Page 12 of The Love Potion
“Well, of course she is,” the woman said smoothly. “It’s been tedious, you know, being in London well before the Season began. Lady Zoe and I have made several excursions outside of the city, and we discovered your stables completely by—”
“Design?” Nate interrupted. “It would be the smart thing to do, after all, if one intended to catch the duke’s attention.”
Ras glowered at his friend. “That is not the best way to catch my attention.”
“Of course, it isn’t,” Miss Petrelli said, pouring another cup of tea. “And it wasn’t by design. Or at least not completely. Sugar, Your Grace? Cream?” she asked as she held out a cup of tea for him.
Courtesy required that he take it though he was not accustomed to waiting this long before his morning exercise. “Lemon alone, thank you.”
“An excellent choice,” she said as if he were deliberating an affair of state. “Zoe—”
“None for me, thank you,” the girl quipped, clearly eager to be outside with his cattle. “But I shall take a couple strawberries dipped in sugar.” She glanced at Ras. “It makes Rumble, um, rumble quite loud. If you would like to hear it.”
Strawberries hadn’t been in season long enough for her to know that. Unless, of course, she had been very recently in his stables. “Just how well do you know my horses?”
“Zoe has been a regular visitor, my lord. She had the stablemaster’s permission. Mr. Barnes knows her as Miss Daisy Duncan.”
“He only calls me Daisy. He thinks I’m a local girl who has a passion for horses. He’s never let me ride any of them, butI’ve helped with their training and grooming. There’s always something to be done at a stable.”
“Atmystable,” he pressed.
“How else am I to get to knowyourhorses?” Zoe returned.
Nate chuckled. “She has you there, Ras. Come on, don’t make a fuss. She was perfectly well supervised, and it’s not even improper.”
“To work a man’s stable without permission?” Good lord, what if his mother found out? What if anyone in society found out? They’d insist he’d compromised her somehow and he’d have to marry her. The very idea that the daughter of an earl had been running around his stable like a common laborer would do such damage to her reputation that she might not recover. And it would do no favors to his own. “You cannot tell anyone about this!” He shot a glare at Lady Zoe, but his words were for Nate. Or rather for Mr. Pickleherring.
“Yes,” Miss Petrelli interposed. “We have kept the excursions secret. And they’ve ended now that the Season has started. But in happy news, Zoe can finally ride Rumble as she’s always wanted to.” The lady stood up and gestured for them to precede her outside. It was the action of a seasoned hostess. She kept the party moving, smoothed over any unpleasant realizations, and functioned as if everything were exactly proper, even when her own charge had been running about the countryside as Miss Daisy Duncan and doing the work of a stable boy.
He was still absorbing the shock of Lady Zoe’s impropriety when the girl leaped up to rush outside. She barely kept herself from running. Nate followed her, a grin on his face, but Ras held back to speak with Miss Petrelli.
“You’re her chaperone. Do you have any idea how you have risked her reputation?”
“Have you never known a girl with high spirits, Your Grace? One who chafes at being indoors, who is used to daily exercise,and is simultaneously terrified of the coming Season where her life will be determined by so many factors she cannot control?”
“Other girls do not impersonate stable hands.”
“Are you so sure?”
“Not my stable hands!”
“Again, Your Grace, are you sure? Would you have known it if Zoe hadn’t just confessed it all?”
No, of course he wouldn’t. He barely spoke with his stablemaster given that there were so many more important things clamoring for his attention. He enjoyed riding, of course, and hunting had been a favorite pastime when he was younger. But right now, he couldn’t remember the last conversation he’d had with Mr. Barnes. “You can be sure I’ll speak with Mr. Barnes forthwith. Good God, what if something had happened to her?”
“She was perfectly safe, Your Grace. Your stablemaster is a good man with a kind heart. And Zoe is well able to take care of herself around horses.”
“But—”
“But nothing. You are being prickly for no reason at all.”
Was he? “You have no idea how vicious society can be,” he said softly. “Have you ever had a Season, Miss Petrelli?”
“You know I have not.”
“Have you ever resided in London before? Been in society with any of thehaut ton?”
She scowled at him, her voice growing hard. “You know I have not. My parents died two years ago when I came to live with Zoe’s family. The Earl and Countess are aging, and I was grateful to help them.”
