Fortunately, if there was one thing Rosamund did not need to worry about, it was telling the Prewett host apart from his twin brother: he had given her a hint enough in her speech. Still, that was not enough to say Rommy wasn’t completely devoid of doubt - not on the gentleman’s identity, but on whether to play! - for she really didn’t suppose she had duelled often enough in the past few years out of school to be much of an asset here. Knowing the tactics of the board would not be the means to a victory or defeat alone this time. (Whyever her thoughts had already leapt to the point of winning or losing when she had not yet agreed to play, she could not say. She would rather ignore her hypocrisy here.)
“You are more confident in that measure than I am,” Rosamund answered, asserting the truth with a demure smile, but that smile soon spread past the boundaries of elegance, for Mr. Prewett’s enthusiasm was a little catching. She contented herself with doing a quick headcount of the assembled team and shrugging herself into submission by recognising that they did need another. (Nor did she want to seem a complete stick-in-the-mud. Not when she was being invited to play chess, of all things!) “But if you will have me that is your own mistake,” she joked lightly. “Which piece will you be?”
“You are more confident in that measure than I am,” Rosamund answered, asserting the truth with a demure smile, but that smile soon spread past the boundaries of elegance, for Mr. Prewett’s enthusiasm was a little catching. She contented herself with doing a quick headcount of the assembled team and shrugging herself into submission by recognising that they did need another. (Nor did she want to seem a complete stick-in-the-mud. Not when she was being invited to play chess, of all things!) “But if you will have me that is your own mistake,” she joked lightly. “Which piece will you be?”
