Page 21 of A Wallflower's Wassail Punch
Page nodded.“Beats me all the time.Not something I’d ever admit in public, but I’ll announce their losses with glee next time we’re in Town.”
Nice to know, Andrew thought.Men tended to be condescending whenever a woman entered the male game world.This should prove entertaining and show him who was a graceful loser and tolerant of a lady getting the better of them.One nice thing about his age—he knew not to assume the female always had the disadvantage.The question was, had these young men learned yet or would Lady Annette teach them that lesson?
Page cleared his throat, signaling the beginning of the game.Hawkesbury stepped forward with his mace and bowed to Lady Annette.“Would you care to try your luck at the table, my lady?”he asked gallantly.
She gave him a small smile and nodded.Her shyness was like a slap in the face.Where had the warm and social woman gone?Who was this docile wallflower?
“She’s gone so quiet,” Andrew murmured to her brother.
“Happens every time she’s with men she doesn’t know.Suitable men who might judge her by her past,” Page answered back in a half whisper.“It’s the reason I arranged the billiards game.She’s confident here and won’t be a bundle of nerves once she gets started.”
His heart twisted a little at the change in demeanor.He hated to see her light dimmed by the present company.By anything.
“How many points for the win?”asked Fitzjames.
“How about 21?”suggested Page.Everyone nodded or spoke their agreement.
“A nice number for a beginner.”Fitzjames leaned against the paneling, awaiting his turn with an arrogant smirk.One of the many men who knew without a doubt that they could dominate a female.
The opponents hit their cue balls.Hawkesbury’s bounced off the far rail and rolled to a stop near the center of the table.Lady Annette’s barely tapped the rail and lay a finger’s width from the end of the table.Hawk shook his head good-naturedly, and with a bow, nodded to the lady.“Well done, my lady.It’s your choice.”
She gave him a thin smile.
“Would you like to go first, then?”Andrew smiled at the hope in the man’s voice.He watched the man wipe a palm against his trousers.Nervous all of a sudden too.
She shook her head, so Hawk placed the red ball on its spot and retreated to the end of the table, where he placed his cue ball within the D.He used a mace and smacked the solid white ball with the small, curved end.It hit the red ball, bounced off, and stopped at the left rail near the center pocket.
“Cannon.Two points for Hawk,” announced Page, the self-appointed scorekeeper.
Hawkesbury repeated the same stroke, claiming another two points, and then sank the red ball in a corner pocket.“Potting” was worth three points.He pulled the red ball from the pocket and placed it on its spot again.“Seven,” he murmured as he walked to the other side of the table where his ball sat at the far rail.This time he smacked his ball hard, just missing the red ball.His cue ball hit the far rail and bounced back, coming to a stop near but never touching the red ball.
“Foul of one point, total points, six,” tallied Page.
Hawkesbury bowed to Lady Annette and backed away, leaning against the wall beside Fitzjames.Annette peeked at her brother as she tossed her white cue ball—with one black spot to differentiate between the two players—up and down.After placing it within the D, she studied the other white cue ball and the red one.She walked around the table to judge each ball by its side and end view, rubbing the leather tip of her stick while she concentrated.
With a nod, she seemed to make a decision and returned to the top of the table.She lined up her stick with her cue ball, moved to one side, and smacked it hard at a slight angle.It hit both her opponent’s ball and the red one; the red ball shot into the side pocket, Hawk’s ball bounced against the side rail, over to the other rail, and came to a stop.
Fitzjames jerked his gaze from the lady’s backside to see the end of her play.His eyes grew wide.
“The devil,” murmured Hawkesbury, running a hand through his thick auburn waves.
“One cannon, one potted.Five,” Page said with glee.
Lady Annette fished out the red ball and replaced it.Fitz’s eyes returned to her backside, a faint smile on his face.This time, she aimed for the red ball and shot it in the side pocket again with her cue.
“Eight points,” counted Page.
Lady Annette set her cue ball within the D, then aimed it for the side rail near her opponent’s ball.It bounced off and tapped the other white ball, which hit the end of the table, bounced off, and tapped the red ball.“Ten,” she murmured.
Fitz’s eyes were no longer studying her backside, but closely watching his future opponent.
The next play was another split.Her ball hit the red ball, then her opponent’s ball.The red went into a side pocket, the opponent’s ball stopped at the far end of the table.Andrew worried that she hadn’t smiled since they’d entered the room.Was she concentrating or out of sorts?
“What’s the score?”asked Hawk, shaking his head, his admiration evident.
“Fifteen.”Page adopted a pitying tone.“You look a little worried, Fitz.”
“Luck.”But there was concern in Fitz’s blue eyes.
