“Do you mean to say you dressed in breeches as a child?”
“Will you be shocked if I confess that I did?”
“And rode astride, I’d warrant.” He sighed at her nod. “I find myself less inclined to be shocked at anything you do, Jane.” Suddenly, he widened his eyes and asked, “Is that how you traveled to Scotland without incident? Did you dress as a man?”
Laughing at the idea, she shook her head. “Heavens, no.” Pointing at her full breasts, she stated the obvious. “No amount of men’s clothing can hide my bosom, and I would not be so foolish to try.”
“How then did you travel all that way without being accosted, as surely any lady traveling alone would be?”
“Are you certain you wish to know?”
“I will expire of curiosity if you don’t tell me.” They reached a gate and he opened it from horseback, held it so she could pass through, then closed it and resumed his position by her side.
She looked ahead, spying Grendel and Pendragon in the far reaches of the pasture. They were grazing together beneath a soaring oak. Evidently, the deed had been done, at least once, and they enjoyed a respite before he covered her again. She was glad and relieved to see Grendel appeared quite content. “It would perhaps be of benefit if I could demonstrate, but I left my costume in a trunk at Sherbourne’s townhouse.” Turning her head, she met his gaze. “With the assistance of my maid, I fashioned a false belly. I took three of her gowns and let them out in order to accommodate the false belly. When I stopped to rest each night, I quietly explained to the innkeeper that I was but a poor Scottish widow, en route to my home in the highlands to be delivered of my child in the bosom of my family. I explained the horse as a gift, given to my dead husband for his sterling service in the army.”
Blixford was clearly fascinated. “Did you assume an accent?”
“Oh, but of course.” She demonstrated and was pleased when he smiled. “It wasn’t difficult and anyone who might have considered accosting me was surely put off by my pregnant state. I stopped at the border and waited for one of my brothers to catch up to me, as I knew they surely would. Once Julian arrived, I returned to being Lady Jane Lennox and he accompanied me to Castle MacDougal. I didn’t dispose of my costume, however, and found cause to employ it again upon my return to London. It’s how I was able to follow you for two days without discovery.”
“Impossible. I’d have seen your face and recognized you.”
“You don’t look at servants, Blixford, unless, of course, they’re your own. As a servant with child, walking along the street, I was invisible to you.”
He was quiet for a while before he said, “Deuced clever of you, Jane.”
“Thank you.” She nodded toward the horses. “It would appear they’ve achieved a measure of harmony.”
His gaze remained on her when he replied, “It would appear so because, I daresay, they have.”
A bit flustered by his obvious double entendre, she cleared her throat and inhaled the fresh morning air. “I find myself anxious to run, Blixford.”
“I’d ask that you wait until we reach the lane. This pasture is filled with rabbit holes and stones. It’s never been cultivated.”
“Very well.”
They rode on in an awkward silence until they were halfway across. It was then that Pendragon resumed his amorous intentions and began circling Grendel. He lifted his head and curled his lips, as all stallions do when in the act of courtship. Jane always found it funny, and wondered if a mare was actually impressed, or if she found it funny as well.
Grendel, evidently, did not find him funny, but annoying, kicking out at him when he circled her rump. She snapped at his withers as he passed and he skittered away before he curled his lips again. She raised her tail as if in welcome, but moved away from him. Pendragon followed and she allowed him to catch her scent and rub his neck across her back before she slowed to a stop and spread her hind legs, bracing herself for his tremendous weight.
Jane knew she should look away, that watching them in Blixford’s company would surely be terribly embarrassing, but she absolutely could not. She was indeed a naughty woman, but his stallion covering her mare took on erotic overtones that had nothing to do with the perfectly natural fundamentals of horse breeding. She had only to recall the night before, of Blixford mounting her from behind, and her center heated with strong desire. They were human, but still animals, with all the same instincts of Pendragon and his mare. It appealed to her elemental nature, and set her feminine soul to yearning.