He gave himself an inward shake. There was no guarantee she’d accept his hand, but now was not the time to dwell on such detail. Removing a long piece of red ribbon at the bottom of the box, he laid it out in a circular shape and placed all the marbles inside.
“Pick your shooter. Not that one,” he said when she reached for the agate marble. “That one stays in the middle, to be won by the most skilled player.”
“Oh, all right.” She gave him a cheeky smile followed by a low chuckle and selected a yellow clay marble of medium size. Robert picked out a similar one painted blue. “May I begin?”
“By all means.” Robert watched as she flicked her marble forward with remarkable speed and accuracy, pushing a green marble out of the ring. Athena scooped up both marbles. He narrowed his gaze on her. “You’ve been practicing.”
“I have a niece and nephew now. They love to play.”
“I see.” Robert flicked his own marble and was relieved to find he’d not lost his touch as it pushed two others out of the ring so he could collect them.
They continued to play until the only remaining marble in the ring was the one cut from polished agate. Robert had no doubt he would win it. It was his turn after all, and he wasn’t about to let Athena claim the final prize. She’d had her turn already and missed. Gauging the distance and the speed with which he would have to flick his blue marble, Robert aimed and shot it toward the one made from agate. A gratifying clank sounded as they connected and the blue marble pushed the agate one out of the ring.
“You win,” Athena said, not sounding the least bit put out. She’d always been a good sport.
He picked the marble up so it rested between his thumb and index finger, then turned toward her. “Do I?”
Her eyes met his in question. She glanced at the marble, then back at him. A soft laugh left her. “Of course. You cleared the last marble and you also have the highest count.”
“Athena.” He wasn’t sure what the hell he was doing. Allowing instinct to guide him, he supposed. He held the marble toward her. “I want you to have this.”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t possibly. Robert, it’s your most precious one.”
“Which is why it would mean a great deal to me if it belonged to you.”
Her entire face turned a brilliant shade of red. She shook her head again and then she suddenly stood and backed toward the door. “No. I mean, no thank you.”
He’d rushed her. He could see that now. By revealing his intentions before she was ready, he’d pushed her away. Sitting there on the floor, surrounded by scattered marbles, he cursed himself for his stupidity. Taming a woman like Athena took time; winning her would require a great deal of skill.
THE NEXT DAY BROUGHT relief in several shapes and forms. For one thing, the blizzard had stopped and the sun had come out. Athena would be able to leave Darlington House and return to Foxborough Hall – a point she made sure to get across during breakfast. And for another, Robert remained scarce while the servants worked to clear the front steps and driveway. When she did see him, he treated her cordially, without any hint of wanting to give her more than what she’d come for – an end to six years of guilt and the chance to move on.
“We’ll set off as soon as we’ve finished eating,” he told her when they met for luncheon. “The snow is fairly deep so I expect the ride to take us twice as long as usual.”
She nodded her agreement and added a smile. “Thank you for your hospitality, and for your forgiveness. It means a great deal.”
The look he gave her in return was full of warmth. “I am hoping it will allow for a new beginning.”
“So you will speak with Charles then and try to make amends with him?”
“I plan to. Yes.”
Her smile widened. “Oh, thank you, Robert. I cannot tell you how relieved I am to hear it.”
He held her gaze while he sipped his wine, inviting a lovely bit of heat to swirl up inside her. They had, against all odds, become friends during the last two days. She’d pestered him, tried his every last nerve, she was sure, and he’d scolded her for it. But not without a valuable lesson. While her parents and siblings would oftentimes roll their eyes at her behavior, treat her like an impossible child or like an impending threat to their reputations, Robert had tried to tame her without compromising her nature.
She wondered at this and could not refrain from asking, “Do you like me, Robert?”
The question seemed to freeze his movements. He gave her a careful look. “What do you mean, exactly?”
Taking courage, she said, “Most people outside my family try to avoid me. I don’t really have any friends and the ones I did have as a child mysteriously disappeared after Charles’s wedding. Given my personality, I cannot help but wonder if it was my faux pas that turned me into a pariah, or if I’m simply too unruly to like.”
“You are aware that most members of the ton are idiots, are you not?”
The seriousness with which he posed the question made her laugh. “Maybe.”
He pushed out a breath and set his glass aside. “I like you a great deal, Athena.”
“Really?”
“To be sure, you do get the strangest notions sometimes, and I do believe you’ve got a great deal to learn about life and how to manage your willfulness so you don’t put yourself or others in danger. But as a person, I think you’re a gem. I’d hate to see you lose your sparkle.”
Athena’s lips parted in response to his words. She wanted to thank him and yet somehow doing so seemed insufficient when he’d just given her the biggest stamp of approval she’d ever received. Coming from him, from the man whose life she’d ruined, it meant the world. It made her eyes sting and her throat close up tight, so rather than speak, she simply nodded her appreciation and finished her food. The prospect of leaving his side instilled in her the strangest feeling of discontent. In fact, she feared she would miss him terribly once they parted ways. More than that, she feared she would lose her opportunity to learn why her heart beat faster when he was near or why his opinion mattered as much as it did. Within her reach was the chance to figure out something important, and yet, she couldn’t quite seem to grasp it.
Chapter Five
ROBERT’S GUT TIGHTENED as he and Athena approached Foxborough Hall. He’d never been prone to anxiety, but the thought of walking through the front doors he could see in the distance and coming face to face with Athena’s family, of giving explanations and then embarking on the most important endeavor of his life, made his nerves clang together.
“Tell me something,” he said. They’d had almost two hours in which to speak, and yet he’d managed to waste them on inane topics and introspection. Walking their horses through deep banks of snow, they turned them onto the tree-lined drive leading up to the house. “What is your hope for the future?”
“To be happy, I suppose.”
“And what would happiness entail?”
“I don’t know. I’d like to be respected by my peers, not to be gawked at or whispered about whenever I enter a room.”
“What about courtship, marriage, and children?”