Torquil, who had been pushing the food about on his plate, thrust it away suddenly, and said: “Philip, will you play billiards after dinner?”
Philip looked at him under his brows, frowning a little. “Yes, if you wish,” he replied.
“Well, I do wish! I’m tired of playing with Matthew: he always lets me win. And Kate is a wretched player!”
“So you are obliged to let her win!” said the doctor quizzingly.
“No, I’m not,” said Torquil, staring at him. “Why should I?”
“Chivalry, dear boy! chivalry!”
“Oh, Kate don’t care for that stuff, do you, coz?”
“No, and isn’t it a fortunate circumstance?” she said brightly.
“Yes—Oh, you’re joking me!”
“No.”
“Have I put you into a miff?” he asked incredulously. “Oh, well, then, I’m sorry! If you care to join us tonight I’ll give you a game, and I will let you win!”
“Very handsome of you, Torquil, but I am going to play backgammon with your father.” She turned her shoulder on him as she spoke, and smiled at Sir Timothy. “You won’t let me win either, will you, sir?”
“Not if I can prevent you, my dear! But you are growing to be so expert that I doubt if I can hold you at bay for much longer!” He glanced at his nephew. “You must know that Kate indulges me with a game of piquet, or of backgammon, every evening, Philip.”
“Does she, sir?” said Philip dryly. “How very obliging of her!”
Chapter VII
When Torquil and Philip came back to the drawing-room after their game of billiards, Sir Timothy was just about to retire to bed, and Kate was putting the backgammon pieces away. Sir Timothy paused, leaning on his valet’s arm, to ask how the billiards match had gone. Torquil shrugged, and laughed. “Oh, he beat me, sir! I was quite off my game!”
“Were you? But you could hardly expect to win against Philip, could you? He and I were used to play a great deal together: indeed, I taught him to play, and I was no mean player, was I, Philip?”
“No, sir, you were very good—too good for me!”
Sir Timothy laughed gently. “At the start, of course I was! But we ended pretty evenly matched, I think. Kate, don’t put the backgammon away! Why don’t you have a game with Philip? She plays very well, Philip: she beat me three times tonight, let me tell you!”
“I had some lucky throws, sir. But you won the last of our games, and I don’t care to risk my luck against Mr Broome tonight. I am going to bed too.”
“Afraid, Cousin Kate?” Philip said.
“No, sir: sleepy!”she retorted.
He accepted this with a slight bow. “Another night, then, I shall hope to pit my skill against yours.”
“De buena gana!”
There was a gleam of interest in his eyes, and a furrow between his brows. He said: “Where did you learn to speak Spanish, cousin?”
“My father was a military man, sir, and I passed my youth in the Peninsula,” she answered, and turned from him to address Lady Broome, begging leave to be excused, and saying that she had a slight headache.
A gracious permission having been granted, she went away, in a mood of strange depression. Ellen’s artless prattle, while she helped her to undress, did little to lighten it. Ellen was full of Mr Philip Broome’s perfections: she thought it such a sad pity that he wasn’t Sir Timothy’s son. Everyone said so, even Mr Pennymore!
Kate dismissed the girl presently, but she did not immediately get into bed. It had occurred to her that Mr Philip Broome was at the root of her depression, and it was necessary to rid her mind of this absurd notion. There was no reason why he should like her; but similarly there was no reason why he should have taken her in dislike, which he undoubtedly had. Nor was there any reason why she should care a pin for his opinion of her. She told herself so, but she did care. Facing the abominable truth, she was forced to admit that from the first moment of setting eyes on him she had formed a decided partiality for Mr Philip Broome.
She arose on the following morning, rather heavy-eyed from the effects of a restless night, and went down to the breakfast-parlour. Mr Philip Broome was its sole occupant. She checked involuntarily on the threshold, but recovered herself in an instant, bidding him a cheerful good morning, and advancing to take her seat opposite him. He was discussing a plate of ham, but he got up, at her entrance, and returned her greeting. “May I give you some coffee, cousin?” he asked.
“No, thank you, sir: I prefer tea,” she replied politely.
“There seems to be none: I’ll ring for Pennymore,” he said. “Meanwhile, may I carve some ham for you?”
“No, thank you, sir: I prefer bread-and-butter.”
His lips twitched. “A bread-and-butter miss? I don’t believe it!”
She said, stung into retort: “I’m no such thing!”
“So I knew,” he said, resuming his seat, adding, after a reflective moment: “Or so I thought, perhaps I should say.” Without giving her time to reply, he said abruptly: “Why did you laugh last night, at dinner?”
She looked up quickly, her eyes suddenly full of mischief. “Oh!—I’ve forgotten!”
“No, you haven’t’
“Well, if you must have it, sir, I laughed because I thought, all at once, that we must resemble nothing so much as two cats trying to stare one another out!” she answered frankly.
That made his lips twitch again. “Was I staring at you? I beg your pardon, but can you blame me? I was unprepared to find myself confronting such a highly finished piece of nature.”
“I trust you will forgive me, sir, when I say that I was unprepared to receive extravagant compliments from you! I thought you were a man of sense.”
“I am,” he replied imperturbably.
“Well, no one would believe it who heard you talking flowery commonplaces!”
“Don’t you think yourself a highly finished piece of nature?”
“No, of course I don’t!”
“An antidote?” he asked, with interest.
She gave a choke of laughter. “No, nor that either!—Good morning, Pennymore!”
“Good morning, miss,” said Pennymore, setting a teapot and a dish of hot scones before her. “Have you any orders for Whalley?”
“No, no, it is far too hot to ride for pleasure! At least, it is for me.”
“Yes, miss. Very sultry it is this morning. It wouldn’t surprise me if we was to get a storm.”
“Oh, I hope not!”
“Are you afraid of thunderstorms?” asked Philip, as Pennymore left the room.
“Yes, a little. I was once in a very bad one, in Spain, and I saw a man struck down.” She broke off, shuddering. Summoning up a smile, she said: “Since then I have become shockingly hen-hearted!”
He directed a considering look at her, but said nothing, and, as Lady Broome came into the room at that moment, the subject was abandoned. She was shortly followed by Torquil, who wanted to know what were the plans for the day. On hearing that none had been made, he propounded that he, and Kate, and Philip should go on a picnic expedition to some place which, from what Kate could gather, was situated at a considerable distance from Staplewood. Lady Broome entered an instant veto, and was supported by Philip, who said that he, for one, did not mean to ride so far on what promised to be a very sultry day. “And, if Pennymore is to be believed—which I think he is,” he said, turning to look over his shoulder out of the window, “we are going to have a thunderstorm.”