To Catch a Countess by Patricia Grasso

end of the table, Rudolf stopped her.
    “We are playing croquet after lunch and need a fourth,” Rudolf said. “Will you play with us?”
    Victoria looked at him and then flicked a glance at Alexander. She was about to refuse when she realized the damage she could inflict with a mallet and croquet balls.
    “I would love to play croquet,” Victoria said, her smile bright.
    She ate a pleasant lunch in the company of the children and their nannies. No one avoided conversing with her, and no one tried to seduce her.
    An hour later, after the footmen had set up the wickets and the pegs, Robert and she stood with mallets in hand at the start line. Rudolf and Alexander had insisted the lady should go first.
    “We play clockwise,” Robert told her.
    “I understand the game,” Victoria said in an irritated voice.
    Robert inclined his head. “I apologize for underestimating you.”
    Victoria set her red ball down on the start line. She held the top of the mallet with her left arm close to her body. Her right hand grasped the shaft lower down.
    Hearing the snickering of the three men, Victoria decided to ignore them. They were trying to break her concentration. She placed her left foot, bearing her weight, in advance of her body. Slowly, she drew the head of the mallet back and struck the ball, which rolled about halfway to the first wicket.
    With a triumphant smile, Victoria turned to the men. Rudolf and Alexander were laughing. Robert wore a pained expression.
    “You were supposed to hit the ball toward the first wicket,” Robert told her.
    “I did.”
    Robert shook his head. “Wicket one is to your left. You struck the ball to wicket four on the right.”
    “Victoria can’t tell left from right,” Alexander called, making her flush. “She does understand fork and knife directions, though. She had the same problem at the billiard table last night.” His tone became suggestive when he added, “You remember the billiard table, Tory. I believe you were sitting on it.”
    Both Robert and Rudolf turned their backs, but Victoria could see their shoulders shaking with laughter. She suffered the sudden urge to hit the earl with the mallet but managed to control herself.
    Victoria marched to her ball, picked it up, and crossed the lawn until she stood halfway between the start and wicket one. Then she set the ball down and walked to the sideline so the next player could start.
    “You can’t do that,” Alexander said. “You’ll need to start over when it’s your turn.”
    “I can do anything I want,” Victoria said, whirling toward him. “Shooting the wrong way was an honest mistake.”
    Rudolf started next, and then came Robert. Both men shot their balls closer to the wicket than she had.
    Alexander stepped up to the start line. He hit the ball expertly, and it rolled through wicket one.
    “Nice shot,” Rudolf called.
    “That was great.” Robert turned to Victoria. “Do you think you can hit the ball in the correct direction this time?”
    With her anger rising to the boiling point, Victoria approached her ball. She positioned her body and drew the mallet back.
    “You are holding the shaft incorrectly,” Alexander called. “I would be happy to teach you the proper way to grasp a shaft, Mistress Victoria.”
    Rudolf and Robert shouted with laughter. Victoria felt her face growing hot. Then she noticed Rudolf’s brothers and the duke walking toward them, apparently attracted by the men’s laughter.
    Victoria hit the ball. It rolled close to the first wicket but did not go through.
    “What do you think, Tory?” Robert asked. “How many strokes will it take to get the ball through the wicket?”
    Victoria ignored her unsympathetic partner. Both Rudolf and Robert hit their balls through the first wicket. On his first stroke, Alexander hit his ball through the second wicket.
    While the men were admiring the expert shot, Victoria kicked her ball through the first wicket. She dreaded the oncoming ribald