Page 8 of The Heir's Fortune
“What are you doing out here alone?” he asked again as the rain fell upon them, soaking them through in seconds, and Madeline could only look at him incredulously.
“Are you so concerned about that right now? We have to return.”
She was practically shouting to be heard, and he nodded grimly before turning his horse back toward the house. Their race had seemed short, but they had been riding fast and now their horses were wet and tired from their sprint, which made the return journey seem a lot longer and considerably more miserable.
They said nothing, Madeline turning inward as her riding habit and cloak were stuck to her skin in the most wretched way.
Suddenly Lord Ashford pushed his horse slightly ahead of hers before he stopped and dismounted, bending toward the ground. He walked over to her stopped horse and held his hand out toward her. Her mouth fell open in surprise when he held her crumpled, wet hat within it.
“You didn’t have to,” she said as loud as she could, shaking her head, but he simply shrugged his shoulders and remountedhis horse, continuing on before she could recover from her surprise that he would take the time in the middle of a rainstorm to retrieve her hat.
They finally made it back to the stables, the relief of entering under a dry roof overcoming them, allowing Madeline to feel as though she could finally take a breath.
“How did the skies go from being empty to pouring rain?” she asked as she dismounted, looking around the stables but seeing only the few resident horses peering over their stalls at them. “And where is Victor?”
“Perhaps he was caught elsewhere when the rain began,” Lord Ashford said, dismounting and beginning to see to his horse himself. Madeline followed suit, used to the task of looking after Lady. In fact, she rather enjoyed it.
“Had you wanted to spend time alone with me, Lord Ashford, you only had to ask,” she teased, amused when panic crossed his face at her words.
“I thought I would be alone,” he said tersely. “I spend most mornings riding around the property, overseeing everything. I had no idea that you would be riding as well.”
“I am only jesting,” she said, pushing her hair back away from her face. “Should we remove our riding clothes here?”
He stared at her as rain dripped from his hair, which had begun to curl around his head, and slid down his face.
“Are you still jesting?”
“Yes,” she said, waiting a moment, and then she couldn’t help it. She laughed out loud.
“Oh, Lord Ashford, you are a fun one.”
“I am?” he said, his brow furrowed.
She guessed he had never been called that before. She didn’t answer his question but instead began a different inquiry.
“You and your friends came together because you were a bored group of lords interested in undertaking some daring activities, did you not?”
“Yes,” he said, removing his horse’s saddle before crossing to hers. She had already unclasped it, but he waved her away when she tried to carry it.
“I have a hard time believing it.”
He flicked a glance toward her. “Believe what you wish. It matters not to me.”
“Allow me to rephrase,” she said. “I suppose I wonder why you are a part of this circle of friends as you do not seem the type of man to participate in such dares or pranks?”
He was silent for over a minute as he continued to brush his horse, sluicing away the water that clung to its beautiful black sides.
“Do you remember me when I was younger?”
“Not entirely, as I was just a girl a few years younger than you myself,” she said.
“I remember you.”
“Do you now?” Well, this was interesting.
“You always had that harsh tongue of yours. You said the oddest things as a child, dressed in dark clothing that no other young ladies would ever be allowed to wear. You convinced Cassandra that ghosts were wandering the halls of Castleton.”
“There probably are,” she said, unable to understand how he couldn’t give credence to the idea.
