Page 46 of A Virgin for the Cruel Duke

“I must admit I have not perfected side saddle riding,” he drawled, smiling back at her. “Oh however shall I live that down.”

“I will keep your secret, sir,” she said, then she moved slightly wrong and her heel clipped into Cleopatra’s side and before he could adjust a stronger grip on the reins Cleopatra, startled by the sudden and unexpected blow, twisted her head and bolted.

Stephen dug his knees into Captain’s side, heart hammering in his chest as he raced after them immediately. He should never have allowed this to happen! How many times a year did a person die from an accident while out riding? And they were in the forest where there were plenty of places for the horse to stumble or a branch to knock her from her perch. He would have his wife dead by the end of the afternoon and that would -

He would never recover that.

It was a new thought, a strange thought in its clarity.

He would never survive losing her.

The race was brief. Cleopatra was a good hearted creature and once she recovered from her startle she came to a stop. However, as much as she had not expected to be kicked, Elizabeth clearlydid not expect the horse to stop and slid from the saddle to the ground in a tumble that made Stephen’s heart drop.

He flung himself from the saddle and ran to her side, pushing the horse away before a hoof could go astray and hit her by accident.

“Elizabeth!” he knelt on the loam-covered earth, reaching for her shoulder but afraid in a cold moment that perhaps she was already hurt and he should not move her. “Elizabeth, are you -”

She made a soft noise, small and shuddering and he thought that perhaps she was whimpering in pain or weeping from the fright of it before she moved, her mane of hair falling from her face as she sat up and he realized that she waslaughing.

“Oh I am not good at this, Stephen,” she said, tears of mirth running down her face. “I shall never be one of those elegant ladies, I am going to be a wild woman and ride astride like the men and cause a scandal.”

Stephen reached out to touch her cheek. “Are you hurt?”

“Just my pride, what little there is,” she said merrily, letting him help her to her feet. “I always thought it looked so easy, and look how wrong I was.”

Stephen put his arm around her shoulders and drew her against his side for a moment, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. All this time he had thought himself lucky to have met a womanthat was interesting and beautiful, not cruel like her family but a good match for him practically and a woman he desired in his bed. It was more than many couples could hope for. He cared about her as part of his family and because their union would keep the peace for everyone he loved.

And yet now, with her soft warmth pressed against him and the music of her laughter still in his ears he knew it was more than that. It wasn’t just practicality, or lust or fellow feeling for someone in his household.

This was deeper, a feeling that consumed him like fire and yet also made him feel renewed, created anew. He knew what it was and yet he was wary of it, wary of the implications in this crucial moment, of what it might mean with everything so delicate.

“No one can see,” Elizabeth said, pouting at him winningly and making his heart melt. “Won’t you show me how to ride astride? I am sure it will be much easier.”

He laughed then and kissed her hand. “When we are not in a forest and there are no important guests at the estate I shall take you to a field and teach you gladly - and in a saddle that will suit it, not a sidesaddle like the one you have. For now I shall fashion a lead rein and help keep Cleopatra from bolting again.”

She beamed at him and he helped her back onto the horse, mounting Captain and using a length of line from the saddlebags to keep the two horses linked. “I feel safer already,” she said. “Nothing can harm me if you have things in hand, I am sure.”

“Quite so,” Stephen said, more seriously than he had initially intended. “Nothing will harm you while I am with you, Elizabeth. That I am certain of.”

“Well then,” she said. “Let us win this wager!”

“And so we shall,” he said, grinning back at her. “Onwards, my duchess.”

They picked up speed once more, and now that Cleopatra was forced to keep from the forest and follow the path and stay at Captain’s side they were finally able to make progress into the woodlands.

It was a beautiful day, the light filtering through the trees and the soft sounds of nature all around them. Elizabeth was enchanted, her face aglow with interest and joy as she looked all around her. Once again he was struck with how well she fitted into the setting, the nymph-like beauty of her.

“How will you kill them?” she asked, eyeing the undergrowth with curiosity. “How will you find them for that matter?”

“It’s the right season for hunting them,” Stephen explained. “At this time of year they are fat and complacent, pecking for berries and foraging for food. We will see many of them soon enough now Cleopatra is not frighting them off for us. I will shoot them with my rifle and we will collect a brace of them to show the others how it is done.”

She nodded. He had been concerned that she would find the matter too bloody and cruel, especially with how she had taken up the wounded falcon and nursed it back to health. But she was apparently practical enough to see a difference between an eating bird and a hunting bird.

“Well then, husband,” she said, shooting him a sparkling look full of wicked impishness. “Perhaps you should show me how well you can hunt? I have seen little evidence so far.”

“Is that so?” he said, a smile tugging at his lips. “Then we must change that immediately.”

He pulled Captain to a stop, having spotted the signs of a large plump bird just moments before. In a smooth movement he brought up his gun and fired, hitting his mark immediately and knocking the bird off its perch.

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