“Actually, I was thinking about my own family,” Hugh told the man, who was only a year or so younger than his own age. “There’s a great lot of us, and exact connections are unclear for the most part.”

Edmund made a face of consideration, nodding at his answer. “Yes, that would be us, as well.”

“Certainly would be,” Dough grunted by way of reply.

A burst of laughter could be heard in the distance, and Hugh turned towards it, curious. “What was that?” he asked of the others.

“The ladies,” Dough told him. “Ice skating, I believe. Another activity I do not engage in.”

“For which we are all grateful,” Edmund quipped without missing a beat.

Dough cuffed his nephew with a laugh. “Rascal.”

John Winthrop looked in the direction of the laughter with a speculative expression. “Do all the ladies skate, Asheley?”

“Most of them,” Edmund informed him, shouldering his rifle with a grin. “The more proper of my female relations remain indoors, but all of my sisters do. And as for my cousins, Barbara, in particular, enjoys the activity.”

John’s expression remained the same, but he nodded firmly. “I rather enjoy it, as well. If I will not be missed, might I proceed there now that I have done shooting?”

“Of course.” Edmund nodded, gesturing towards the obvious path. “Take Davis with you, if you will. There are plenty of ladies that will require the arm of steady gentlemen while on the ice.”

John ignored this comment, but did take Davis, as well as his brother, Lord Winthrop, down the path.

Hugh watched them go, then turned to Edmund with a grin. “You knew how to spur him on, didn’t you?”

Edmund lifted a shoulder in a careless shrug. “It was a guess, to be sure, but I had some idea. Barbara is my favorite cousin, and it seems Mr. John Winthrop doesn’t consider a bluestocking to be such a poor candidate for his affections. I’ll leave the speculating to the ladies, but…”

“Well done, lad,” Dough praised with a laugh. “Well done, indeed.”

There was another burst of female laughter, and it made Hugh smile all the more broadly.

Edmund groaned, shaking his head. “That would be Elinor. No doubt Elizabeth or Ellen have fallen on the ice, and she finds entertainment in their injury.”

“Too harsh,” Dough reprimanded. “You laugh when they fall, too.”

“But I’m a brother,” Edmund pointed out. “It’s different.”

Hugh let the two men debate the topic while his ears strained for another peal of that laughter, whatever caused it.

As if he had willed it into existence, the laughter came again, this time joined by others. But he only heard hers, just as it had been with their singing that first night.

He only heard Elinor, and it made him smile all the more.

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven