Page 33 of Escaping the Earl
For any favorable prize you please,
But do not ask the cook for peas.
She burst out laughing.
“Peas?” Zehra asked in confusion. “Oh dear, our butler must’ve run out of proper rhymes.”
“Well, he is right,” Lawrence added. “For God’s sake, do not ask our cook for peas. I can’t stand them.”
“Well, what will you ask?” Charles demanded. “Make it good.”
Sabrina, still flushed, shook her head. “Whatever I would have asked has already come true. You have been so welcoming to me. I cannot thank you enough for that.”
Zehra and Lawrence exchanged pleased looks.
“Well, the foal award still stands. And anything that you think of, we shall do for you,” Zehra promised her.
“And I shall write a letter to Cedric to tell him who owns the horse. A split of ownership between you and Rutland.”
“I waive my right to the foal. Please give it to Miss Talleyrand.” If he could do anything for her, he was happy to give her a horse that if she was able to care for it could be quite profitable and would help her achieve some measure of financial independence. She deserved that, after all she’d been through.
Sabrina turned stunned eyes to Peregrine. He merely smiled back at her, and it sent a wild flutter through her belly. Her midnight masked man was living up to every dream. She could not imagine any man willingly giving up his ownership interest in a potential racehorse.
“Well, it’s nearly dinnertime. Shall we retire and change?” Lawrence suggested.
Rafe came to retrieve his daughter from Peregrine’s arms, and the little cherub clapped her hands together.
“We won, Papa!”
“I saw that, darling. Next time, you must give me a hint.”
“I believe it’s called cheating,” Charles informed Isla. “And you must never do that for your papa.”
Isla looked between the two men and giggled.
“Shall I take her, Mr. Lennox?” Sabrina asked. “She likely needs to rest after all that excitement.”
“I will accompany you so we can discuss the matter of the horse,” Peregrine added.
“Thank you, Miss Talleyrand,” Rafe said, and he shot a warning look at Peregrine.
Sabrina led Isla back to the nursery, and Peregrine stayed by her side as she tucked the girl into bed. The whole time she felt his gaze on her.
“She must be tired, after running about the house as we did this afternoon,” Peregrine mused.
Sabrina brushed the hair back from Isla’s face and kissed her forehead. She’d come to love the child fiercely.
She rose from the little bed. “She’s such a wonderful child. To think, she was an orphan... She is lucky to have Rafe.”
“And he’s lucky to have her,” Peregrine added as they stepped back into the corridor. “I’ve never seen him happier. She makes him glow.”
“She does, doesn’t she? Love has that effect.”
Peregrine’s tawny eyes glowed. “Have you ever been in love before?”
“I...” She thought of him that night at the ball and how he’d given her what she needed most and now was doing the very same. “I think perhaps I have. What about you?”
A gentle, intimate look settled on his handsome face. “I believe I might have as well.” He cupped her chin, and she closed her eyes. His lips were soft and warm as he kissed her, lighting that fire within her that she’d first discovered with him that night beneath the stars. After today’s little challenges, she was convinced it was him, even if kisses alone weren’t proof enough. Against all odds, she’d found him, and yet she had so little time left to enjoy being with him.
