Spinster Ever After (The Spinster Chronicles #7) - Rebecca Connolly Page 0,47
couldn’t have, they had been his constant companion for years, though not always in the forefront of his mind.
He’d told her not to bring her suitors to his attention, not to discuss anything of the sort with him, and she had seemed to agree. He could not deny that the dinner they’d shared at the Bonds’ party had been awkward and painful, but it had been a conversation long overdue. And it was not as though he were cutting her off, as it were. More just giving them room to grow.
That was it. Room to grow and explore what other people might have to offer them.
No, his feelings for Charlotte were not gone, he decided. He only had to look a bit harder for them.
What an intriguing idea.
“Sandford, I am beginning to wonder about your strategy.”
Michael blinked and looked across the table at Hugh. “Pardon?”
Hugh lowered his eyes meaningfully to the table before them, and Michael followed his gaze.
The cards there, while all diamonds, showed that Hugh had won the trick with a jack, but Michael, instead of keeping his cards low so that he did not sacrifice a potentially winning card later, had played the ten of diamonds. Their partnership had still taken the trick, but it was a waste of a card that could have won a trick later.
Moderately scored, indeed.
Michael stared at the cards, his mind spinning on various quips that might dissuade any discussion on his reasons for inattention. He forced himself to smile, then looked up at Hugh. “I am a terrible whist player. Didn’t I say that?”
Hugh rolled his eyes and chuckled. “No, I don’t believe so.” He looked at Miss Palmer. “Won’t you give up your cousin and partner me? You’ve clearly got an eye for the game, unlike someone else.”
Miss Palmer smiled swiftly and began to carefully reorganize the cards in her hand. “I’m afraid not, Mr. Sterling. I am quite satisfied with my partner, and the current course of the game.”
“That’s because you’re winning,” Michael pointed out.
Miss Palmer’s smile turned crooked, and she raised a brow. “Winning is a satisfying thing, and I’ll not deny it. But I hardly think you can justify saying my cousin and I are winning when we have not even finished a round yet.”
“No, indeed,” Mrs. Greensley insisted with a light laugh. “It could all change in the next round, and I believe we’ll still be enjoying ourselves.”
“I certainly intend to,” Miss Palmer agreed as she laid her card down. “Imagine if we only enjoyed the things we won at. Everyone would be miserable all the time!”
Hugh grunted once but smiled. “Spoken like a fair-minded woman. Men, on the other hand, are rivalrous to a fault, and are desolated when they lose.” He held out a hand towards Michael. “Is it not so?”
Michael heaved a sigh, shaking his head. “It is so. Many a man has been called out for cheating when all he has done was win. We simply cannot accept anything less than victory.”
Miss Palmer seemed to consider that, her expression still playful. “Perhaps this is why women live longer than men.” She swept the cards to her, having won the trick, and shrugged her shoulders. “Contentment and proper enjoyment.”
“Very likely,” Michael allowed, “and a distinct lack of stupidity.”
“That would depend on the individual,” Mrs. Greensley chimed in, a devious glint in her eye. “There are plenty of females who lack intelligence in even the most basic of subjects.”
“I could never say such a thing, nor will I be found agreeing to it.” Michael shook his head very firmly, pointedly laying his card.
Miss Palmer giggled softly, the sound warm and natural rather than the forced trill of high-pitched tones he’d heard from so many other ladies. “But you won’t argue against it?”
Smiling, Michael again shook his head. “I make it a point to never argue with ladies.”
Hugh snorted softly, laying the final card and taking the trick. “Is that meant to be gallant or self-preserving?”
“Both, ideally.” He offered the table a cheeky grin. “The only exception would be my sisters, and the older they get, the less likely I am to argue about anything at all.”
“For gallantry or self-preservation?” Miss Palmer asked as Hugh shuffled the cards and prepared to deal.
Her wit earned her a smile from Michael, as well as an additional mark of respect, though such a thing was less easily displayed.
“Neither, in their case,” Michael admitted fondly. “It’s the utter futility of the thing.”