Page 26 of The Duke's Return
Breathing hard, Julian considered where they were. The orchard and pond weren’t too far ahead. He slid from the saddle to let his horse rest. Together, they walked to the pond where Princegreedily drank for some time before they steered back toward the stables.
His lungs felt renewed. Although there was still a shadow hanging on his shoulders, Julian could tell the ride had done him some good.
Only now he was wrung dry all the way to his bones. Tired and worn, he nearly stumbled when someone appeared in his way.
“Your Grace.” Genevieve’s odd tone had Julian straightening up and brushing the damp hair from his head. His wife tilted her head, staring at him with an expression he couldn’t decipher. Disgust? Amusement? Perhaps curiosity. “Good morning.”
A glance down over himself proved he was assuredly a most odd sight to see at this early hour. He lacked a jacket and cravat, his neck bare and revealing. Sweat had much of his clothing and hair sticking to his body. He didn’t know how he smelled, deciding not to worry about something he could control just yet.
“Yes.” He glanced at Prince who reached out to Genevieve with interest before Julian tugged him back. “Good morning. I… What are you doing here?”
“I enjoy strolls in the morning, so I thought I might enjoy myself before breaking my fast.” She couldn’t seem to meet his gaze but was staring at the rest of him. He cleared his throat, but it only worked for a short glance, and he wondered just how filthy he might be. “You are…er, riding?”
He gave a short nod. “I was.”
There is room for a jest here, perhaps a touch of flirtation. But my head is thrumming. I cannot think for the life of me what tosay at a time like this. My heartbeat is too loud inside my chest. I am wrung too dry to manage anything at this time.
Perhaps Genevieve noticed his struggle for words. She took a slight step forward, before shifting back slightly. “Are you all right?”
“Certainly.” He forced a grin. “Of course I’m all right. Why wouldn’t I be all right?”
Her brow furrowed in the prettiest little manner. She was close enough he could rub his thumb over the wrinkle to smooth it out, though he didn’t think she would appreciate that. But he appreciated her classical beauty for the way she could make any sort of mood look rather lovely.
How strange I never noticed before. Did she really not have any pressing suits before I scooped her up? That seems unlikely.
“Your Grace, perhaps I should…”
Seeing she was plotting something, Julian cleared his throat loudly and tried to pull himself together. He needed to put the horse away. A bath. And then he needed ten more hours of sleep. He needed all of this before he could manage another conversation with his wife.
“I should let you go. I have to attend the horse and some other matters this morning,” he managed to say. “Good day, my dear.”
“I… Good day,” Genevieve muttered as he led Prince past her. She let out a quiet huff but he pretended not to hear her.
It didn’t matter, Julian told himself. Because everything was well. And if anything wasn’t, then it was hardly her business. They had enough problems to sort through at thistime and worrying about their odd interactions and awkward conversations with one another was not going to help.
Twenty-nine days is all we have to worry about now.
CHAPTER 11
Genevieve let her disgruntled huff sit in the morning air. It lingered as she watched Julian take his leave with a lovely horse at his side.
Young and energetic, the creature was drenched in sweat but clearly eager for another adventure. She couldn’t help but compare the horse to her husband. He had acted almost antsy, shifting his feet and playing with the reigns during their conversation. Had he even noticed what he was doing?
She shook her head. “Strange man.”
It was obvious that he wasn’t feeling well. The man was pale and grim-faced, even with sweat trickling down his brow. It made one of his curls stick to his forehead while the rest clung against his scalp. Even now her fingers itched to tend to the curl, though Genevieve told herself it wasn’t necessary.
He most likely wouldn’t even let me touch him. If anyone was a jumpy young stallion right here in the garden path, it would have been him more than the horse. Did he even realize he was making the horse anxious?
“Men don’t know anything,” she groused as she replayed their short interaction.
He had tried to smile but it had been too tight to be real. That struck her as odd. The man had made a name for himself in his youth for his rakish behavior and charming ways. Certainly much of what came out of his mouth would have been a lie. He had to be good at it… or perhaps only when it was a flirtatious conversation.
A moment ago, Julian hadn’t tried flirting at all with her. She frowned and rubbed her hands together. Though he didn’t seem to feel it, the morning was a chilly one.
As Genevieve watched her husband disappear into the nearby stables, she decided against following after him to inquire of whatever seemed to be the matter. He seemed determined to lie to her. She would not go tell him how obvious it was not the truth––this particularly seemed useful to keep on hand for another time in their conversations.
It would help her to know if he was lying. She wouldn’t share that with anyone else, keeping it for herself.
