“I’d like to see Maybelle again,” he said with a grin. “For I’m assuming now that she isyourmaid.”
“She is,” Julia said with a nod, a curl of hair falling over her eye as she did so. “I promise that I will pass on any message you’d like and do what I can, but only if she is agreeable.”
“Fair enough,” Will agreed. “I’d like that. Just let me know when and where to meet her.”
“I’ll do that,” she said, and then made arrangements for where she could find him once she had determined a meeting time later that day.
With one final look at the two of them and a shake of his head, Will exited the stall, and they could hear him whistling as he made his way down the corridor.
Eddie knew what Julia would ask him before she even had time to pose the question.
“Yes, you can trust him,” he said as together they finished brushing and feeding Orianna. “I’ve known Will since before I even became a jockey. He was also a groom at the stables where I learned to ride. We’ve always been one another’s biggest supports and we’ve even lived together for much of our recent lives. I would trust Will with my life. He loves to jest, it’s true, but when it comes to matters of seriousness, he can be trusted.”
“Well, if you trust him,” said Julia, “Then so do I.”
And the smile she gave him, of complete faith in him, nearly broke him.
* * *
By the time Julia left,Eddie felt nearly drained from holding himself back from her. Alone in the stall, all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and push her back against the wall and taste her once more. But in the light of day, without the magic of moonlight, his better sense prevailed. He was exiting Orianna’s stall to find his way toward Valiant when he groaned aloud at the figure walking toward him. Elias Young. It had been so long since Eddie had seen him, he had hoped the matter had been dropped.
“Mr. Young,” he greeted him, wishing the man was here for reasons that had nothing to do with him at all. “How are you today?”
“I’m fine,” he said, though his look told Eddie otherwise. “Mr. Francis, do you know where I can find William Scott?”
Blast it all.
“I suppose he’s around the stables somewhere,” Eddie responded. “That’s where he can typically be found. Can I ask how your investigation is progressing? Have I been cleared of any suspicions?”
Young was silent for a moment as he contemplated Eddie.
“There’s not much I can share, Mr. Francis, though the more I look into this, the more I am worried that my assumptions are correct and Valient’s identity has been forged.”
“You can’t be serious,” Eddie said, incredulous. He had been riding the horse for a year now. To think all of that time, the horse may not have been who he had thought….
“Unfortunately, I am,” Young nodded. “Now it’s a matter of determining who was aware of such a fact.”
“I can assure you, Mr. Young, that I had no knowledge of anything of the sort. If you look at my racing history, I have never been under any suspicion whatsoever, and I intend to keep it that way. I race clean. When you talk to Will, you ask him that.”
Eddie hadn’t meant to let his anger show, but he couldn’t help it. He knew Young was likely not the man he should be angry with, but whoever had thought they could suggest that he may be at fault. It rankled him.
“I will, Mr. Francis,” Young said, and his look was almost pitying. “I’ll be in touch.”
And with that, he was gone down the corridor.
Eddie stood there for a moment as he pulled his cap off his head and ran a hand through his hair. What the hell was he supposed to do now?
CHAPTER18
Julia raced home, entering through the servants’ entrance, which she had come to frequent, as she rushed to get to her room and change in time for her lunch with Elizabeth. It seemed most of the staff of the house accepted her eccentric ways — or perhaps even were partially aware of her secret. For while she had managed to evade her parents, she certainly couldn’t find her way to her rooms each day at such odd hours. The kitchens were full long before the sun rose. But, thankfully, so far, the staff had remained loyal to her and would simply smile as she came through. She could only hope it would remain so.
She met Elizabeth at a small Newmarket cafe. Julia thought she was on time, but of course Elizabeth was already there awaiting her. Julia didn’t think Elizabeth had ever been late a day in her life.
“Elizabeth!” she greeted her, sitting across from her friend who set down the cup of tea she had been sipping. “I’m sorry if I am late.”
“Not at all,” Elizabeth said with a warm smile. “How are you today?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” Julia said truthfully. “Confused?”