Page 20 of Vanquished By A Viscount
He stepped over to Pettigrew’s side, standing between him and Lady Eudora. The least he could do with the hand that had been dealt to him was to protect his friend from embarrassment.
“Shall I claim our bow and arrows?” Lady Eudora offered, batting her eyelashes prettily at Pettigrew. “I dare say I know nothing about choosing the best instrument, but I shall endeavor to pick the very best for you, Dr. Pettigrew.”
“Um, thank you,” Pettigrew said, smiling tightly and nodding to her.
As soon as Lady Eudora had danced off to where one of the footmen was handing out bows and quivers of arrows, Pettigrew sighed and said, “That woman and her mama are determined to catch me in their snare.”
“Do either of them suspect you would not make the sort of husband they think you would?” Charlie asked, stepping up on Pettigrew’s other side.
“Of course not,” Pettigrew sighed. “I am not certain that it would matter to the mama, however. She has evidently been given knowledge of my recent inheritance and the improvement of my situation in life that said inheritance brings.”
“I would offer to deflect the young lady’s interest for you,” Charlie went on, “but I’ve no wish to become the object of her affection in your stead.”
Clearly, the comment was intended to be humorous, but it found its way under Gray’s skin and reignited the latent frustration he felt toward the bastard.
“Why am I not surprised that you would not come to the aid of a friend,” he said with a sniff, crossing his arms and glaring sideways at Charlie. “You always were a selfish git.”
“I beg your pardon?” Charlie said, pivoting to face Gray with an incredulous look.
Gray ignored him in favor of addressing Pettigrew. “I will assist you in deterring Lady Eudora in whatever way possible,” he said, puffing himself up a bit for being the better man.
“As if Lady Eudora would be the least bit interested in you,” Charlie said.
A wary look appeared on Pettigrew’s face. “Gentlemen,” he said warningly.
Gray had every intention of continuing his verbal sparring match with Charlie—and he refused to admit that there wassomething invigorating and exciting about arguing with him—but Lady Eudora returned with a bow in one hand and a quiver of arrows in the other that looked a bit too heavy for her.
“Allow me to assist you, Lady Eudora,” Gray said instead, jumping to the lady’s aid.
“Let me take that bow for you,” Charlie said, rushing up to help the startled young woman as well.
“Oh! I…that is…I had intended to give these to Dr. Pettigrew,” she said, though she allowed Gray and Charlie to take her burdens.
“It is no trouble at all, my lady,” Gray said, giving Lady Eudora what he fully believed was his most winning smile.
Lady Eudora flinched away from him, and once she’d rushed on to stand by Pettigrew’s side, Charlie sidled up to Gray and said, “You look like an arse.”
Gray glared at him for a moment before sniffing and marching away to the rope that had been laid down to mark the line upon which archers should stand to fire.
It was clear that no one in the party had much official knowledge of how archery tournaments were conducted. Barbara made up a scoring system based on the colors of the areas of the targets, which were not uniform from target to target, and the distance each competitor stood across the lawn. After the first few rounds of practice shots, it was equally clear that very few of the guests had ever picked up a bow in their lives.
“It is more challenging than it appears,” Lady Eudora laughed anxiously as she fumbled to notch an arrow against the bowstring and then to pull it back. “Perhaps you would be willing to show me, Dr. Pettigrew?”
She glanced over to where Lord Iverson had his arms boldly around Lady Winifred as he attempted to show her how to draw the bow.
“I could assist you, if you’d like,” Gray offered, sending a smug look to Charlie.
“Er, um, I think I should rather have Dr. Pettigrew show me,” Lady Eudora said, her face turning bright pink.
Charlie covered his mouth with one hand, sniggering at Gray.
Gray glared daggers back at him.
“I know no more than you do, Lady Eudora,” Pettigrew said, keeping his distance from the lady, even though it was clear she wished him to step up. “Perhaps we should give one of the others a try.”
For a moment, Lady Eudora looked deeply disappointed. Then inspiration seemed to strike her. “Yes, I think that is best,” she said, moving away from the rope.
Gray stepped forward to take the bow and arrow from her before she skipped her way back to stand by Pettigrew’s side. This time, she managed to grab Pettigrew’s arm before he could shy away.
