Page 39 of Her Cursed Duke
Prudence grinned, feeling much lighter than she had that morning when she woke up. She had not expected to feel so much in such a short time, and it gave her immense relief to know that even with everything that happened betweenthem the previous day, they could still have lighthearted conversations like this.
“Let me take you home, Prudence,” Aiden said, reaching for her hand.
She pulled back before he could touch her, and just as his face crumbled, she stated, “I am scared of horses.”
Aiden stared at her, unsure that he had heard correctly. “I-I beg your pardon?”
She sighed and ran a hand through her damp hair. “I am scared of horses. I do not like being around them.”
“But… you came with me to the races. And your sister said that you were all taught how to ride when you were children.”
“That is true. I do know how to ride quite well, in fact. But that does not change the fact that I am terrified of the large beasts. My father had a lot of expectations of all of his daughters—and simultaneously none at all. He did not dictate who we should be or what we should do when we grow up, but as children, he deemed it necessary for us to receive and excel at various lessons. Horse riding was one of them.
“Of the three of us, Agnes was the only one who truly loved the horse lessons. If you could not tell from how enthusiastic she was at the races, my dear sister could sell her husband for agorgeous steed. Every lesson was an excruciating experience for me, and I try to avoid horses whenever I can.”
Aiden smiled softly and tried to reach for her hand again. This time, she let him take it. “Do not worry, I will be here to look after you, so nothing will happen.”
“You do not know that,” Prudence mumbled, still following him as he gently tugged her toward his horse. “Perhaps he is a perfect sweetheart towardyou. What if he takes a single look at me and decides to not like me?”
Aiden shook his head. “That is impossible.”
“How so?”
He pulled her closer to his side and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “It is impossible to not like you.”
Her heart began to quake as the rest of her senses took their leave, leaving her to fend for herself against a man who was intent on leaving her a mess.
“Of course, you can be a little difficult to like sometimes, given your argumentative nature and your desire to just ruin my life at every chance you get. But I would not say it’s completely impossible. Do not give up, Prudence.” Aiden grinned.
“I hate you. With everything within me, I hate you.” Prudence seethed, glaring up at him.
“That’s lovely, dear. Now—” He nodded at the beast before them. “This is Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea, this is Prudence.”
Prudence shifted her gaze ahead to find a horse staring back at her, his dark eyes blinking slowly at her in wonder. She glanced behind them in surprise, unaware of how they had gotten to this area so fast, realizing seconds later that Aiden had kept her distracted so she would not feel too afraid as they marched to his horse.
She looked up at him, and he nodded to her with a reassuring smile, adjusting his hold on her hand so the back of her hand was pressed to his palm, and slowly nudged her forward to greet his horse. Gently, he lifted their intertwined hands and placed them on Sweet Pea’s neck, guiding her to stroke the horse’s soft white coat.
“He has an adorable name,” Prudence muttered quietly.
“Thank you. It is because of his adorable character. He is a fast and strong one when the situation demands it. Otherwise, he spends his days like a playful fool. He has even taken a liking to Snowflake. On some mornings, I just set them loose on our property, and they run around in the fields behind the castle,” Aiden told her, smiling at the look of awe in her eyes as he guided their hands to Sweet Pea’s nose and the horse nuzzled her palm.
“That sounds nice.” Prudence smiled softly.
“It is,” Aiden agreed. “Are you ready to go?”
She inhaled deeply and nodded. “Yes, I am.”
Aiden helped her mount his horse first and then got on behind her, nudging Sweet Pea into a trot through the woods that lay between their estates. He did his best to be discreet, knowing it would spell bad news if they were caught together. Luckily, he was able to get her home without incident, dropping her a little ways away from Fitzroy House—just a minute’s walk.
“Thank you. For bringing me home,” Prudence said as he helped her dismount.
“It was my pleasure,” Aiden replied, unable to stop himself from reaching out and caressing her cheek with the back of his fingers. “I will see you soon?”
The hope in his voice matched the one in her heart, and she nodded, smiling shyly. “Yes, you will.”
The cook was alarmed when Prudence stepped into the kitchen to drop off the flowers, looking like she had just survived a drowning attempt.
Her grandmother caught sight of her as she was returning to her room and asked, “What happened to you, child?”
