Page 44 of Enslaved to the Seduction of a Lady
Chapter Sixteen
When Alison had left the stables that morning, Luke had returned to his pallet in the hut, sneaking in as quietly as he had snuck out. He was certain he would still have trouble sleeping, his thoughts lost in her, but in actual fact, he fell instantly into a deep and peaceful slumber.
He awoke a few hours later, just in time to start work in the stables, feeling entirely refreshed and excited to see the day.
“Someone’s happy this morning,” Jenny said as she put his breakfast down in front of him. “Feeling better today, then?”
“I just know that the day is going to be full of sunshine,” he said, smiling up at her.
“Is it now?” she asked. Her eyebrows were raised in surprised question, but he could see the smile tugging on her lips.
“Yes, it is,” he said. “I am the luckiest man alive!”
“And why is that?” she asked, sitting on the seat next to him and picking at her bread.
“Because I have the best sister a man could hope for, a father who is wonderful in every way, and I have the love of a good lady.”
“I am glad you’re happy, Luke, I really am.” She patted him on the knee. “But please be careful.”
“I will. All will turn out for the best, you’ll see.”
He rose from his seat and pecked his sister on the top of her head before skipping out of the door. It was going to be a good day, he could feel it in his bones.
When he arrived at the stable, it was already a hive of activity. James was leading a horse out to be hitched; Tim, one of the stable hands, was polishing the leather tack to a shine.
“Morning, Lads,” he said brightly and all the workers turned to greet him with a raised hand or a mumbled good morning. “A fine and busy day ahead of us today,” he said.
“Like every day, then,” James muttered. “What’s got into you this morning? You’re like your very own ray of bloody sunshine.”
“Can a man not be happy of a morning?” Luke asked, smiling at James.
“Spoken like a true noble, and all! That desperate to get away from the rabble, are you?”
“James, you don’t understand a thing,” Luke said, his tone cheerful. He would not allow the footman to ruin his mood. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be right now than here, and no matter how much you protest, I’m going to ensure that wedohave a good day.”
“Best not protest then, Lad,” one of the older stable hands said, laughing as he dug the pitchfork into the hay and shucked it over the fence to the horse.
“You’d do well to listen to our Joe,” Luke said, patting the stable hand on the back as he walked past. “He knows what’s what.”
“Sorry I’m late,” a young lad said as he came blustering in.
Luke laughed at his red cheeks and his wheezing breath. He picked up the spade and threw it to the youngster. It landed in his hand with a thud and he pulled a face at it.
“Aw, not again,” he said.
“Nice of you to join us, Sammy boy,” Luke said. “You know the rules! Last one to join us in the morning does the mucking out. Start at the far end and work your way forward, please.”
“All right,” Sam grumbled as he trudged up the length of the stables.
Joe laughed raucously.
“Might teach ya to ge’out of bed in the mornings, Lad,” he said.
“You’d think the bloody cockerels would be loud enough for that,” James said, leading another horse from its bay. “Certainly wakes me up first thing.”
“And that’s no bad thing is that,” Luke said. “I’ll get on with exercising the horses. I want this place spick and span before the midday sun.”
He went into the second bay and led a big black stallion from its place.
