Page 17 of The Duke of Lies
He bowed sharply. “Your Grace, we’re honored to have you visit.” He also bowed to the duchess. “Your Grace.”
“You’re my first stop on a tour of the estate,” Kit said. “I understand you keep an impressive goat herd. Would you mind showing me?”
“It would be my privilege. Come.” He led them past the shed from whence he’d come toward a large fenced area. “This is just one of the pens,” he said over his shoulder as he approached the gate. “There are four others of similar size.”
Kit looked out at the goats grazing about. He caught sight of a handful of kids, and turned to ask the duchess, “Beau wanted a baby goat, is that right?”
“He was taken with a baby goat, but he’ll love all of them the same.”
Mr. Maynard opened the gate and held it while Kit and the duchess went into the pen. Mrs. Maynard and their daughter hadn’t followed them.
When they were all inside, Mr. Maynard closed the gate and led them toward a group standing nearby. “We’ve had four births in the past fortnight, and we’re expecting a half-dozen more in the next fortnight. Spring’s a busy time!” He laughed as he looked toward Kit.
“I can imagine,” Kit said. “As it happens, we’d like to have a small herd nearer the castle. My son would like to learn to tend goats.”
Mr. Maynard’s brows climbed. “Would he now? That seems an odd education for a future duke, but a right noble one.”
Kit knew the man meant no offense, and in truth, he would have agreed. He wondered if the real duke would have allowed Beau to tend goats. From what he knew of his cousin, he would wager not. “I agree. You will find I am not your typical duke.” He smiled and couldn’t help darting a look toward the duchess.
She was staring at him with something akin to amazement. Someday, he would stop shocking her. Maybe. Again, he might leave before that happened. In this case, he hoped not. He wanted her to trust him. He just wasn’t sure why. Maybe because he thought it would be good for her. She needed to know that her current husband wasn’t the horrid beast she remembered.
Until he left her, and then he really would be that horrid beast.
Except she wouldn’t care. She’d be relieved to have her life back the way she wanted it—he saw resentment buried beneath the alternating waves of apprehension, shock, and bemusement.
“Do you think we could have a small herd?” the duchess asked Mr. Maynard.
“Oh, certainly. And I’d be happy to come build a pen. You’ll need a shed for shelter too.”
“I can help with those,” Kit offered. When both the duchess and Mr. Maynard looked at him in surprise, he realized he’d once again stepped outside the normal bounds of his role. “As I said, I’m not your typical duke. Let me know the size and specifications, and I’ll see that we have the lumber. We’re keen to have the goats up at the castle as soon as possible.”
“I look forward to helping, Your Grace.” Mr. Maynard’s gaze shifted to a spot over Kit’s right shoulder. “Blast! Racer’s found his way out of the gate again. I thought I’d fixed that latch!” He dashed toward the perimeter of the pen, and Kit followed, quickly realizing that he would be able to catch the wayward goat faster than Mr. Maynard.
Kit easily leapt the fence and broke into a hard run. He caught up to the animal and swept him up off the ground. A loud bleat filled his ears as he slowed and pivoted back toward the pen. “Aren’t you a noisy thing? Disappointed to be snatched so quickly, eh? I bet you’ve given Mr. Maynard a great deal of trouble. Perhaps you should come to the castle. I think Beau might like chasing you about.”
Mr. Maynard and the duchess waited for him just outside the pen as Kit deposited the goat over the fence. “I thank you kindly, Your Grace. I’d still be after the louse.”
“Glad to be of assistance, Maynard. Perhaps you’d better send—Racer, is it? A fine and accurate name, it seems—to the castle if he’s causing you difficulty.”
Maynard looked at him with doubt. “He’s a bit contrary. Are you certain you want to have him there?”
“I’ll trust you to decide what’s best. I only wanted to make the offer if it would be helpful to your herd management.”
They walked back to the cottage, where Maynard offered them refreshment. Kit declined, saying they had several other tenants to visit. Maynard promised to send specifications for the pen and shed to the castle by the following morning.
When Kit and the duchess returned to the horses, he offered to help her up. She didn’t respond, only nodded slightly. He did his best to touch her in only the most perfunctory of ways and terminate the connection as quickly as possible.
When she was settled in her saddle, she looked down at him in question. “It appeared as if you were speaking to that goat. What did you say?”
“I told him he was noisy and asked if he was upset that I caught him so quickly. Then I asked if he wanted to come and be Beau’s pet.”
She stared at him and then the most beautiful thing happened: she laughed. Her lips curved up, and a sound akin to the birdsongs he’d heard in the tropics wrapped around him. He stood below her, basking in the glow of her humor and decided it was the warmest, brightest place in the world.
“You should do that more often,” he said softly, then immediately wanted to take it back as the joy leached from her face. The carefree woman with the enticing smile faded into the guarded and distant duchess.
“My apologies,” he said. “I didn’t mean to overstep. Let us continue.”
He climbed onto his horse, and they rode to the next tenant, who showed them his cow herd. Kit had little experience with cattle and was excited by the prospect to learn more. As he asked dozens of questions, he could hear the voice of his father saying,“Kit, you can’t mean to know everything in the world, but by God you will try.”He also realized he could spend the rest of the afternoon here, but they needed to move on. He promised the tenant he’d return soon. All during the conversation, the duchess had watched him with something between bafflement and awe. She’d also asked questions, which Kit had found admirable.
