Page 3 of My Favorite Mistake
It was the strangest thing, but a sudden chill came over Fanny, even though they were standing full in the sun. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck. She froze, her mouth still full of apple, as it suddenly occurred to her—
His lordship had just hired a newhead trainer.
Nick Cradduck had gone to see a manabout some business.
Nick Cradduck, whotrained horsesfor a living.
Oh, bloody, bloody hell!
“Mr. Cradduck,” Billy called, waving his hat. “Mr. Cradduck!”
Fanny reached into her purse, pulled out a handful of coins, and slapped them down on the corner of Becky’s cart. She still had a mouthful of apple, and as she pointed over her shoulder, trying to mime that she needed to go, she felt a drop of juice run down her chin.
“Billy,” a deep voice boomed from behind her. “What cheer, mate. And dash my wig, who do we have here?” He grinned as he leaned toward Fanny, tapping his chin. “You’ve something just here, Red.”
Finally, she managed to swallow that blasted apple. She scrubbed at her chin with her apron.
Billy failed to mark her sour expression. “This is my friend Fanny, and this is Becky. Becky lives here in Brockworth, but Fanny’s with us. She serves as lady’s maid to Lady Ardingly.” He gestured to the piles of fruit, oblivious. “We were just trying the apples. Here, sir, have a slice of this Port Wine Pippin. It’s as sweet as honey!”
Nick didn’t take his eyes off Fanny. “Sweet is nice, but there’s something to be said for the tart ones.”
She was tempted to club him over the head with her parasol, but there wasn’t time for that. The important thing was that she get away.
She had to find Lady Caroline. Fanny had been in service to her ladyship for sixteen years and had stuck her neck out for her ladyship a time or two.
Lady Caroline would put a stop to this. Fanny knew she would. Besides, Lord Ardingly didn’t want to be hiring a good-for-nothing lying wretch like Nick Cradduck to be his head trainer, and Fanny felt an obligation to save him from this terrible mistake.
So, she ignored Nick’s smug grin and wheeled around to make her escape.
She made it all of one step before his hand shot out and grabbed her arm. He pulled her back with no apparent exertion. “Fanny. I said we needed to talk.”
“And I said I’d nothing to say to you.” Her voice shook, which was an embarrassment, but there was nothing to be done for it.
Nick’s voice was soft. “That’s fair. After all, I’m the one with the explaining to do. All I ask is that you listen.”
“There’s no explanation you could make that would change anything,” Fanny said, managing to wrench her arm free.
Billy squinted at them. “Do… do you two know each other?” Beside him, Becky gave an exasperated sigh and shot Fanny a look she read as,are all men this stupid?
“I thought I knew him. But I was wrong.” She cut her eyes to Nick’s face. “I didn’t know him at all.”
“I know why you feel that way,” Nick said. “But I swear, it wasn’t what you think.”
Fanny wiped beneath her eyes with her thumbs. Well, this was just grand—he’d made her cry, and in front of Billy to boot! The thought of that got the ire rising in her throat again.
Well, if he wanted to have it out right here in front of everyone, they could have it out right here in front of everyone. And if Nick Cradduck didn’t like what she was about to say, he’d have no one to blame but himself, now would he?
“It wasn’t what I think, eh? Answer me this—are you or are you not the man who pledged your love to me? Who promised we’d be together forever?” Now her voice was shaking, but this time it was with rage. “And then, the very next morning, stood up in front of God, the vicar, the church cat, and the entire parish of Birchington-on-Sea andmarried another woman?”
Becky gasped as loud and theatrical-like as any actress on Drury Lane could’ve done. Billy was standing dumbstruck, his mouth hanging open. A few feet over, they’d paused the shin-kicking contest, and the people on the green around them were craning their necks and openly staring.
Feeling energized, Fanny jabbed Nick in the chest with her finger, then had to tamp down the urge to flinch and shake her hand. It seemed his chest hadn’t grown any softer in the intervening years. Seeing as she couldn’t poke him again without breaking her finger, she settled for leaning in and narrowing her eyes. “A woman, I might add, who looked about nine months gone with child. Was that you, Nick Cradduck? Or are you here to tell me that was someone else?”
Becky gasped again. Nick bit back a curse. “No, that was me. But—”
“But nothing!” Fanny brandished her parasol at him, which made her feel considerably better. “What? Do you expect me to believe you didn’t get that woman with child? That you’re the innocent party here?”
“Iamthe innocent party,” Nick ground out. “Ya see—”
