by Gill, Tamara
The duke’s steward came over to them, kneeling down to their level. “All horses and workers are accounted for, Your Grace. They’re in the holding pen down near the house. We’re giving them some feed to try and calm them down.”
The duke nodded. “Do any of the men know how the fire started? There was no wind, no reason why the second stable would go up like it did.”
Ava thought back to hearing shouts behind her when fighting the first fire but the face was as blurry as her sight was right now. “From what I saw, the fire started in the straw that had been piled in the center of the stable after cleaning out the stalls. I heard shouting, as if someone was alerting us to this new threat, but I could not tell you who it was. You don’t think it may have been deliberately started, do you?”
And if it had been, where was the culprit? Fear shot through her at the thought. With all her stable hands here fighting the duke’s blaze, her own horses were alone at her estate, without protection. She went to stand and Tate’s steward pushed her to sit back down.
“Your manager and a couple of your stable hands have headed back to your estate, Miss. Knight. I’m sure we would’ve heard from them should anything be amiss.”
Tate sat up beside her and she studied him a moment, glad to see that he seemed to be breathing a little easier.
“We’ll have to house the horses somewhere until the stables are gutted and rebuilt. They cannot stay in the fields.”
The steward met her gaze, and without asking, she knew what he was hoping. “Of course your stocks is welcome to be housed at my stables, Your Grace. There are more than enough stalls for them,” she offered, never one to turn away and not help those that were in need. Even if it was the duke and they were hardly friends. But the horses needed homes and loving the animals as much as she did, she would not leave them out in the cold, even if it weren’t so very cold at the moment.
“Are you sure, Miss. Knight. We have over twenty,” the steward said, looking back over to where the horses were standing in the yard and watching the fire burn down what was left of the buildings they’d escaped from.
Ava sighed, watching the horses. “Of course all of them are welcome.”
The duke reached out and laid his hand atop hers. Heat, similar to the warmth at her back from the burning stable filled her, and with it a longing for him to touch her like that again. She glanced down at where he’d left his hand and the urge to place hers atop it was almost too much to deny.
Ava met his gaze.
“Thank you,” he said, studying her.
She threw him a small smile and, standing, brushed down her breeches and shirt as best as she could.
“I don’t think there is much more I can do for you here, and so I’ll head back home and let Mr. Brown know that you’ll be bringing the horses over for stabling tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” the Duke said again, looking up from where he sat on the ground, “Truly Ava, thank you.”
The steward headed off to oversee elsewhere. Ava turned to take in the devastation of what had happened here tonight. The men still fought to bring the fire to heel, even though it had destroyed all that it had touched. Smoke permeated the air, everyone about them covered in ash and soot, some clothing singed from the flames. “No matter what has passed between us, Your Grace, I will never turn my back on someone who is in need.”
Ava turned and started back to where she had left her mount, hoping the horse would still be there after all the commotion. As it was, a lot of the horses, those that weren’t watching the goings-on, were running about the yards, tails high in the air and clearly spooked and uneasy.
The poor souls were lucky to be alive, and if this was a deliberate act of arson, then that would mean everyone in Berkshire were in trouble and would have to be on the lookout.
She’d worked too hard, lost too much already in her life to have it all burned to a cinder due to a fool’s desire.
And she would never go down again without a fight.
Chapter 4
The following day Ava was up early, even with the late night before. A few minutes after breakfast, the horses from the duke’s estate started to arrive along with their grooms and trainers who would stay and help look after all the horses, to feed, and exercise them daily.
Luckily here at Knight Stables, Ava had her own gallop, and so it was an easy five-minute stroll over to where the horses could go for a run or race.
She sat on the wooden fence that overlooked the yard that her prized breeding mare, Black Lace, was being lunged within. She was a beautiful horse, with her ebony coat and white socks. She hoped the horse would also make beautiful foals.
The mare had good bloodlines, but the horse itself had not had good starts in the few races she had been tried in, and so she was going to breed a foal from her that possibly would. The sire and dam of Black Lace had mixed careers before she retired them both and placed them into her stud program. They had managed one first, but mostly seconds and thirds during their race meets, not great, but also not too terrible either. Such history didn’t always mean that the foals of their union would suffer the same fate. If she wanted Knight Stables to survive, she would have to experiment, try expanding and testing breeding theories.
A letter with her father’s last wishes had been for her to keep the stables going, to push forward with their plans to make it one of the most prestigious and admired stables in the land. Such a promise had not always been easy to keep, and there were times she was excluded from racing invitations, or her horses were ignored as breeding opportunities simply because she was a woman, but it would not stop her. If anything it had made her more determined to succeed and now nothing would stand in her way of making Knight Stables a household name. As well-known as Tattersalls even, at least in regards to its prized horse stock.
She’d wanted to make a life with Tate all those years ago, leave this life behind, but it was not to quit the racing world in its entirety. Tate and she had simply wanted to make their own stables, become trusted and sought after in their own right. Her father’s death had offered her the chance to take over his role, as a woman and an unmarried one at that. She would not let Society’s opinions or protocol for a woman to stand in her way and she would not marry simply to make her role here more acceptable, more respectable to the male-dominated world she lived in.
Ava glanced over toward the stables and was glad to see the grooms and stable hands seemed to be greeting each other affably, but even from here she could tell they were tired and in need of a good night’s rest, uninterrupted by disaster.
“The duke’s coming now, Miss. Knight, leading Titan with him,” her stable manager said, coming to stand where she sat.
Shading her eyes, Ava looked up on the hill that the duke was riding down. In all the years since she’d seen him, even now his muscular form when atop a horse was on full show and a delight to watch. How well he looked, the years having turned the boy she’d known into a man. A man even she reluctantly agreed was still as handsome as sin.
Ava thought back to the evening before when they had been laying on the ground after escaping the burning stable, the glide of his hand against her cheek when he checked to see if she was well. The look he’d given her had stripped the time away, all the hurts that he’d caused her, and all that she’d cared about in that moment was if he was well, uninjured.
She reached up and touched her cheek, unable to deny that his touch made her yearn for things long buried. He’d been so careful, so kind and gentle that she’d not been able to conceal what he’d always been able to make her feel.
Alive…
Had he noticed her yearning? She could only hope that, in the chaos of last evening, he had not.
“Put Titan in the western stable. It has the larger stalls for horses of his size. He’ll be more comfortable there.”
“Right away, miss,” Greg said, starting toward the duke who had stopped and was talking to both her staff and his own near a watering trough.
He glanced over to her and nodded in acknowledgement and Ava did the same before turning her attention back to her mare who continued to lunge in a canter.
She supposed she would have to go, speak to him, and discuss his own sleeping arrangement now that all his horses were here. Knowing the duke as she did, she did not think he’d want to return to his estate. Not that she could offer him a bed under her roof, being unmarried and without a chaperone as she was. But there was a cottage that she’d had refurbished the previous year that sat down near the natural running stream on the property, and wasn’t far from the stables.
The duke could stay there and still be close enough to keep an eye on his horses and the continuation of their training while his own stables were rebuilt.
“Wash Black Lace after her workout and ensure she gets a good rubdown. I think she’s earned her oats this evening.”
The stable hand dipped his hat and pulled Black Lace into a trot.
Ava jumped down and started toward the western stable. No time like the present to discuss how they would go on, now that the duke was here. By the time she’d walked over to the stable, the duke and Titan had disappeared into the building. She went inside and coming up to the stall where Titan was standing, patted the stallion as he came over to her and nudged her hand.
“He likes you,” the duke said, coming to stand beside her, a biscuit of hay in his hand. He reached over the stable door and placed it in the feed bin.
With food on offer, Titan left her and went to nibble on his hay. “He’s such a beautiful horse and loving, by the looks of it. Spoiled perhaps,” she said, grinning at the duke who smiled back. Oh, how she’d missed that smile…
“I do spoil him, and he’s settled in quite well at home, or at least he had until the fire. I’m not sure what type of issues we may have, going forward, with the horses being frightened so much last night. Some of the mares may miscarry.”
Ava nodded, knowing only too well that horses could be easily spooked after such a traumatic event. She could only hope that it wasn’t the case with any of the duke’s horses. “They’ll soon settle and know they’re quite safe here, and I’ve instructed my stable hands to take shifts in watching the stables and barns about the property.”
“I have sent for a Bow Street Runner to look into the fire at the Hall. I cannot help but think it was deliberately started.”
Ava remembered back to the man who shouted out behind her, notifying them of another fire. Was that the man who’d started such destruction and if so, why. Why would anyone wish to hurt horses that were locked away in stalls and defenseless against such actions?
“Do you have any idea who may wish to injure you and your horses? Have you quarreled with anyone of late?” she asked, meeting his gaze.
The duke threw her an amused glance. “Other than you, no-one.”
She chuckled at his attempt of a joke and reached into the stall to run her finger across Titan’s shoulder. “Well you know I would never do such a thing, so someone has a grudge against you, Your Grace. You need to find out whom?”
“Hmm,” he said, turning about to lean against the stable door and crossing his arms against his chest.
She glanced back at the horse, as the action only accentuated the muscles on Tate’s chest. Oh yes, he’d changed and for the delectable better.
“I did have to let go of a stable lad who’d become too close to a maid in the house, had started to harass her somewhat and was trying for liberties that were not his to have. It could be him, I suppose, but I have not seen or heard he’s still in Berkshire working elsewhere, so I do doubt that is a lead.”
“I would tell the Runner in any case, and let him look into any tips. In this business, we may be civil and act as if racing is a gentleman’s sport, but really, we all have many enemies, jealousy being the foremost.” Lord Oakes flittered through Ava’s mind at the mention of jealousy, and she dismissed the notion instantly that he might have been involved.
He wouldn’t dare.
“I would’ve thought your stables to be in more danger than mine on that score. Yours have certainly won more races recently than mine. I did fear, when everyone was fighting the fires at the Hall, that your own livelihood might also be at risk.”
It was a fear that Ava had herself, and thankfully her stables and horses had been fine upon their return. To think of losing the animals which she loved so dearly, who had been her company and salvation through so many troubles in her life, filled her with dread. If what the duke was saying was true, then they needed to find the culprit and have him thrown away into a cell where he couldn’t hurt anything or anyone again.
“When I saw the glow of the fire at your estate, I did not even think to leave someone here to keep an eye on my horses. A foolish mistake I’ll not make again. We are very thankful that none here were put in harm’s way. And we’re happy that your horses are here too. It will give me time to convince you to allow me to breed Titan with Black Lace.”
At the mention of the horse’s name, the stallion lifted his head out of his feed bin and glanced in their direction. Ava laughed, reaching out to pat the horse’s soft velvety nose. “What a mischief maker you are,” she cooed to the horse, overlooking for a moment the duke was still beside her.
“I forgot this.” He glanced down at her and Ava fought not to meet his gaze. To become lost once again in his dark, gray orbs that were like a stormy, swirling sea.
“Forgot what, Your Grace?” She shouldn’t ask, but where the duke was involved, there was little she could do to stop herself. Like a moth drawn to the hottest part of the flame, so too was she drawn to hearing what he wanted to say about them. About their past, when the only things worth fighting for were each other.
“How you were with horses. How much you love them.”
“I do adore them.” She sighed, stepping back from the stall. “But it was not all that I loved.”
“You’re still reading gothic novels then, and sneaking out in the middle of the night to count the stars?” he asked, smiling.
Warmth spread through her, comforting and familiar, that the man before her knew her as well as anyone in the world. “Of course, although I no longer have to sneak out, I can simply walk out the front door.”
“True,” he said, glancing at the blue sky above them. “Do you remember when we met down by the lake on my property in the dead of night? You were so determined to draw the full moon that I almost froze to death waiting for you to sketch it.”
“I’ll have you know that my father, even though he never questioned me as to how I came to own such a sketch, was very fond of that drawing. He even framed it. It hangs in the library.” Ava sighed, thinking on that night. It had been the first time they had kissed, not as an acquaintance and friend, but as lovers, as a couple who longed for more than mere familiarity.
Meeting the duke’s gaze, the banked fire she read in his eyes told her he remembered the night as well as she did. Ava cleared her throat. “We should probably discuss what you’re going to do now that all your horses are here. I have a cottage that I’ve recently repaired that is separate from the staff quarters, but it’s still close enough to see the horse yards, barns and stables if you wanted it. I would invite you, of course, to stay at the main house, but well, as you know that wouldn’t be proper.”
His eyes darkened at the mention of the word proper and what her meaning implied. “Is that the old cottage where your cook, Mrs. Gill, used to reside?”
“Yes, that’s right. She left our employment some years ago, and the new cook preferred to stay at the main house.” She started toward the stable doors. “Come, I’ll walk you down there now and you can decide if it’ll suit.”
They made their way through the yards, walking across the meadow that sat at the back of her home, and they soon came to the small cottage that sat overlooking the stream. Ava turned and gestured toward the view. “Here, you can see the entire layout of the property, except the front of the main house
.”
He took in the situation and nodded. “This will do very well. He turned back to her. “What happened to Mrs. Gill. I always adored her–”
“Rout cakes?” Ava answered for him. “Yes, I remember.” Ignoring the familiarity they had. She opened the door to the cottage and stepped inside the three-room home. “Her daughter who worked for a family in Kent married a baker and offered her mother a place with them. Mrs. Gill lived with her daughter for two years or so, but became ill last autumn and sadly passed away.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. She was a lovely woman, much liked by the staff, from what I can remember.”
Ava smiled, thinking back. “She was lovely and is sorely missed. I do not believe the rout cakes have ever tasted as good as when she was here.”
The duke ducked through the doorway and inspected the modest kitchen, the bedroom and washroom that ran off of it. Ava considered him for a moment, having forgotten how well they had known each other. How much time they had spent in each other’s company over the years.
The cottage was tidy, with wooden flooring, a large woven mat sitting beneath the small table that was placed not far from the fire. In the bedroom there was a large unmade bed, along with a small window with blue velvet curtains. The washroom comprised a jug and bowl, a washstand, a small hip bath and chamber pot that sat on the floor.
“This will do very well, thank you.”
“I’ll have the maids come through and make up the bed daily and get you some fresh linens and water. Of course, you do not have to eat here, you’re more than welcome to dine with me each night and break your fast in the morning at the main house.” Ava wasn’t sure where her failure to leave him well alone and keep their distance came from. The duke did not fit in with her plans for the future. For years, she’d schooled herself to move on, to not need his opinion or support. The fire and smoke inhalation had obviously muddled her mind.