Page 19 of Alone with a Scarred Earl
“I was,” he said, inhaling sharply. “But I caught him before he could throw me. He bolted toward the fence. I pulled him up short, jumped down, and he was spooked again once we reached the yard.”
The groom shook his head.
“I checked it yesterday, milord,” he said, sounding as frustrated as he was nervous. “I checked it twice. There was no weakness. None. I assure you.”
Gabriel said nothing. He accepted the broken strap and turned it over in his hands.
Genevieve stepped closer and saw what he saw. The tear through the leather was unnaturally straight. Not frayed. Not stretched. Cut.
The change in his expression was fleeting but undeniable as she stepped to his side.
“That does not appear to be the result of wear,” she said.
He shook his head.
“It is not,” he said gruffly.
A horrible thought occurred to Genevieve.
“Then the others ought to be examined,” she said, almost whispering. “Quietly. Especially if you believe that someone intended harm.”
His gaze snapped sharply to hers. For a moment, he said nothing. She held his stare, silently willing steadiness from herself while her heart raced.
And then, he smiled. Not faintly. Not in guarded politeness, but with a true, unmistakable smile that altered the severity of his features. The left side remained unchanged, marked and still, but the right side softened. A warmth spread upward, reaching his eyes.
Her breath caught. It was not the smile of a practiced gentleman or polished coyness. It was real and unforced, and utterly breathtaking. Like the portrait I saw, she thought as her heart skipped.
“There is sense in what you suggest,” he said, bowing his head respectfully. “I shall have the tack checked again, without making any fuss about it.”
She returned the smile, slowly. It felt unfamiliar on her lips, not because she had never smiled before, but because this one belonged solely to him. She wished, suddenly and without reason that he would do it again. She hoped that there might be more such moments between them. Moments unshaped by expectation.
Of course, their matrimonial union was not a conventional one. There could be companionship, cooperation, and perhaps even kindness, but nothing more. Still, a matrimony built on shared effort and mutual understanding ought not to be devoid of comfort. Surely, it did not displease him to smile.
“I shall go examine the other stalls,” he said. “You may return to your plans for the day.”
Genevieve shook her head, silently asking him not to send her away.
“I should like to help,” she said. “If that is quite well with you.”
He paused, then nodded, his smiling lips twitching.
“Then let us begin,” he said.
She followed him toward the stables, the sunlight catching in his damp hair. A strange sensation unfurled in her chest. It was not quite longing, but something near to it. They worked in silence for a time. It was a silence that did not demand filling. And when he glanced toward her again, his lips curved faintly, she felt her own smile return, unbidden and unfeigned. She felt as though she was truly his partner at that moment, and it was a thrilling notion. Was he beginning to trust her, after all?
Chapter Eight
The walk from the stables toward the house offered a rare moment of quiet on an otherwise restless morning. Gabriel kept his stride even, although his thoughts moved with far less order than his feet. The broken saddle strap weighed heavily on his mind. Though he had set the matter aside with outward composure, the evidence lingered behind his eyes. The cut had been too clean to be the product of wear. He had seen accidents enough to recognize when something bore the mark of design rather than chance.
Beside him, Genevieve matched his pace.
“I shall request that all tack be inspected again today,” she said. “I believe there is no such thing as overly cautious.
Gabriel glanced toward her, feeling the urge to smile once again, despite his brush with death earlier and the gravity of the task they had just put behind them.
“It will be done before midday,” he said. “No horse leaves the yard without clearance.”
Genevieve nodded.
