Page 14 of Denying a Rakish Duke
“As you are determined to go, we shall, but do not think that I will simply stand aside and allow you to ruin my sister,” Vanessa huffed, and Joseph started to slowly walk backward toward the door of the parlor. “I do not wish to walk, either. If we are going, then it is going to be beneficial for me.”
Joseph paused for only a moment. “So then, what do you suggest?”
“Horseback riding.”
“You ride?”
“Would I suggest such a thing if I did not?”
Joseph’s brow lifted. He was quickly becoming far too enamored with her fire. “Are you capable of holding a proper conversation, or do you only know how to argue?” he teased.
“I am perfectly capable of having a conversation with pleasant people … but as you are unpleasant, I do not feel so obligated.” Vanessa shrugged, her chin lifting at the minor victory as she marched past him toward the hall, leaving Joseph no choice but to follow.
ChapterNine
“Where are you going?” Joseph jogged for a few paces to keep up with Vanessa’s stride. She had donned her riding boots moments ago and currently had her skirts bunched in her hands and hiked up over her ankles so that the hemline would not get dirty. “This is most unusual,” he commented again, but Vanessa only flashed him a knowing smile over her shoulder.
“Your Grace, you are not afraid to have a little dirt on your shoes, are you? Certainly, you are not that proper,” Vanessa teased, hoping very much that her comments would offend him. She was not quite delusional enough to think that he would simply turn around and return home because of them; she knew that she was not that lucky.
“That is not my concern. Do you not have sufficient staff to bring your horses to you? Must you go in search of them? It is not befitting of a Lady—” Joseph doubled his step to keep up once more and nearly stumbled into her back when she whipped around to face him.
“I assure you, Your Grace, my family is more than capable of employing sufficient staff, and they are very good in their positions. I go to the stables because Ilikethem. It is at my personal request that they do not bring Apple to me. If you are too fanciful, you are welcome to wait by the door, and I shall have a horse brought to you, or else you are welcome towalk.” She blinked up at him, waiting for a response.
When it was obvious that she was not going to back down, he sighed, and he shook his head. He certainly was willing to walk out to the stables if she was. He did not wish to seem unwilling or incapable of doing whatever it was that she did. He certainly did not wish to put himself into a situation where he might bebestedby her. He gestured widely to the path once more for her to lead the way.
“I am coming to the conclusion that you simply are determined to refute all of Society’s standards; would that be a fair assumption to make?” Joseph asked.
“I think that would be putting a negative light on the things that I like to do. Just because I like to ride horses does not make me any less of a Lady. It brings me joy, and there cannot be too much joy in this world.” Vanessa glanced over her shoulder as they walked, not slowing down to make the path any easier on him. “Perhaps when I find another person whose company can be as enjoyable as horseback riding on such a lovely day, I will reconsider Society’s standards. Does that offend you, Your Grace?”
“Not at all,” Joseph said as he caught up to her. He said the words before he realized that he in fact meant them. “I find it most refreshing; please do not take offense whenever I say that most of my encounters with the young ladies of thetonand their overly ambitious mothers tend to be of the same make, like reading lines from a script. It gets painfully dull after a while.”
“I should imagine so, just like it becomes tedious to have to listen to men who think of women as pretty decorative objects to display in their homes,” Vanessa countered, and Joseph was momentarily speechless.
Vanessa dropped her skirts once they arrived at the immaculately maintained stables and pulled the doors open, walking them into place and sliding the metal bolt into the ground to keep the door open on one side. She breathed in the scent of fresh hay deeply with a smile before practically skipping into the stables where Apple whinnied from the back stall at the sound of her mistress’ voice.
Joseph watched with a silent reverence as all of the tension seemed to visibly melt from Vanessa’s shoulders. She walked with purpose, light on her feet toward the back, making a soft clicking sound with her tongue before dipping her hand into a feed bag outside of Apple’s stall and producing the fruit which the horse was named after. Apple nickered affectionately as Vanessa offered her companion the fruit. She stroked the horse’s beautiful head while the mare ate happily.
Joseph almost felt like he was intruding, spying on her with what appeared to be her very best friend. It was such a fascinating thing to see her so in her element that he almost did not want to interrupt. Vanessa was grooming the horse with a soft brush now, seemingly oblivious of Joseph’s presence. “So, I could presume that riding is merely a passing fancy then,” Joseph teased.
Vanessa sighed before moving for the saddle draped over the side of the stall. Joseph was deeply impressed that such a small woman could lift the saddle with such apparent ease.
“My Lady!” A voice from the doorway preceded a clatter of things being dropped to the ground. “Please!” John, the young stable hand, rushed over to the pair with a look of apparent distress all over his face. He moved beside Vanessa and grasped the saddle from her hands, lifting it upward. Vanessa did not want to let it go. “Please, the Earl will have my guts for garters if he thinks that I am slacking; please allow me!” he spoke with a casual inflection, which made Joseph think that they must converse often enough.
“I am more than capable, truly. Uncle Tobias will not even know,” Vanessa huffed with a roll of her eyes. “It is fine.”
“Perhaps we can come to a compromise,” Joseph interrupted and gestured for the saddle so that he might place it himself. “I would be only too happy to assist the Lady, and she would be thrilled to see me struggle in doing so; therefore, we all win.” He started to pull the saddle from Vanessa’s hands, but she did not release it. He tugged, and she glowered. For a moment they were at an impasse before Vanessa finally huffed and surrendered.
“As you wish, Your Grace— struggle away.” Vanessa crossed her arms across her chest and took a step back expectantly. Now he had to pretend that he knew what he was doing so as not to make a fool of himself. At the very least, he knew the right direction to place it.
To their side, John shifted nervously, uncomfortably unsure of what he should do with himself as they were not allowing him to do his job. The stable hand edged closer to Apple, ready to be of assistance as Vanessa bit her tongue to keep from laughing at the Duke while he fiddled with the leather straps. “Very elegantly accomplished, Your Grace,” she goaded, her eyes wide with amusement as the Duke attempted to navigate around the overly eager stable hand who only wished to help. As Vanessa normally insisted on taking care of Apple herself, John did not get the chance to do much more than muck out her stall.
When the task was accomplished, Vanessa snatched the reins to her beloved horse and proceeded to adjust the tack to her satisfaction. Once she was happy with everything, she started to lead the mare out of her stall and into the main area of the stable.
Joseph, slightly out of breath, followed. “Now that she is prepared, which horse will you ride?” Joseph lifted a brow and grinned as Vanessa scoffed in response to his sarcastic question.
She shook her head and moved to the small stepping block that she needed whenever she was wearing a fine dress in order to mount the horse. “Even if I were so foolish to allow a stranger to ride her, she would buck you off the moment you attempted to leave the property.”
“Do not worry about that,” Joseph’s voice was heavy with innuendo as he grinned. “I do not mind a challenging ride whatsoever.”
