Chapter 4
four
After Winchester’s chatty daughter declared Zeus was in danger, Tristan hesitated for a moment before following her out of the study.
From the moment his family had regained their fortune, people often tried to trick him, using the most outlandish claims, from telling him his roof was about to collapse to diagnosing him with an incurable disease, only to steal money from him.
Hence his lack of trust towards people. But she sounded genuinely concerned for Zeus.
“Are you sure Zeus is sick?” he asked.
“Very.” She went down the corridor.
The butler handed her a coat. “Will you be gone for long, my lady?”
“It depends on the horse.”
“Will you need the carriage, my lady?”
“No. I’ll be at the stables for a while.” She rushed outside with Tristan following her.
Zeus was pawing the ground, his muscles tense and his eyes wide.
“Mate.” Tristan ran a hand down Zeus’s neck, feeling the tension under the horse’s coat.
“Quickly. He’s starting to feel pain.” She untied the reins and beckoned at him to follow her again. “He’s growing nervous.”
It was true. Tristan had been so enraged when he’d ridden to Archer Hall that he might have overlooked Zeus’s state.
He sped up, caressing the horse’s side. A sickening lump was growing in his throat at the thought of Zeus dying. It would be his fault. In the park, his mind had kept drifting to business matters, and he hadn’t paid attention to what Zeus had been doing.
“I’ll take care of you, mate.”
“I’m Lady Effie, by the way.” She cast him a glance as if expecting him to say something.
But he didn’t understand what—the memory hit him when the sunlight played in her shining hazel eyes.
“Lady Effie. I believe I met you before.” For a handful of moments nearly sixteen years ago. But he never forgot that night when she’d knocked on his door or the gratitude he’d felt. He’d met her father occasionally, but not her.
“We did. Briefly.” She waved a dismissive hand. “Let’s think about Zeus first.”
She led him under a stone arch and into a secluded, cobbled alleyway lined with stables. “This is the second time we see each other, but on both occasions, we weren’t introduced formally. Not that I mind.”
He said nothing. She always caught him off guard, and it wasn’t exactly pleasant. From the little he remembered, she didn’t seem to have changed much. Her spectacular hazel eyes struck him as extraordinary, the same as they had done years ago.
“I’ll be right back.” She disappeared behind a door.
Tristan stroked Zeus’s muzzle again. “I’m sorry,” he whispered to him only. “I’m an ass.”
The horse made a noise between a snort and a squeal.
“Here we are.” Lady Effie returned with a bucket of water. “I dissolved some chloride of lime in the lukewarm water. The stomach isn’t too distended. This trick should work to solve the problem. I also added some apple juice. It does wonders to encourage a horse to drink.”
He was taken aback again. “Chloride of lime corrodes metal.”
“But in very small doses, it helps with intestinal gas. Trust me. It’s a sure remedy and a safe cure. I tried it several times with great success. The dose makes the poison.”
He watched Zeus closely as he drank small sips from the bucket.
Lady Effie leant against the wooden stall. “Please be careful next time. No cold water, especially in the morning. After he finishes that bucket, I’ll give you some asafoetida. It’s perfect for curing stomach problems. Then light food and light exercise until we’re sure he’s safe.”
“How do you know so much about horses?” He caressed Zeus’s neck and abdomen gently; it was bloated, but not too much.
“Mama hates London. She never wants to spend time here. So I grew up on an estate in Bedfordshire with my siblings. Papa divided his time between Bedfordshire and London, but he’s staying here longer as of late.
He does feel lonely, so I decided to keep him company.
I’m his thirteenth child. My brothers and sisters are scattered all around the kingdom and the Continent.
” She waved a hand. “For business or because their spouses are from another country.”
“Thirteenth?” He kept caressing Zeus, more to calm himself than the horse.
“I also grew up surrounded by horses and animals, and Mama has never stood on ceremony when we were out of London. Papa is the opposite. He prefers the city to the country.”
Zeus finished the water and licked his lips.
She took the reins. “We’d better let him walk for a while.” She led Zeus along the stable alley.
The clip-clop of Zeus’s hooves echoed off the walls of the stables. The chatter of the stable hands and grooms came from every corner.
“Do you have siblings?” she asked.
“No.” He exhaled. “I mean, yes. A brother.”
Almost. Rowan was the son of Father’s second wife, who had eloped with a Scotsman, leaving her son behind. Such a lady.
“Do you get along? I love all of my siblings. They’re my best friends.”
“Rowan is a boy.”
“And? Is age an impediment to brotherly friendship and love? You love Zeus, and he isn’t even human.”
So his test in patience wasn’t finished yet.
“Lady Effie, I’m grateful for your help, but I’d rather talk about your father. I really need to see him.”
Her hazel eyes flashed with a quick glint. “Papa is visiting Colin, my eldest brother, who lives in Greenford. So he’ll be back late this evening and have dinner at the Criterion.”
“Greenford, West London. I bet he paid a ticket to my railway company.”
She let out a nervous chuckle. “I don’t know. That would be ironic, wouldn’t it?”
They reached the end of the alleyway and turned around. Zeus’s moves were less stiff and his muscles more relaxed.
“Why is it so important to see him?” she asked.
“I told you. He rejected my more than reasonable offer.”
“Well, maybe your offer wasn’t so reasonable.” She laughed. He didn’t.
“I offered him thrice the value of a piece of land he owns in Easthollow.”
“Easthollow? Isn’t it that strip of uninhabited rocky land where not even grass grows?”
“Precisely, yet he refused my offer.”
Out of spite. Winchester was convinced Father had robbed him of a great business deal, which was ridiculous. Father hadn’t robbed anyone; he’d simply been a clever businessman.
She checked Zeus’s belly. “Papa must have his reasons.” She smiled, and he had to admit her smile was disarming. “And he helped you once,” she added in a whisper.
“We both know you were behind the earl’s generosity.” Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come to his house.
Her cheeks flushed. “He needed to be persuaded, but he made the final decision. Anyway, I’m glad you overcame your troubles.”
“I did.” It’d taken nearly two decades, but his family wasn’t starving anymore. Quite the opposite.
They reached the other end, so she turned Zeus around to walk back again.
“Why did Papa refuse your offer?”
He cleared his throat, pondering what to say. “You should ask him that next time you see him.”
“I will.”
They walked in silence among the noises from the other horses in the stables and the chatter of the stable hands.
She touched Zeus’s belly again. “Much better.”
He checked him as well. The muscles weren’t tight anymore, and Zeus’s eyes were less wide.
“We should take him home. Where’s your stable?” she asked.
“Close to my house at the end of the street.”
“Don’t mount Zeus. It would be better if you walked him. I’ll be right back.” She handed him the reins and entered the stable.
Tristan scratched the spot in Zeus’s neck the horse loved, making him sigh. He kissed Zeus’s muzzle, scolding himself again for letting his temper neglect his stallion.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“He’s better, isn’t he? He should be all right now.” Lady Effie ran a hand along Zeus’s neck. “Such a gorgeous stallion.”
“He’s my favourite.”
“That’s for you.” She handed him a pot with a tight lid. “Asafoetida for Zeus to drink. Pick a measure of powder as big as an egg and dilute it in lukewarm water. It does wonders.”
He took the pot. “Will do.”
“Don’t make him run until tomorrow. He needs rest.”
“Of course.”
“Well, I’ll see you soon, then. If something happens, send for me.”
He loitered another moment, wondering why leaving right then didn’t seem right. “Lady Effie, thank you for your help. I mean it. You’ve been wonderful.”
“You’re welcome.” Her smile could melt a glacier. “Have that cut disinfected.” She pointed at his hand. “Who knows where Kettle sank his nails into?”
“I don’t want to know.” He bowed his head.
Zeus nudged Lady Effie with his muzzle before pressing his muzzle against his master.
“Goodbye.” She waved at them.
He waved back. “I’ll try again to meet your father. Perhaps tomorrow.”
“Excellent.”
He walked away with Zeus. That wasn’t how he’d supposed his day would have gone.