"My peonies and petunias shall triumph," Andrew said with a wiggle of his brows. "Just you watch."

"Your peonies and petunias are missing a vital petal," Billie countered, motioning toward his injured arm.

"I don't think I know what we're talking about," Mr. Berbrooke admitted.

"It's just silly fun," Georgiana told him as she readied for her first swing. "Billie and Andrew love to tease one another. They always have." She gave her ball a whack, and it shot through the two starting wickets. It didn't go much farther but she didn't seem to mind.

Lady Alexandra stepped up, setting her ball into place. "Lieutenant Rokesby plays after me, yes?" she confirmed. She glanced up at Billie with a deceptively placid expression. "I did not realize that you were older than he is, Miss Bridgerton."

"I am older than a great many people," Billie said coolly.

Lady Alexandra sniffed and slammed her mallet against her ball, sending it hurtling across the lawn.

"Well done!" Mr. Berbrooke cheered. "I say, you have played this before."

Lady Alexandra smiled modestly. "As I mentioned, Lord Northwick has a set."

"And he plays in the shape of a holy cross," Billie said under her breath.

George elbowed her.

"My turn," Andrew announced.

"Petunias ahoy!" Billie said jauntily.

Beside her she heard George chuckle. It was ridiculously satisfying, making him laugh.

Andrew ignored her completely. He dropped the pink ball, then nudged it into place with his foot.

"I still don't understand how you're going to play with a broken arm," Georgiana said.

"Watch and learn, my dear girl," he murmured. And then, after several practice swings one of which included a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree rotation he whacked his ball rather impressively through the starting wickets and across the lawn.

"Almost as far as Lady Alexandra," Georgiana said admiringly.

"I do have a broken arm," he demurred.

Billie walked to the starting spot and set down her ball. "How did that happen again?" she asked innocently.

"Shark attack," he said without missing a beat.

"No!" Lady Alexandra gasped.

"A shark?" Mr. Berbrooke said. "Isn't that one of those toothy fish things?"

"Extremely toothy," Andrew confirmed.

"I shouldn't like to come across one myself," Mr. Berbrooke said.

"Has Lord Northwick ever been bitten by a shark?" Billie asked sweetly.

George made a choking sound.

Lady Alexandra's eyes narrowed. "I can't say that he has."

"Pity." Billie smacked her mallet against her ball with thundering force. It went flying across the lawn, well past the others.

"Well done!" Mr. Berbrooke again exclaimed. "Jolly good at this, you are, Miss Bridgerton."

It was impossible to remain unmoved in the face of his relentless good cheer. Billie offered him a friendly smile as she said, "I've played quite a bit over the years."

"She often cheats," Andrew said in passing.

"Only with you."

"I suppose I'd better have a go," Mr. Berbrooke said, crouching down to set the blue ball next to the starting pole.

George took a cautionary step back.

Mr. Berbrooke frowned down at the ball, testing out his mallet a few times before finally swinging. The ball went flying, but unfortunately so did one of the wickets.

"Oh! Terribly sorry," he said.

"It's no trouble," Georgiana said. "We can put it back into place."

The course was reset, and George took his turn. His black ball ended up somewhere between Lady Alexandra and Billie.

"Mallet of Death indeed," Andrew mocked.

"It's a strategic sort of assassination," George replied with an enigmatic smile. "I'm taking the longitudinal view."

"My turn!" Georgiana called out. She didn't have far to walk to reach her ball. This time she hit it much harder, and it went sailing across the field toward the next wicket, stopping about five yards short of its destination.

"Well done!" Mr. Berbrooke exclaimed.

Georgiana beamed. "Thank you. I do believe I might be getting the hang of this."

"By the end of the game you shall be trouncing us all," he pronounced.

Lady Alexandra was already in place near the purple ball. She took nearly a minute to adjust her aim, then gave it a careful tap. The ball rolled forward, stopping directly in front of the wicket.

Billie made a noise deep in her throat. Lady Alexandra was actually quite skilled.

"Did you just growl?" George asked.

She nearly jumped. She hadn't realized he was so close. He was standing almost right behind her, and she could not see him unless she turned her head away from the play.

But she could feel him. He might not be touching her, but he was so close... Her skin tingled, and she could feel her heart beating, low and insistent in her chest.

"I have to ask," he said, his voice intoxicatingly close to her ear, "how exactly are we meant to work as a team?"

"I'm not sure," Billie admitted, watching Andrew take his turn. "I expect that it will become obvious as we go along."

"Your turn, Billie!" Andrew yelled.

"Excuse me," Billie said to George, suddenly eager to put some space between them. She felt almost light-headed when he was standing so close.

"What are you going to do, Billie?" Georgiana asked as she approached the ball.

Billie frowned. She wasn't far from the wicket, but Lady Alexandra's purple ball was squarely in her way.

"A difficult shot," Andrew said.

"Shut up."

"You could use blunt force." He looked up at the crowd. "Her usual modus operandi." His voice dropped to a confidential undertone. "In Pall Mall and in life."

Billie briefly considered giving up the game right then and there and slamming the ball toward his feet.

"Wouldn't that put Lady Alexandra through the wicket?" Georgiana asked.

Andrew shrugged as if to say c'est la vie.

Billie focused on her ball.

"Or she could be patient," Andrew continued, "and queue up for the wicket after Lady Alexandra. But we all know that's not like her."

Billie made a noise. This time it was definitely a growl.

"A third option -"

"Andrew!" she ground out.

He grinned.

Billie lined up her mallet. There was no way to get through the wicket without knocking Lady Alexandra through, but if she edged it on the side...

She let fly.

Billie's yellow ball careened toward the wicket and smacked the purple one left of center. They all watched as Lady Alexandra's ball rolled to the right, settling into position at such an angle that she couldn't possibly hope to make it through the wicket on the next turn.

Billie's ball now sat almost precisely where Lady Alexandra's had been.

"You did that on purpose!" Lady Alexandra accused.

"Of course I did." Billie looked at her disparagingly. Honestly, what had she expected? "That's how one plays."

"That's not how I play."

"Well, we're not on a cross," Billie snapped, losing patience. Gad, the woman was awful.

Someone made a choking sound.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lady Alexandra demanded.

"I think," Mr. Berbrooke said thoughtfully, "that she means that she would play more piously if the game were a religious endeavor. Which I don't think it is."

Billie gave him an approving glance. Maybe he was cleverer than he seemed.

"Lord Kennard," Lady Alexandra said, turning to George. "Surely you do not approve of such underhanded tactics."

George gave a shrug. "It's how they play, I'm afraid."

"But not how you play," Lady Alexandra persisted.

Billie gave him a stare, waiting for his answer.

He did not disappoint. "It's how I play when I play with them."

Lady Alexandra drew back with a huff.

"Don't worry," Georgiana said, jumping into the breach. "You'll get the hang of it."

"It's not in my nature," Lady Alexandra sniffed.

"It's in everyone's nature," Andrew barked. "Whose turn is it?"

Mr. Berbrooke gave a jump. "Oh, mine I think." He walked back to his ball. "Am I allowed to aim for Miss Bridgerton?"

"Absolutely," Andrew replied, "but you might want to -"

Mr. Berbrooke whacked his ball without waiting for the rest of Andrew's instructions, which surely would have been not to hit her ball dead-on, which was exactly what he did.

The yellow ball went through the wicket and beyond, making it an additional three feet before coming to a stop. The blue ball also rolled through the wicket, but, having transferred its force to the yellow ball, it came to a stop only directly on the other side.

"Well done, Mr. Berbrooke!" Billie cheered.

He turned to her with a wide smile. "Thank you!"

"Oh for heaven's sake," Lady Alexandra snapped. "She doesn't mean it. She's only happy you knocked her through the wicket."

"I take everything back," Billie murmured to George. "Forget Andrew. It's her we must crush."

Mr. Berbrooke appealed to the rest of the crowd. "Miss Bridgerton would have gone through on the next turn, anyway, wouldn't she?"

"I would," Billie confirmed. "You really didn't set me too far ahead, I promise."

"And you got yourself through the wicket," Georgiana added. "That puts you in second place."