The Mistletoe Wager

‘Dirt.’

‘Mmmmmmm,’ said Rosalind, around the edges of his fingers.

At last someone shouted, ‘Mat.’ And he could feel Rosalind, sagging in relief against his hand. He released her.

She looked out at the other guests and announced, ‘And now the next word. Tremaine, you must do this one.’

He gave a deep sigh and turned to face the crowd, making a great dumb show of pouring wine from a bottle into a glass. He drank from his imaginary glass, then held it up to the light to admire it, held it out to the crowd and deliberately ran his finger along the rim.

‘Wine.’

‘Drink.’

‘Drunkard,’ shouted Harry. ‘Inebriate. Wastrel.’

Rosalind put her hands on her hips. ‘It is not the person you are supposed to look at, Harry. It is the thing in his hand.’

‘Philanderer,’ Harry supplied, ignoring her guidance.

Nick took an involuntary step towards him, before regaining his temper and pointing to the imaginary glass in his hand.

‘It starts with an R,’ Rosalind supplied, and gave an encouraging look to the audience.

‘Rascal. Reprobate,’ Harry answered. ‘Rake.’

‘Now, see here…’ Nick threw down his imaginary glass and balled his fists.

Rosalind muttered, ‘Rim,’ under her hand, until a member of the audience took the hint and shouted it.

Nick stalked back to where she was sitting. ‘I have had quite enough of this. I wish a resolution to these issues as much as you do. But if it means that I must stand before the entire room while your brother attacks my character for the amusement of the other guests-’

She answered, making no attempt to whisper, ‘Oh, really, Tremaine. Stop protesting and play the game. After all, you did steal the man’s wife.’

‘He did not steal me,’ Elise announced. ‘I went willingly.’

Tremaine and Rosalind turned to her and whispered in unison, ‘This is none of your affair.’

She held up her hands and said, ‘Very well, then.’ And took a step back.

‘Elise is right,’ Tremaine muttered back. ‘The current problems are none of my doing and all of theirs. I am an innocent bystander.’

‘Innocent? Oh, that is rich, sir. The picture of you as an innocent!’

‘And now I suppose we are talking of what occurred the night we met? As I remember there were two involved, and not just one. And if that event had not transpired, then today it would be Harry attempting to steal Elise away from me.’ He stopped. Perhaps that was exactly what would have occurred. For he could much more easily imagine Harry stealing Elise than he could imagine himself exerting the effort to take her away.

‘As if Harry would ever do such a thing. Look at him.’ Rosalind held out a hand. ‘He is the picture of innocence.’

They paused in their whispered argument to look out at Harry, who smiled and offered a wave.

‘And there you go again with your twisted notions of guilt and innocence.’ Nick looked at Harry again. The man appeared to be harmless, just as he always had. But, from the first, there had been a resolute glint in his eye that did not match the mild exterior.

‘He is wondering what we are arguing about.’ Rosalind flashed a bright, false smile in the direction of Harry, and nudged Nick until he did the same. ‘So, let us go back to the game for now. We will continue this discussion when there are not so many people present.’ There was something in her tone that said they would be doing just that, as soon as the guests were out of earshot.

He nodded in agreement and thrust the last clue to Elise. ‘Here, take this.’

‘I think it is Rosalind’s turn,’ Elise responded meekly.

‘Take it,’ Rosalind said with finality, transferring her anger to Elise. ‘The last clue.’ Rosalind gestured to Elise as she walked to the front of the room.

‘I certainly hope so,’ Nick replied, then looked at the other guests. ‘But it is a two-syllable word.’

Rosalind slapped his arm. ‘I said it does not matter.’

‘And I beg to differ.’

‘Shh.’ Elise stared at them, hands on hips, as though she were viewing a pair of unruly children, and they fell to silence.

Elise mimed reaching into her pocket and removing something.

‘Handkerchief?’ someone supplied.

Tremaine glared into the crowd. ‘And how many syllables might that be?’

Elise held the object up between her fingers, then made a great show of opening it and reaching inside.

‘Bag?’

‘Reticule?’

‘Purse.’

She gave an approving nod, and then removed something from it and counted objects out into her hand.

‘Coins.’

‘Pounds.’

‘Notes.’

‘Money!’ shouted Harry, rising from his chair. ‘No surprise that this clue should come from you, Elise. For it is the only thing you care about, is it not?’

Elise’s hands dropped to her sides and her eyes narrowed. ‘Harry, you know that is not true.’

His chin lifted. ‘And I say it is. When I offered for you, your eyes fairly lit as I told you my income. And what were we arguing about the day you left? Now that Tremaine has come into his inheritance you are no longer at my side but at his.’

There was a fascinated murmur from the crowd around them, as though they were finally getting the Christmas entertainment they had hoped for when accepting the invitation.

‘You still think this is all about money, then?’ Elise laughed. ‘And so you would like to think. For it removes any blame in this from you, Harry. You, who spent all these years trying to buy my affection. If you had been less quick to give of your pocket and more willing to share of yourself, then we would not be having this argument.’

He stood up. ‘I have given you everything I can, Elise.’

‘And I say you have not. For Nicholas is the one who has given me love.’

‘Because it cost him nothing.’

Nick took another step towards Harry. ‘First I was a drunkard, then a rake. And now I’m cheap, am I?’

Rosalind pulled on his arm to draw him out of the line of fire.

Elise stepped towards her husband. ‘Even though I chose another, he has given me love and faithfulness and honesty.’

‘Ha!’ cried Rosalind, unable to contain herself. ‘If you knew-’

‘Not now.’ Nick pulled her back. ‘It will not help, Rosalind, I swear to you.’

Elise ignored the interruption. ‘But for one misstep. And that was years ago.’ She turned back to him and said, as an afterthought, ‘It was a mistake ever doubting you, Nicholas.’

‘No, it wasn’t,’ whispered Rosalind.

But Elise had returned her attention to Harry. ‘And an even bigger mistake to marry you.’ She swept from the room.

Harry dropped back into his seat, shocked into silence.

Nick turned to Rosalind, gesturing wide to encompass the mess she had made of things. ‘There. See what you have done with your little game? She wants nothing to do with him now he has insulted her. I must go and see if I can mend the damage you have caused.’

She reached for his arm. ‘That is the last thing you should do, Tremaine. Let them work this out for them selves. For it is your meddling that is the cause of half their problems.’