Page 56 of The Burdened Duke
Was that too much? Was she presuming that they had everbeenfriends to begin with? Any doubts Lavinia had were wiped away when the duke smiled, slowly and almost shyly.
“I’m glad,” he said, voice quiet. “I’m glad we’re friends again, too.”
She beamed.
***
Lavinia woke up to a strip of sunlight shining directly onto her eyes. She’d been wrapped up in a lovely dream about the dinner party last night.
Itwasa triumph. Me, dancing the waltz with the duke again, Gillian and her Lord Langley staring dotingly at each other all night. Miss Bainbridge’s palpable rage. Yes, it was a success.
She squinted at the sunlight, streaming through a crack in the curtains. Her feet were still sore from all the dancing she’d done last night. Once it was clear that the duke wanted to dance with her, suddenly all the other gentlemen wanted to stand up with her, too. She’d danced with Lord Langley too, of course, but that was just to please Gillian. He was a pleasant enough man, and Lavinia thought she would like to see him as her brother-in-law.
She sat up, stifling a yawn. The house, as far as she could tell, was silent. A glance at the sky outside revealed that it was probably no later than seven o’ clock in the morning. The servants would be up and about, of course, but most of the guests would still be resting after their late night. Perhaps a couple of early risers would be taking breakfast – the Bainbridges, she’d be willing to bet – but most of them would not appear until close to noon.
Lavinia debated lying back down again. A few more hours of sleep would do her good.
Somehow, though, she had plenty of energy, and sleep did not seem quite so appealing. She lowered herself back onto her elbows, peering up at the canopy.
It didn’t take her long to decide.
Flinging back the covers, Lavinia hopped out of bed. She washed and dressed quickly, not bothering to ring for a maid. Last night’s dress was spread out in front of the wardrobe, ready to be washed, pressed, and replaced. Her dancing slippers were set side by side beside it, the toes scuffed and the soles more worn than any dancing slippers she’d worn before.
Grinning to herself, Lavinia pulled out a worn old dress, plain brown, easy to get on by herself. She took out a pair of riding boots to go with it, and carelessly pinned up her hair on top of her head, not caring about the few locks that fell down around her ears. It wasn’t as if anybody was going to see her.
Yes, an early morning ride was just the ticket. She missed Stepper. Her mother, of course, would disapprove. So would Gillian, as a matter of fact. Sneaking out to go riding alone was bad enough when one was at home, but when one was a guest at a house party like this one, it was much worse.
Nobody will know,she reminded herself.It doesn’t matter.
Already thrilling with excitement at her own little adventure, Lavinia slipped out into the hallway. She would put her boots on at the door. No sense in being overheard and caught out before her adventure had even started.
***
Stepper was clearly thrilled to go for a ride. He fidgeted as Lavinia saddled him up, tossing his head and rubbing his nose against her shoulder. She shushed him, keeping her eyes peeled for a groom. They might insist on coming with her, or else send word to that disapproving butler.
Or worse, her mother.
Lavinia led Stepper out of the stable, saddled and bridled and ready to go. She was already planning out her route in her head. They would ride up the hills, to where the mist still clung to the damp ground, and the sky was so heavy and grey it seemed to be about to touch the summits. The view from up there had to be spectacular.
She stopped dead at the sight of a man, sitting on a bench with his back to her, facing the horse paddocks. She could see that, in one of the distant paddocks, the beautiful black stallion was cropping grass.
She froze.Can I sneak past him?
On cue, Stepper snorted loudly, and pawed the ground, annoyed at the delay. The man tensed and twisted around to look behind him.
It should not have come as a surprise for her to see that it was the duke. He, at least, seemed equally surprised to see her. He jumped to his feet and made a neat bow.
“Miss Brookford. I apologise, I didn’t… didn’t know that anyone was here.”
She bit her lip. He must have arrived minutes after her, since the courtyard had been empty when she arrived.
“It’s alright. I hope I’m not disturbing your…” she trailed off, not entirely sure what it was he was doing. “I was just going out for a ride.”
“Oh. I see.” He eyed Stepper nervously. Annoyed with the delay, the horse tossed his head, tugging on the reins in Lavinia’s hand.
On impulse, she led him over to the fence, wrapping the reins around a post. Stepper gave a snort of annoyance, then resigned himself to cropping the grass at the bottom of the fence post.
She edged towards the duke, who was still standing awkwardly beside the bench.
