“Thank you, no, Luton,” Daniel said, climbing to his feet. The tension in the room was becoming unbearable and he had done his duty so now he could leave. “Duchess, I bid you good evening,” he said to the floral arrangement, behind which she sat. He then turned and left the room.
Daniel had never been a coward, yet here he was still at Stratton and his wife remained a virgin. He should have visited her room last night after their meal; instead, he had chosen his own bed where he had slept a deep, dreamless sleep until dawn. Disgusted with himself, he walked into the stables, hoping a hard ride would clear his head. The sound of his stableboy’s laughter made his lips twitch and he wondered who had evoked such a reaction in the lad who was usually so serious.
Daniel stopped in his tracks as he heard a voice say, “I hid behind a bush once and lobbed a rotten apple at my eldest brother as he cantered past.”
“And what happened then, your Grace?” he heard Holby ask.
“My brother fell sideways into a conveniently located puddle. And I don’t mind telling you it was one of my finer moments.”
Could this really be his timid wife speaking so freely to one of his stable hands?
“Do you not like your brother?”
The duchess was silent for several seconds and Daniel wondered if she would answer the boy’s question.
“It is wrong of me to say so, Holby, but I do not care over much for my elder brothers. However my youngest, Reggie, is wonderful and I miss and worry about him very much.”
He could hear the longing in her words.
“How come you and your youngest brother are nice and the others aren’t?”
“Well, Holby, the thing is we have different mothers so Reggie and I are thankfully different inside and out.”
Daniel’s mind flicked back to his wedding and seeing the youngest Winchcomb looking pale and drawn as he stood beside the carriage as they prepared to leave.
“Posy’s ready for you now, your Grace. But I’m not sure as you should be riding out alone.”
“It is sweet of you to worry, Holby, but I have been riding alone my entire life. I see no reason to stop now.”
She said the words so easily as if riding unaccompanied was something every young lady did. Daniel knew that, in fact, this wasn’t the case and put another black mark against the Winchcomb men.
“I will accompany her, Holby, if you will saddle Dickens,” Daniel said as the boy led Posy from her stable.
“Your Grace!” the duchess gasped.
Daniel frowned as both his stableboy and wife turned to face him with identical expressions of horror.
Green. Her eyes were green, or were they? Damn, she’d lowered them again before he could be sure. Her hair was once again covered in a silly cap but he had noted that her eyebrows were dark so possibly her hair was, as well? Looking around the edges of the cap, he searched for a stray lock but could find none.#p#分页标题#e#
“I - I have no need of an escort, your Grace.”
When Daniel took a step closer, his wife grabbed the mare’s reins as if she was preparing to flee.
“Yet I will accompany you, Duchess, as you have no idea of the lay of the land around Stratton.”
“I would not want to inconvenience you and as this is to be my home, I am sure riding alone will be something I do often.”
Daniel lifted a hand, intent only on running it through his hair in frustration, yet his wife caught the movement and quickly ducked under the mare’s neck, placing the horse between them. Daniel was stunned as she then vaulted onto Posy’s back, the movement effortless and surprisingly graceful, and then she was gone, simply waving a gloved hand above her head. The little mare was suddenly galloping out of the stables as if the hounds of hell were on its heels.
“Bloody hell! Hurry, Holby - the little fool will kill herself if she keeps up that pace.”
Daniel urged his black stallion out of the stables minutes later, then gave him his head. He could see his wife in the distance. Pulling alongside her minutes later, he reached for her reins and eased the mare into a walk.
“That was foolish,”
She didn’t look at him, instead keeping her eyes between the horse’s ears. “I had no wish to inconvenience you, your Grace.”
She was terrified of him; Daniel could see it in the set of her shoulders and rigid line of her jaw. What the hell had her family done to her? “You have nothing to fear from me.”
“I do not fear you, your Grace. However I say again that I had no wish to inconvenience you any further.”
“Yet I will reassure you that I present no danger to you and it is not an inconvenience to show you around the land.”