Page 3 of She Tempts the Duke
She beamed, her clover-green eyes sparkling for only a moment before the worry settled back in. They didn’t dare tarry here. Still gripping her hand, he raced outside. Her legs were long enough to keep up with him. She was as graceful as a filly and almost as fast. They had been friends for as long as Sebastian could remember. He’d never seen anyone with hair as vibrant a red as hers. It was braided now and tapping rhythmically against her back as they ran for the stables.
Once there, he and his brothers each saddled a horse. Mary’s horse was tethered nearby. He boosted her onto it, mounted his own.
“I’ll catch up to you, Tristan. I’m seeing Mary safely home first.”
“No. We stay together as long as we can.”
“Right then. Let’s ride like the wind.”
Mary’s lantern guided them, causing the shadows to ebb and flow with their progress. They couldn’t travel too fast; they didn’t want their horses tumbling. But still there was an urgency that snaked along Sebastian’s skin. They were halfway across their property when he had an undeniable urge to stop.
“Hold up one minute,” he shouted.
Everyone did as he ordered. He was, after all, the duke. He dismounted and moved to where Mary’s lantern shed a bit of light. “Mary, can I have your hair ribbon?”
She handed it over without question. That was so like her. They trusted each other implicitly. Pulling out the handkerchief that his father assured him a gentleman always carried, he knelt down.
“Sebastian, what the hell are you doing?” Tristan asked. “We don’t have time for nonsense. We’ve got to go.”
But he couldn’t leave without taking a bit of home with him. He clawed, scraped, and scooped up a handful of the rich soil over which seven previous dukes, several kings, and queens had galloped their horses. He enfolded it in the linen, secured it with Mary’s ribbon, and stuffed it into his pocket. He remounted and they were off once again.
The next time they brought their horses to a halt, they were outside her father’s stables. Sebastian vaulted off his horse and approached Mary’s.
“Come inside. My father can help you,” Mary insisted.
“It’ll be too dangerous for you and your family.”And probably for us as well.
“I’ll go with you then.”
“No, you can’t go where we’re going.”
“Where are you going?”
“If you don’t know, you can’t say.”And no one can torture it out of you.Reaching up he wrapped his hands around her narrow waist and brought her down to the ground.
She clutched his arms. “Don’t leave me, Sebastian. Take me with you.”
“I’m Keswick now. And I can’t take you with me, but I promise you that I shall return. Ten years, on this night, at the abbey ruins.” Bending down he gave her a kiss, brushing his lips so quickly and lightly over hers that it resembled little more than touching a butterfly’s wings as it took flight. “Thank you, Mary. I’ll never forget what you did for my brothers and me.”
“You must be careful.”
“Always,” he said with a confidence that belied his youth—and his fear. He had no idea what the future would hold.
“Send me word when you’re safe,” she said, and he realized she didn’t understand the true peril that lurked.
“No matter what happens, Mary, never tell anyone what you heard or what you did. It has to remain a secret, for all our sakes.”
“I promise.”
He felt like there was more he should say but he wasn’t quite certain what it was. Climbing back into the saddle, he urged his horse into a gallop, his brothers’ horses thundering alongside him, all of them leaving Mary behind.
As they rode into the night, into the darkness, into the unknown, he vowed that he would one day return to Pembrook to claim all that belonged to him. Nothing mattered more than that.
It was a vow that would shape the man he was to become.
Chapter 1
London
