Page 6 of A Scandal In July

Lenore bit her lip. She’d been unreasonably jealous of Caro when she’d glanced down the long table and seen her chatting so effortlessly with Rhys. He seemed to smile and charm with every other woman except her. What was wrong with her?

Both Davies and Montgomery families were amply represented this morning. Cousin Tristan, the architect, stood with his arm around his wife, red-haired Carys. They’d come over after breakfast from their house just over the hill.

Gryff, Rhys’s eldest brother, was whispering something in Maddie’s ear that made her blush, while cousin Harriet was arguing with her Davies husband Morgan about an alternative way to read the compass she’d pulled from her pocket.

Lenore’s sisters, Lucy and Caro, were also there, each with their respective partners. It was going to be an exciting morning.

Aunt Prudence cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. “Ahem! I hope you’re ready to begin.” She held up a bundle of folded papers. “The aim of this treasure hunt is to find the ten colored flags, like this one Connie is waving about, that have been hidden around the place. They could be on either Davies or Montgomery property, and they could be high or low, indoors or out.”

“And don’t think that because neither myself nor Prudence are particularly nimble, that they’ll all be hidden in easy-to-reach places.” Constance said. “We employed several wonderfully athletic footmen to place the flags where we wanted them.”

Lenore grinned at the sparkle in her aunts’ eyes. They’d probably relished the opportunity to ogle the young men while they worked; they were bawdy old crones.

“There is one clue for each flag.” Prudence handed one folded paper to each team, winking at Lenore as she took hers. “When I say go, you may open the papers and read the clues. The teamthat finds the most flags, and brings them back here to us, will be declared the winner.”

“What’s the prize?” Gryff demanded, earning him a laughing glance from his wife, Maddie.

“The glory of being the victors, of course.” Aunt Prudence said. “And bragging rights over your siblings.”

“The very best kind of prize,” Morgan chuckled.

Aunt Constance pulled out a silver pocket watch and squinted at the time. “The day will be split into two sessions. You may search this morning until lunch, which can be partaken either here or at Trellech at one o’clock. The afternoon session will start at two, and you’ll have until dinner—that’s nine o’clock—to find as many flags as you can. Now . . . go!”

Rhys leaned over Lenore’s shoulder as she fumbled to open the paper, and the delicious scent of his cologne made it hard to concentrate on the handwritten lines in front of her.

“What’s the first clue?”

“I’m a handsome male, a sight to be seen. All eyes are on me when I preen.”Lenore read.

Rhys wrinkled his nose. “What on earth does that mean?”

Carys and Tristan were already hurrying away across the grass.

“It’s a peacock,” Lenore smiled. “Isn’t it the males which have the hundreds of ‘eyes’ on their tails?”

Rhys nodded. “Of course. Well done. There are scores of ‘em over at Trellech, all wandering around, screeching at people.”

“How are we supposed to know which one has the flag?” Lenore asked. “Do they have a cage where they go at night?”

“No. They just roam free. But knowing your great Aunts, and their penchant for making things difficult, I bet it’s somewhere near Geoffrey.” Rhys said darkly.

“Geoffrey’s a peacock?”

“To all outward appearances, yes. But I sincerely believe he’s the devil in avian form. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve wanted to strangle him for waking me up at dawn.”

Lenore bit back a smile at how aggrieved he sounded. “Perhaps the Trellech menagerie would be a good place to start?”

“Probably. In fact, I bet that’s where Carys and Tristan are headed right now.”

Lenore nodded and turned to start across the lawn, but Rhys’s hand shot out and he caught her wrist. She glanced down at it, surprised by the contact—and the flash of heat that skittered over her skin—and he released her as if she burned him.

“Don’t go haring off to Trellech just yet,” he said. “We need to be clever about this if we’re going to win.” He sent her a sideways glance. “You dowantto win, don’t you?”

Lenore snorted. “Of course.”

“Right, then. There might be other flags, closer to here, that we can find. Let’s read the rest of the clues then make a plan for the most efficient route to get to them. No point running back and forth between here and Trellech and wearing ourselves out.”

“You can tell you were in the army,” she teased. “That’s very organized.”