Page 34 of The Duke Not Taken

“No you don’t,” Maisie said. “You know how to ride a pony. You don’t know how to ride a horse.”

“Papa showed me,” Mathilda insisted. “When you weren’t there. No one was there. It was just me and Papa.”

“I would,” Maren said softly to Amelia.

“Then come!”

“Ma’am... I beg your pardon,” Mrs. Hughes said anxiously. “I—”

“It’s all right, Mrs. Hughes. I’m an accomplished horsewoman. I’ll have our guards accompany us.”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness. I’ll just speak to Lady Iddesleigh, shall I? if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” The poor woman wouldn’t get near Blythe this afternoon, not in her state of high dudgeon about the ball.

She watched Mrs. Hughes hurry down the hall, then turned back to the girls. “Shall we?”

The three of them agreed that they should.

Later, in hindsight, Amelia would concede it was perhaps not the best idea she’d ever had. She’d only meant to amuse the girls and herself, to pass the time. She certainly hadn’t meant for things to get out of hand.

She and her guards each took a girl and set them on the saddle before them. They guided the horses to the flattest part of the road between Hollyfield and Iddesleigh House, which happened to be where the drive into Hollyfield intersected the road. The bleak mansion loomed in the background. Although, on closer inspection, Amelia decided that the house could be quite grand. A little scrubbing of the exterior and opening the rooms to light would do wonders for its tired facade.

Oter and Fabian, her guards, dismounted and set up their watch beneath the shade of a tree. Amelia had ridden the roan mare, but she took turns putting each girl into the saddle of Oter’s horse, the most docile of the three. She showed them how to hold themselves in the saddle, how to hold the reins, and then led the horse by the bridle up and down the road. “Oter? Do you see these riders? Are they not excellent?” She called out to her senior guard.

“Excellent, indeed, Highness,” Oter called back.

When Amelia had led each girl up and down the flat road, Maren asked, “Will you teach us how to ride like you did at the picnic?”

Amelia grinned. “It was a grand entrance, wasn’t it? My sister and I used to admire a duchess who rode like that, like the wind, wherever she went. She loved horses.”

“I want to ride like the wind,” Maren said wistfully.

“No,Maren! You’re not big enough!” Mathilda said.

“I want to do it too,” Maisie shouted.

“Maren first,” Amelia said. She called to Oter to help—she brought Maren off Oter’s horse, then put herself on the roan. Oter lifted Maren to ride in front of her. Amelia had a good hold on the girl with one arm, and the reins in the other hand.

“Lean toward the horse’s neck,” she advised. “We’ll get her to run, then give her a bit of the rein and see how fast she goes. She spurred the horse with her crop, and the roan lurched into a run. Maren squealed—with delight or fright, Amelia wasn’t sure. She gave the horse more rein, and the mare began to gallop. But when she did, it was much harder to control than Amelia had anticipated. When the horse made a sudden turn onto the Hollyfield drive, Amelia lost control. No matter what she did, the horse was determined to reach the house, very nearly dumping Amelia and Maren in its haste.

Maren began to scream. Amelia thought she might, too, but mostly, all her strength was put to hanging onto Maren and the reins. She pulled hard, and the horse began to yield. But then she heard barking. A dog suddenly appeared alongside them and tried to nip at the roan’s hooves. It spooked the horse.

“Merlin!” a male voice roared.

Amelia was reduced to clinging to the horse and Maren. A rider appeared beside her, his horse edging into the roan’s side. Amelia thought he would slide right off his mount and be trampled, but he managed to lunge for the roan’s bridle and forced it to slow while he reined in his horse and brought them all to a stop.

The dog who had chased the roan loped ahead, then turned and trotted back.

As the horses came to a full stop, Maren started to sob. She twisted around in Amelia’s arms, her arms going around her neck and squeezing what little breath Amelia had left in her.

“What in the devil are you doing?”

She realized at once it was Marley. Of course it was. His chest rose and fell with each furious breath.

“I wanted to teach them how to ride—”

“Toride?You could have killed yourself and the child!”