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“Well done!” Mr. Berbrooke exclaimed.
Georgiana beamed. “Thank you. I do believe I might be getting the hang of this.”
“By the end of the game you shall be trouncing us all,” he pronounced.
Lady Alexandra was already in place near the purple ball. She took nearly a minute to adjust her aim, then gave it a careful tap. The ball rolled forward, stopping directly in front of the wicket.
Billie made a noise deep in her throat. Lady Alexandra was actually quite skilled.
“Did you just growl?” George asked.
She nearly jumped. She hadn’t realized he was so close. He was standing almost right behind her, and she could not see him unless she turned her head away from the play.
But she could feel him. He might not be touching her, but he was so close… Her skin tingled, and she could feel her heart beating, low and insistent in her chest.
“I have to ask,” he said, his voice intoxicatingly close to her ear, “how exactly are we meant to work as a team?”
“I’m not sure,” Billie admitted, watching Andrew take his turn. “I expect that it will become obvious as we go along.”
“Your turn, Billie!” Andrew yelled.
“Excuse me,” Billie said to George, suddenly eager to put some space between them. She felt almost light-headed when he was standing so close.
“What are you going to do, Billie?” Georgiana asked as she approached the ball.
Billie frowned. She wasn’t far from the wicket, but Lady Alexandra’s purple ball was squarely in her way.
“A difficult shot,” Andrew said.
“Shut up.”
“You could use blunt force.” He looked up at the crowd. “Her usual modus operandi.” His voice dropped to a confidential undertone. “In Pall Mall and in life.”
Billie briefly considered giving up the game right then and there and slamming the ball toward his feet.
“Wouldn’t that put Lady Alexandra through the wicket?” Georgiana asked.
Andrew shrugged as if to say – c’est la vie.
Billie focused on her ball.
“Or she could be patient,” Andrew continued, “and queue up for the wicket after Lady Alexandra. But we all know that’s not like her.”
Billie made a noise. This time it was definitely a growl.
“A third option —”
“Andrew!” she ground out.
He grinned.
Billie lined up her mallet. There was no way to get through the wicket without knocking Lady Alexandra through, but if she edged it on the side…
She let fly.
Billie’s yellow ball careened toward the wicket and smacked the purple one left of center. They all watched as Lady Alexandra’s ball rolled to the right, settling into position at such an angle that she couldn’t possibly hope to make it through the wicket on the next turn.
Billie’s ball now sat almost precisely where Lady Alexandra’s had been.
“You did that on purpose!” Lady Alexandra accused.
“Of course I did.” Billie looked at her disparagingly. Honestly, what had she expected? “That’s how one plays.”
“That’s not how I play.”
“Well, we’re not on a cross,” Billie snapped, losing patience. Gad, the woman was awful.
Someone made a choking sound.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Lady Alexandra demanded.
“I think,” Mr. Berbrooke said thoughtfully, “that she means that she would play more piously if the game were a religious endeavor. Which I don’t think it is.”
Billie gave him an approving glance. Maybe he was cleverer than he seemed.
“Lord Kennard,” Lady Alexandra said, turning to George. “Surely you do not approve of such underhanded tactics.”
George gave a shrug. “It’s how they play, I’m afraid.”
“But not how you play,” Lady Alexandra persisted.
Billie gave him a stare, waiting for his answer.
He did not disappoint. “It’s how I play when I play with them.”
Lady Alexandra drew back with a huff.
“Don’t worry,” Georgiana said, jumping into the breach. “You’ll get the hang of it.”
“It’s not in my nature,” Lady Alexandra sniffed.
“It’s in everyone’s nature,” Andrew barked. “Whose turn is it?”
Mr. Berbrooke gave a jump. “Oh, mine I think.” He walked back to his ball. “Am I allowed to aim for Miss Bridgerton?”
“Absolutely,” Andrew replied, “but you might want to —”
Mr. Berbrooke whacked his ball without waiting for the rest of Andrew’s instructions, which surely would have been not to hit her ball dead-on, which was exactly what he did.
The yellow ball went through the wicket and beyond, making it an additional three feet before coming to a stop. The blue ball also rolled through the wicket, but, having transferred its force to the yellow ball, it came to a stop only directly on the other side.
“Well done, Mr. Berbrooke!” Billie cheered.
He turned to her with a wide smile. “Thank you!”
“Oh for heaven’s sake,” Lady Alexandra snapped. “She doesn’t mean it. She’s only happy you knocked her through the wicket.”
“I take everything back,” Billie murmured to George. “Forget Andrew. It’s her we must crush.”
Mr. Berbrooke appealed to the rest of the crowd. “Miss Bridgerton would have gone through on the next turn, anyway, wouldn’t she?”
“I would,” Billie confirmed. “You really didn’t set me too far ahead, I promise.”