Page 64 of The Sisters of Sea View
Georgiana ran across the lawn toward them.
“Who will play with me?” she asked, wielding a battledore and holding a feathered shuttlecock in her other hand.
Mr. Elton, startled awake, turned to his wife, who pursed her lips and shook her head.
To Georgiana, he said, “You are extremely obliging—yet you must excuse me. If I were a younger man, but alas, my sporting days are behind me.”
Sarah guessed the man was not much over thirty but kept her thoughts to herself.
Mr. Henshall glanced at his stepdaughter and prodded, “Effie?”
She sullenly shook her head.
Setting aside his instrument, Mr. Henshall rose and gave Georgiana a friendly smile. “I shall play if no one else will.”
“Excellent.” She handed him a racquet and the shuttlecock, then jogged several yards away.
When she was ready, he hit the shuttlecock with a light underarm swing that sent the feathered “birdie” into the air. Georgiana ran to meet it, swung hard, and returned it.
He leapt but missed. “Och! Clearly I don’t need to go easy onyou, Miss Georgiana.”
She grinned.
He picked up the shuttlecock and whacked it back, and they kept up a volley of several hits before having to stop and retrieve the bird.
Effie watched them with grudging interest, then finally asked, “May I play?”
Her father nodded and handed her the battledore.
“Let’s play doubles,” Georgiana suggested. “Less running that way. Who shall be our fourth?” She looked at her older sister. “Sarah, do join us.”
“I have too much to do.”
“So you always say. Please?”
She glanced over and saw Mr. Henshall watching her. She also remembered Effie’s disparaging comment about her being too serious and no fun.
“Oh, very well. For a few minutes.” Sarah set down her needlework.
Georgiana found two more racquets, in varying states of repair, and handed them to her and Effie.
The game commenced with much teasing, running, and missed shots.
Sarah was not terribly athletic, but she enjoyed seeing Mr. Henshall smiling and laughing, especially after his earlier disappointment over the jewelry case. She also admired his athleticism and his playful manner with the girls.
He seemed so different from the reserved, somber man who had arrived on their doorstep just over a week before. At the moment, Effie too seemed happier, though the moods of an adolescent girl, Sarah knew, could change in an instant.
Distracted by these thoughts, Sarah raised her racquet too late and ... missed.
“Sorry,” she called, warm with embarrassment.
“That’s all right,” her sister assured her.
Sarah picked up the fallen shuttlecock and served it back.
It veered wide, but Mr. Henshall ran, stretched out his arm, and returned it.
He hit the shuttlecock in a gentle arc to Sarah, clearly trying to go easy on her.
