Page 19 of Unmasked By a Captivating Lady
He smiled slightly. “It was my pleasure, Ara. I do not like to see you so unhappy, daughter.” He paused, gazing at her steadily. “But Idoexpect you to behave and do as your mother wishes.”
Ara felt her smile freeze. She should have known. She should have known that Papa hadn’t just sent for Pem out of the goodness of his heart.
He was using the horse as a bargaining chip, so that she would feel chastened into participating in her mother’s efforts to find her a husband.
She felt her heart instinctively rear up in rebellion. She didn’twanta husband! Why couldn’t they just accept her the way that she was? Why was there always this pressure to conform?
“Of course she will do it, Moses,” said her mother. “She is already being much better, is she not? She brought home a duke, no less!” She laughed, turning to her daughter. “Did he say much, Ara, at the stables? Did he hint that he would like to see you again?”
Ara blushed. “We barely spoke, Mama. We merely attended Pem. I have no idea what his intentions are.”
It was true. After he had touched her, and she had experienced those strange sensations, they hadn’t said much. The Duke had focused exclusively on the horse and Ara had hung back, so unsettled she couldn’t even take joy in her beloved horse anymore.
It is all for the best,she thought fiercely.The Duke is making me act in a very strange way, and I am not sure at all that I like it. Hopefully, I shall see him briefly at his ball, and then never again.
Her mother sighed dramatically. “You must try harder, Ara! Flirt with him! You should not hang back, waiting. That isnothow you get what you want, and there will be others, waiting to snap him up if you do not….”
Ara nodded, barely listening. It seemed that she would never stop hearing about the Duke, now. Her mother had made it her mission to snag him. But she had caused so much contention in her family recently that she just didn’t have the heart, or the energy, to stir up trouble again.
She stood up abruptly. “I am sorry, Mama. But I have a slight headache. Could I be excused?”
Her mother sighed again. “Yes, of course, Ara…”
She nodded, almost fleeing out of the room. She didn’t have a headache. But she did desire to be alone. And the only place that she would find any comfort was in the stables. Pem was there, now, and she must not forget that.
***
It looked like he was waiting for her, still. He was still standing there, in the same position, leaning his head over the stable gate.
She let herself into the stable, picking up a brush. When she was upset, it always calmed her to groom him. Slowly, she started to brush him, in long strokes, up and down.
“I am so pleased to see you, boy,” she said, feeling her eyes fill with tears again. “I wish we were at home, so that I could ride you over the hills, like we always do…”
The horse whinnied slightly.
Ara sighed, brushing him harder. “London is a strange place, Pem. It is full of false people, and it is so busy. So very busy. People who do not understand me…”
Suddenly, the tears that had been threatening spilled over. She sobbed, leaning her head against the horse.
She sobbed for a moment longer. It was true. She wouldneverfeel at home in the city. And even though she was so very grateful that Pem was here, with her, it wasn’t the same as being at home with him.
Her hand brushed against the spot on the horse where the Duke’s hand had closed over her own. She shuddered, remembering it.
He had understood, she thought suddenly. The Duke had understood, somehow, how she had been feeling. He had not spoken to her when she had taken him here because he had understood that she just needed to be with her horse.
He feels the same way as I do,she thought.He takes comfort from them and does not need to speak to people while around them.
Was the Duke of Lancaster an unexpected ally?
She sighed, brushing the horse in a brisk manner. Her feelings about the man were so topsy turvy she simply could not make head nor tail of them.
But one thing was for certain: she didnotwant to get married. She knew what would happen to her if she did.
The Duke might act as if he understood her, and valued her frankness, but that would change if he made her his wife. Wives were supposed to be subservient to their husbands, in all things. Wives could not have their own opinions. Wives only existed to serve their husbands, and that was the truth of it.
Ara took a deep breath. She was better off alone, and she knew it.
Chapter 10
