second before he let his arrow go. It hit the red ring. My mouth gaped open, but I quickly closed it. His arrow struck a fair distance outward from mine. That hadn’t happened in a very long time.

“Oh.” Sir Charles smiled as he glanced at the target then down on me. His height and the breadth of his shoulders made him appear as a giant beside me. “It seems I have reason to congratulate you again.” He lifted my gloved hand to his lips once more and, while I should have felt a jolt of excitement from the singular attention, I found myself thinking about Zach and watching his movements out of the corner of my eye.

Pulling my hand away, I excused myself. “Forgive me, Sir Charles, I need to inspect the results and retrieve the arrows with the others.”

Sir Charles had opted to not compete in this tournament, so I stepped in next to Gwendolyn, the only other female competitor, as we walked toward the target. “Well done, Eveline!” she exclaimed loud enough for all to hear.

I chuckled and smiled my gratitude as we trudged along the grass beside Lord Trenton, Viscount Glade, Justin, his friend Roland, Lucas, and Zachary to inspect our marks. Though most of the arrows clearly defined the order of the victors, both Lord Trenton’s and the viscount’s shots were relatively close to Justin’s who, despite his new title of marquess, had always been Justin to me and insisted on remaining that way during the party.

I reached in to retrieve my arrow the same time Zach did, and our hands inadvertently brushed. In our brief exchange, the thrill I felt when Sir Charles kissed my hand earlier was nothing compared to the chills that raced up my arm at this precise moment. Zach recoiled his hand and the confusion that shrouded his eyes made me question if he, too, felt something puzzling. I smiled, but he only frowned and waited for me to finish before he attempted again.

Walking back the twenty-five yards to the table, I tried not to let what just happened unsettle me, but it gnawed at me through the second and third rounds. I fell short of Zach, Lucas, Lord Trenton, and the viscount. As the contest continued, it had grown less and less about the competition as a whole and more and more about the rivalry between Zach and me.

And while I hit the face of the target each time, it wasn’t until the fourth round that I redeemed myself with another successful shot in the yellow circle. The fifth, I tied with Lucas and Gwendolyn, with Zach barely edging me out, and in the sixth and final round, after a solid shot near the center bullseye, I carried the first position up until Zach’s turn.

The men now saw me as a strong competitor and their claps and congratulations had grown in sincerity and volume, but Zach still refused to speak or look at me longer than necessary. Each time we approached the target for inspection and retrieval, he deliberately waited until I retrieved my arrow first and kept his distance.

I watched Zach from the table in the final play of the competition. He patiently readied his stance. From his strong bearing you would never know that he had two missing fingers. When he nocked his arrow and drew it back, the release launched it dead center for the second time.

My heart sank. I almost beat him, and I wanted it so desperately.

Cheers erupted as he pivoted in my direction and bowed. I recognized the sly smile on his face as the one he used to mock me as a child. Now, I really wanted to plant a facer on him. I seized a steadying breath and lifted my chin. I can accept a proper defeat and still offer my congratulations. Walking to his side, I complimented him, expressing genuine felicitations. “Well done, Lord Zachary.”

He didn’t look my way or return a smile. As additional spectators gathered around us, he only shrugged his shoulders and said, “It truly wasn’t arduous, Mrs. Turner.”

Lady Victoria squeezed past me before the majority arrived to celebrate his victory. When she sidled up next to him, she kissed him on the cheek leaving a bright pink lipstick mark on his skin. He winked at her, then appraised me straight-faced and added, “I didn’t feel threatened by your performance in the least.”

I pursed my lips. The familiar spark that lit my temper as a child rekindled old weaknesses. “It certainly is remarkable, Lord Zachary, what you can accomplish when you’re not drowning in whiskey,” I snapped and spun around, leaving everyone within earshot stunned.

I reached the garden in record time and maneuvered through the flowers toward the corner of my most recent contemplations—an arched wooden trellis blooming with wisteria and a nearly hidden bench within.

I sank to the stone seat and, upon confirmation that I remained alone, allowed the tears to come unfurled. I had never spoken to anyone the way I had spoken to Zachary this week. How had he managed to stir up so much emotion and anger from within? Even as children, with our juvenile squabbles, nothing compared to now. Had we crossed a bridge never to return? Was our friendship irrevocably doomed?

I reached for my handkerchief and wiped my eyes.

“Eveline?” A voice surfaced nearby.

I swallowed and held still, hoping to remain hidden.

“Eveline, sweet?”

Helena.

She peered inside the trellis and found me. “If you wish for me to leave you be, I will.”

I shook my head and finished wiping my eyes. She had always been nothing but kind to me.

She sat down beside me and, even with her growing belly, wrapped a loving arm around me. Her touch came with such gentleness that I turned into her shoulder and continued crying. She said nothing as I sobbed. Only she and Lucas knew of all my marriage particulars, Colin’s death, and my history with Zachary.

After several minutes, she spoke while she took my handkerchief and wiped my eyes. “I realize that I have not known Zachary as long as you, but I must say his behavior is quite odd and, might I add, unacceptable.”

I took several deep breaths to stop the shuddering of my chest. I hated feeling so weak and vulnerable. Strength had always been a virtue of mine.

“Lucas is speaking to him now,” she continued. “And I presume it is at a higher decibel. He is furious with his mate.”

“It’s not just him I’m upset with. I’ve been a fool. I should not let his games affect me.”

“Why do you suppose he is so sharp with you?”

“I have not an inkling, Helena. One moment we are strolling through Vauxhall Gardens, me a married woman and Zach exhibiting his charming, loveable side and now we behave as strangers vying for each other’s throats.” I paused for a breath. “He almost kissed me, Helena. The night we walked through the Pleasure Gardens.”

“He did?”

I silently savored the memory. “It didn’t happen. But I cannot tell you how tempted I was. More so than ever in my entire life.”

Helena sighed. “Lucas has told me more than once that he believes Zach is in love with you.”

“That is not the behavior of a man in love,” I mumbled, shaking my head from side to side. “It seems almost cruel.”

“Pray tell, what seems so cruel?”

“The intense attraction and pull when bound by marriage, and then the moment my husband passes away and I can be kissed by another, Zach treats me like I have the plague. Like he might literally shrivel up and die if he touched me.”

“Well,” Helena held up my chin and brushed the remnants of tears off my cheeks. “I can say at the very least there are three men here at this house party competing for your consideration. I suspect they are waiting for you to give them an indication of hope first.”

My frown deepened. “But is it me they want or my wealth? I cannot discern their sincerity.”

Helena brushed a strand off my forehead and held my hands in hers. “I cannot say. I know they are all gentlemen. They are friends of Jaxon, Hunter, and Justin and would face the wrath of the dukedom if they even suggested they had their eyes solely on your money. She smiled warmly. But you must not forget. You are a stunning, intelligent, woman of business and are now free to choose your future. You need not rush into anything, the season is still months away. You have plenty of time to find the right man for you.” Her smile beamed. “Years even, if you so choose.”

I smiled back. “Indeed,” I conceded. “I don’t have to make any decisions here and can relish this time with Patrick and my friends.”

Squeezing my hand, she kissed my cheek. “Now let’s go show those men how strong you truly are and beat them at Battledore and Shuttlecock.”