"But Susan and I have no horses." She pointed out.
"That's been sorted." Charles pointed towards the stables. "William has a few in there. He said take your pick."
Anne liked the sound of that. It had been a while since she had ridden; it would be good to go out into the country on horseback, even if she was in the presence of some people she knew would make her feel like an outsider.
Anne pushed that thought away and followed Charles and Susan to the stables. She would worry about that later.
***
William had made arrangements the moment he had woken up after that dinner party. Everything went into full swing, and several of his circle were eager to come to Erstmere Estate to go for a ride and picnic. There were two wives who turned up their noses at the thought of going into the countryside where it was muddy and full of bugs, but their husbands convinced them.
The biggest worry was Anne and Susan. Neither of them was part of the circle William usually ran in, and he was concerned they would feel out of place. But with Susan's cheery disposition and Anne's charm, they fit right in. Even the women who had made a fuss about the horse riding thought they were lovely. Susan won them over quickly, and Anne had several of the men flocking around her. William wasn't surprised at that; Anne drew the eye.
He wished he could get around Anne without getting a cool response.
The horses William had picked out for the two women had come from his estate the day before. Susan's horse, Golden Amber, was a docile filly, auburn colored with a white smudge on its nose. Anne's horse, named Silver Crest, was a big silver mare with white hair and black around its ankles. William had second thoughts about giving Anne Silver Crest since the poor horse was still skittish after the rough treatment it had suffered from its former master. Anne simply stroked Silver Crest's nose, and the mare calmed right down.
She was very taken with Silver Crest. Anne wasn't taken, however, with William's explanation about where the horse had come from. William would not deny that he won Silver Crest on a bet since the previous owner had abused the horse for too long and was arrogant enough to think he would win. But Anne didn't like the sound of that.
William was getting frustrated. He wanted to get to know Anne, but it seemed everything that came out of his mouth offended her. Charles had told him to take it easy, but William wasn't sure if he could do that.
Soon everyone was mounted, and Anne led the group away from the house and into the woods. They came through the other side and went up a hill. William couldn't take his eyes off the sight of rolling green hills and small collections of houses dotting the landscape. With the autumn season in full swing and the leaves on the trees orange and brown, it was beautiful.
Anne knew her way around. She took them along the easy route for the horses and where they could see the best scenery. William admired the way she sat on Silver Crest, her hat propped on her head and her back straight. She was controlling the mare easily, Silver Crest calming under her touch. Charles and Susan rode halfway back, conversing with everyone who rode around them. Anne was up ahead on her own.
William made his way to the front and joined Anne as she trotted sedately across the top of a hill.
"You're superb." He said warmly. "Silver Crest is really taken to you."
For a moment he thought Anne wasn't going to say anything. But she pursed her lips briefly and nodded at him politely. Even with her frown, her eyes were bright; she was enjoying herself more than she would admit.
"Thank you. My father made sure I knew how to handle horses since I was a little girl."
"I don't mean to be rude but why don't you don't have a horse yourself?"
"We couldn't afford it." Anne fiddled with her gloves. "I was friends with Charles when we were children. His father allowed us to borrow their horses."
William could believe that. Charles' father Harold had been a good man. He loved children, but his wife could only bear one child who lived beyond childhood. So he let all the children in the village come over to play.
Anne was certainly doing well. William wondered how she would reply to what he wanted to say next. He grinned.
"Fancy a race, Miss Barclay?"
Anne's eyes widened.
"Your Grace, I haven't ridden in four years. I've only been on this horse for half an hour."
But William saw the shine in her eyes. She wanted the challenge.
"Half an hour's plenty of time to get the hang of things. Charles and Susan can take care of the others." He sat up and prepared for the charge. "I'll race you to the river."
Anne bit her lip and glanced down the hill. Then she grinned and kicked Silver Crest into motion. Before William knew what was happening, she was charging down the hill and into the trees.
"Cheat!" He shouted.
He got a laugh in response. William dug his heels into his horse's sides and galloped after her.
Chapter 6
The Accident
Anne enjoyed the race. Having the horse at a gallop always felt good. There was something about the rushing of the wind against her face that was exhilarating. Whenever she had ridden with Charles and Susan as children, she was always the one out in front charging ahead while Charles and Susan followed behind more sedately.
She could hear Cheswick's horse close behind and heard him catching up on her. Anne steered Silver Crest in amongst the trees, finding the easiest path. Cheswick went straight, but he had to jump over fallen trees and stumps. It was a shorter track to the river, but it had more obstacles, which slowed him up.
Anne got to the river easily, pulling up on the bank. She turned as Cheswick broke through the trees and laughed. He sighed and shook his head as he slowed his horse to a walk. He was smiling.
"All right, I admit defeat."
Anne grinned. That had been fun. For a moment she was feeling comfortable in his presence. The barrier had dropped, and she could be relaxed around him without worrying that she was doing something wrong.
But then it went back up, and Anne closed herself off. Just because he had a race with her didn't mean she was going to change her perspective about him. She turned Silver Crest away from the river.
"Let's get back. We shouldn't be separate from the others. They'll wonder where we've gone."
"Anne, wait."
The use of her first name had Anne stiffening. Why did it sound nice hearing her name coming from him?
Cheswick trotted up beside her, pulling both horses to a stop. He turned in his saddle and stared at her.
"Have I done something to offend you?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"You've been rather prickly with me. Have I done something to upset you?" Cheswick frowned and placed a hand on his chest. "Because I would like us to be friends."
Anne wasn't sure if she liked the idea of being friends with this man. She was already having thoughts that were completely unladylike, and that was unsettling. She fidgeted with the reins.
"There's nothing wrong. And we'd better get back."
She tried to start Silver Crest off again when Cheswick grabbed her arm. Anne glared at him and looked pointedly at his hand on her arm.
"Would you let go, please?"
"You've been odd to me since we met." Cheswick didn't let go of her, his eyes boring into her. "What have I done to deserve it?"
Anne gritted her teeth and pulled her arm away. He let her.
"I don't like being pre-judged." She said stiffly.
"Is this about me calling you reckless and lacking common sense?"
"People who know me know I'm not reckless, and there was nothing wrong with me having a walk in the fresh air before dinner."
"I understand that, and I'm sorry." Cheswick leaned an arm on his saddle, his gaze making Anne nervous. "But there's more, isn't there?"
Anne was going to say there wasn't but then she decided not to let things hang in the air. There had been something that had been bothering her since she had first heard about him and she had want
ed to broach it. But Anne knew neither party involved would say anything if she tiptoed around it. Plus she was riled up from the ride, her blood pumping round her body.
"I don't know." She turned Silver Crest towards him and gave Cheswick a challenging glare. "Is there? I've known Ian Hulbridge for years. He's never mentioned you."
Cheswick blinked. Clearly, he hadn't been expecting this.
"We haven't been in touch since we were children when I went off traveling. You don't always stay in touch with people over the years."
"Are you sure that's it?" Anne didn't believe that for a minute. "Because I find it suspicious that you come up out of the blue. He's never said anything about having wealthy relations in his family tree."
"So you're treating me strangely because you find Ian not mentioning me before suspicious?" Cheswick shook his head. He looked slightly disappointed. "That's a little childish, is it? And if you'd let me explain myself, there's a reason why we haven't spoken in years."
But Anne shook her head and turned away.
"I don't want to hear it."
She didn't. She didn't want to have a reason to like the man. He was too handsome for his own good.
Anne kicked Silver Crest into motion and charged through the trees. She could hear Cheswick shouting after her, but she kept going. She just wanted to get back to the rest of the group and keep as far away from him as possible.
The path she took was the one Cheswick had taken when they raced each other. Anne navigated the first jump, but Silver Crest landed wrong. Her leg buckled, and she fell. Anne found herself flying through the air. She barely had time to scream before the world rushed in at break-neck speed.
Then everything went black.
***
William wasn't able to sit down. After what had happened that day, he wasn't able to sit down and wait until he knew that Anne was all right. Seeing her hit that tree after falling off her horse had frightened him to the core. There had been a lot of blood, and William felt helpless. If Charles and Susan hadn't come along when they did, they would still be out in the woods.
After Susan had hurried off to get the doctor, William and Charles got Anne back to Erstmere and the servants hustled her up into one of the guest rooms. The doctor arrived shortly after, but William had refused to leave. It wasn't until the doctor and Charles physically made him leave that William went to his study. Even then he didn't sit down; he paced around, barely settling anywhere for more than a few seconds before he was up again.
The short talk before Anne had ridden away was still going over in his mind. What had happened between them was confusing. Anne was accusing him of something, and that involved his cousin. William had spoken to Ian a short while before asking if he had any idea what was wrong with Anne, but Ian couldn't think why Anne had taken to that train of thought.
He and Charles had left to take care of the rest of the party, so William was now waiting for Anne's parents to arrive and find out her condition. Even though it was a freak accident, William still felt responsible for what happened. Anne had been on his riding party, and he was in charge of everyone.
Maybe if they hadn't had that race, Anne wouldn't be hurt.
There was a knock at the door, and Charles' butler Kyle entered, giving him a bow.
"Mr. and Mrs. Barclay are here, Your Grace."
William swallowed. He wasn't keen on facing an irate mother and father, but it had to be done.
"Show them in, Kyle."
Kyle disappeared. Then Barclay and Mary entered. Mary was white, and she was trembling. Barclay's face was grim. William moved across the room to them.
"Mr. Barclay." He shook hands with Anne's father. "I'm so sorry about this."
"What happened?" Barclay's lips tightened. "All Susan told us was there had been an accident."
"Anne's horse bolted. She fell off and hit a tree when she fell off."
Silver Crest, much to William's surprise, hadn't broken anything. She stood up and trotted away. Charles had found her wandering in the grounds of the estate some time later. William didn't blame the horse for the fall, he blamed himself.
Mary whimpered and burst into tears. Barclay slid his arms around his wife and hugged her, rocking her gently and whispering softly to her. William watched them. He had gathered from their closeness at the dinner party they were still deeply in love after nearly twenty-five years together.
That was something he wished he could have.
"The doctor's with her now. She was still unconscious when we got here." William took a deep breath. "I'm so sorry about this, Mr. Barclay. I should've taken more care with her."
Barclay glanced at him, his expression stoic.
"I'll talk to you properly when I'm calmer." He said sternly.
William could understand that. If it had been him, he would be saying the same thing.
The door opened again, and Kyle ushered in the doctor, a tall, thin man with graying hair and a beard. William hurried towards him.
"How is she?"
"She's still unconscious, but I've cleaned up her wounds. She took a nasty bang to the head." The doctor's expression softened when he saw Barclay and Mary staring expectantly at him. "With some rest and someone to watch over her, she should be fine."
"So she's going to live?" Barclay asked.
"The bang on the head wasn't enough to kill her. It looked worse than it did. Head wounds always bleed badly." The doctor looked back at William. "She's going to need lots of rest, and someone needs to sit with her. I wouldn't recommend moving her right now."
William didn't even need to think about it.
"She's welcome to stay here." He looked at Barclay, who was still holding his wife. "Charles has told me to use the house at my discretion."
Barclay looked at Mary, who nodded. He sighed.
"All right. I'm entrusting you with our daughter's care, Your Grace." His eyes narrowed at her. "She'd better recover."
William raised his eyebrows.
"Was that a threat?"
"Not in that sense." Barclay's face didn't change, but a flash of fear appeared on his face, "I don't want to lose my only child."
William believed that. And he was going to make sure Anne would be fine.
Chapter 7
Laid Up
The first thing Anne was aware of was the pain. It felt like her head had been split open. She blinked her eyes and that hurt. Everything was blurry.
Then her vision cleared, and she saw where she was. She wasn't at home in her bed. This was a room Anne had never seen before, a very fancy room. Too fancy and way beyond her tastes and means. Sunlight streamed in through the window across the room, rays falling onto the bed.
There was also the sound of someone talking. Anne managed to turn her head slightly and saw Cheswick sitting in a chair by the bed. He had a book open in his lap, and he was reading aloud. His baritone voice was soothing, washing over Anne and making her feel relaxed. He sounded nice. Anne could listen to him all day.
But why was he reading aloud?
"Your Grace?" Anne tried to sit up. "What are you doing?"
Cheswick looked up. His eyes widened, and he put the book aside.
"Anne." He sat on the bed and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Don't get up. The doctor said to take it easy."
Anne allowed him to push her back down, settling her head on the pillows. Cheswick picked up another pillow and gently eased it under the pile, levitating her head. It felt better, and Anne could see him without lifting her head.
"What are you doing here?"
"Reading to you." Cheswick sat on the edge of the bed. "The doctor suggested reading to you would help. I don't know how, but it worked."
Then Anne saw the beard growing on his face, blond stubble dusting his jaw. He clearly hadn't groomed himself lately, and he looked like he hadn't had much sleep. She swallowed, her mouth feeling dry.
"What day is it?"
"Wednesday. You've been unconscious for three days."
"I must've taken a bigger hit than I thought."
"You did collide with that tree pretty hard."
"I know. My head's telling me that."
Cheswick's mouth twitched in a smile. Then a shadow passed over his face.
"This is my fault. I shouldn't have given you Silver Crest in the first place."
"Is she all right?"
"She's fine. A bit bruised, but she's trotting around happily."
Anne was relieved. Silver Crest wasn't to blame, and she was glad the mare was okay. If she was really honest, Cheswick couldn't have done anything about it either. It happened very fast, and nobody could have seen it coming.
She laid her hand over his, seeing Cheswick's stunned look.
"It's not your fault, Your Grace. I should've been more careful. There's no one to blame but myself."
The smile Cheswick gave her, full of relief and warmth, Anne could feel all the way down to her toes. He squeezed her hand.
"I'm just glad you're all right now."
Anne wasn't sure about that. Something had happened, and it scared her. She was actually beginning to change her opinion of Duke Cheswick.
That couldn't be good, could it?
***
For two weeks Anne stayed in bed. After spending another night at Erstmere, she had traveled home with her parents. Her mother had made her stay in bed, even after the bandages had come off. Mary was insistent that Anne stayed in bed a little longer, even though Anne wanted to get outside and sit in the garden.
Eventually, Anne waited until Mary went out, and her father was looking after her. She got herself up and dressed and left. John was in the garden talking to their neighbor. He looked surprised at seeing Anne leave the house, but he didn't say anything. Anne guessed he knew he wouldn't be able to stop her.
It felt refreshing to walk around the village and into the fields, the fresh air getting into her lungs. Autumn was in full swing. The local farmer was plowing his fields with his horses. The leaves were falling from the trees, crackling under Anne's feet as she walked along the path. It was cool but not cold, so Anne wore a light cloak, without gloves. She wanted to feel the air on her skin.
Regency Romances Page 4