Page 35 of A Spinster to Heal the Duke
He offered his arm to Anne once more, and she accepted. Whatever tension or irritation there was between them was properly settled. They walked quietly but with a new sort of tension between them until the Duke pulled away to inspect the ground.
"Your woods must be quite good hunting in the winter months," he stated.
"Grandfather has always said so though he and Charles don't hunt as often as some others do," Anne replied. "What makes you say that, Your Grace?"
"We have passed an abundance of animal tracks, but this set was worth a closer look," Noah pointed out.
Anne joined him and looked at the ground.
"It resembles the sheep's prints but more angular," she observed. "A bit larger, too."
"That is because the hooves of sheep, deer, goats, and a few other animals are two cleaves," the Duke explained. "But the prize you have here is a large deer of some sort."
He rose and looked around.
"It looks to be alone rather than in a small group, but if there is one here, there are several. They stay close enough to mate or be small herds when they have families," he indicted.
"That is fascinating," Anne replied. "I don't know that I have ever paid attention to tracks in the area. Though, I have seen many deer here over the years. Deer, foxes, badgers, and all manner of birds."
"If I could return in the winter, I would coax your grandfather and Charles into some early morning hunting. Enter the woods at sunrise, return to the manor with game in time for breakfast, and have the meat ready to braise for dinner. That would be a time to invite those neighbors of yours for a banquet, celebrating a good hunt," he said happily.
"Do you hunt a lot in Grandon?" Anne asked.
"London is not the best place for hunting, and I haven't been to my country house in some time," the Duke replied. "I enjoy it when I have the opportunity, but typically you hunt in a party. I find that since I have stepped into my title, my time for leisure activities has decreased. Since I don't go as often, my invitations to sport have become infrequent. Seems my peers expect I will say no to anything that is not business."
"Do you say no?" Anne asked gently.
"I suppose I might have early on," Noah replied thoughtfully. "I wanted to be taken seriously, and I needed to get my bearings in my new role. But I have been trying to be more sociable in the cooler seasons. Most business shifts during that time anyway."
Anne nodded understandingly.
"I suppose I can speak for Grandfather and Charles well enough to say that you and any guests you wanted to bring would always be welcome to hunt the Reedley property," she said. "In fact, it would remind Grandfather of the property's glory days of hunting parties, balls, and banquets."
"I feel Reedley is on the cusp of a turnaround," he replied.
"Perhaps," Anne agreed. "For now, I think this is the point of the path where you and I turn around. We should return to the manor. How is your ankle?"
"I had forgotten I had been in any pain at all for a moment," Noah replied.
"I hope you will not be too sore later," Anne said.
"I have no complaints," he assured, wiggling his foot mid step.
When they returned to the house, Noah went to the parlor to read until the evening meal. Anne went to the kitchen to begin preparing meat and bread, but first, she placed her flowers from Noah in water.
"Those are lovely," Peggy said when she joined her mistress in the kitchen. "A bit wilted though."
"The Duke of Grandon picked them for me earlier and gave them to me at the start of our walk," Anne explained.
"That's nice," replied the maid. "His temperament seems much better now that his foot's healing. I don't imagine he'll be here more than a month, if that."
"No, I suppose not," Anne said thoughtfully. "He'll go back to London or finish his business in Scotland away from Reedley."
And us,she thought disappointedly.
"Well, he will at least be here a few more weeks because of that banquet — that takes some planning," observed the maid.
"It does," Anne replied, knowing that was only partially true. "But we've known from the beginning he would only be here as long as his injury needed to fully heal. I didn't realize he would be on the mend so quickly."
