Page 6 of A Duke in Pursuit of Passion
"So you are thinking of marriage! Ha, I knew it!" Arnold proclaimed with such a smile on his face that Nathaniel could not help smiling with him.
Nathaniel glowered at his friend, knowing he need not say a word for Arnold to know he had had enough of his teasing.
"Oh, you are no fun anymore!" Arnold scolded, lashing out playfully with his palm to clap Nathaniel on the shoulder. "Why can't you be as you once were?"
Knocking his hand away, Nathaniel pointed out, "As I have said before, I have had to grow up. You need not worry; I shall be at Winton's dinner tomorrow. With any luck, you shall be wrong about him."
Arnold scoffed at that. "Even if I am right, he shall never admit it."
Nathaniel rolled his eyes, knowing well how his friend felt while also seeing the benefits of marriage. To be a nobleman was a complicated and confusing affair of balancing relationships and connections for the betterment of an entire family.
Nathaniel did not blame his friend for denying such responsibilities. Even now, he still did not like the idea of them, though he was well aware that one day he would be forced to make such a vow just as he had been forced to take up the responsibility of being the worthy eldest son of a duke.
"He would not be the first man to be enchanted by a woman," Nathaniel pointed out with a shake of his head. "We ought not begrudge him that."
He could already see his friend's jaw clenching as he prepared for what he was going to say next.
"I seem to remember a certain young lady who had you wrapped around her little …"
"Do not remind me!" Arnold said, snapping the words in such a way that Nathaniel could not help chuckling.
"Then forgive Winton and don't go making him look an entire fool at his own dinner," Nathaniel suggested, knowing that Samuel Winton would likely get the same treatment he had been getting all afternoon. If he could spare the man's new wife even an inch of embarrassment, he would at least try to do so.
Better to get Arnold settling down about the entire marriage ordeal now,Nathaniel thought, deciding it was for Winton's benefit. Though deep down, he knew it was more than that.
"Don't you have a young lady awaiting you for dinner this evening?" Nathaniel asked, having had quite enough of his friend's teasing.
Arnold glanced at the clock set into the outer wall of the courtyard, and seeing that the hour was growing late, he nodded, gesturing Nathaniel's manservant forth to take his blade from him. "Thank you, Mack, I must be on my way."
As his friend hurried off across the courtyard, he yelled over his shoulder, "Make sure to show your face at Winton's, or I shall tell him all the things I have told you!"
With a chuckle and a roll of his eyes, Nathaniel advised his manservant, "Mack, please could you ensure he makes it to his carriage without disturbing any of the female staff about their work."
"Yes, My Lord," Mack responded, bowing his head and taking Nathaniel's own blade before he hurried off after Arnold.
Nathaniel watched him go, pleased to have such a steadfast force on his team, knowing that the manservant, who had become somewhat of a friend over the years would do all he could to keep him on the straight and narrow. Though the same could not be said for Arnold, they would at least try where they could.
Chapter 5
Ella awoke the next morning from a night of tossing and turning and horrendously bad dreams. Rising much earlier than usual and knowing that breakfast would not be served for another couple of hours, Ella needed the time to clear her head.
A ride was just what was in order, so she dressed quickly in her riding attire with her freshly polished boots and headed out before Alice could arrive to begin the morning rituals.
It was quite freeing to be out alone, with nothing but the rising sun and birdsong for company. And wandering down to the stables, she already felt a little steadier than she had when she had awoken that morning.
The shivers that passed through her body whenever her thoughts were drawn back to the terrible dreams she'd had, weren't going to go away easily, and she was more than glad when she arrived at the stables to find that even the stable hands weren't about yet.
In her current mental state, she was in absolutely no mood to converse with anyone. Luckily for her, it was not the first time she had ridden out early, and having watched a hand or two over the years with tacking up a horse, she had long ago taught herself to do exactly the same. It was perhaps one of the few things that she could do independently without the need of a servant, though she was always happy to try her hand at something new.
"Good morning," she greeted her horse, Bricker, a red sandy- coloured stallion that her father had acquired for her several years earlier.
She forced a smile for the horse, though it was not such a good morning for her, not after the disagreement she had shared with her sister and the awful night's sleep, but Bricker had done nothing to deserve her grumpy mood, and so she greeted him as she always did with a pat on the neck and a rub between his front legs before tacking him up.
"Do you feel like a ride?" she asked him as she led him from his stall, and the horse, seeming to understand her, gave a small nicker and nodded his head. At that, Ella smiled. The horse always appeared to know how to make her smile.
Using the mounting blocks, Ella clambered up onto Bricker's back and rode him out of the stables. Together they wandered through the yard and down the lane, turning through an open gate into one of the fields owned by her father before she finally released his reins and gave him a good sharp kick, encouraging him into a canter, then faster still until they were galloping.
The wind whipped through his mane and her hair, creating a storm of ginger and blonde all around them.
