Page 58 of Shining Knight
She let out a ragged gasp and opened her eyes. “Graham?”
“You fell from your horse,” he explained.
“Not I, surely?” She lifted her head and looked around with a puzzled frown. “I do appear to be on the ground.”
“But you are not hurt?”
“I do not think so. Mainly the breath was knocked out of me.”
She sat up and moved as though a little sore, but she did not seem to be hurt. Graham could not imagine how he would have explained that to Knighton.
“Where is Cleo?”
“Hopefully nearby. If she has run back to London riderless, your brother will turn the kingdom upside down and strangle me when he find us.”
That brought her to her feet quickly and she began calling for Cleo. They found her a few minutes later, lazily grazing on a patch of grass.
“She does not appear to be lame. She threw a shoe!” Eugenia said with relief, lifting one of the mare’s forelegs.
Graham also felt the noose around his neck loosen a bit. He was still going to meet with the Duke’s displeasure, but this was no laughing matter.
“How much further to Bexley?” she asked, already beyond being thrown.
“Not above a mile or two.”
“I did not realize this was so close to London.”
Graham wondered if he should mention how often he and the brothers had used to come here for a few days, to relax and fish…and it would probably be the first place the Duke would look.
“I suppose we will have to lead Cleo. Hopefully it will not pain her to walk that far,” Eugenia remarked after a thorough examination of her mare.
They gathered the reins and began to lead the horses. As if throwing a shoe were not enough, England decided they had had dry weather for a few hours. Big, fat drops began to fall on their heads, and while his hat was slightly more substantial than Eugenia’s, neither one of them would emerge at Bexley with a square inch dry upon them.
There was no point in trying to talk over the rain, which was now pouring down, and Graham was not about to leave Eugenia to walk on her own, even though it would have served her right.
When they finally trudged through the gates to his cottage, the sun had risen enough that they could see.
Graham looked up at his cottage and frowned. It did not appear that anyone was home nor had been in some time. “What the devil?” The gardens had not been cut and the hedges were wild.
“When was the last time you were here?” she asked skeptically.
“Before the Season began. I have not had the time to come down here since,” he replied as they led the horses down the overgrown path—and that was because he had been squiring her around, he thought wryly, but refrained from saying so out loud.
“I hope nothing bad has happened your caretakers.”
Graham could not help but think the worst. “It certainly looks abandoned,” he said as they led their horses around the back to the stable. There was water and some hay, at the very least. They removed the saddles and saw their horses rubbed down, and then turned towards the house.
He strode to the back door and began to knock. There should have been some sign of life by this time of morning. As he had feared, though, there was no answer.
“Is no one here?” Eugenia asked having crept up beside him.
“It does not appear that way.” He tried the handle and it was locked. “If the Purdys are on holiday, I failed to receive word. Come to think of it, they had not replied to my note about your possible visit.” He cursed under his breath.
“We should try the windows and see if there are any loose latches… unless you have brought a key?” She looked at him sideways and he began to laugh.
She put her hands on her hips and it only made him laugh harder. “Graham,” she growled. “Tell me this minute why you are laughing!”
“You should see yourself!”
