Chapter 3 #2
She frowned, looking around in an effort to find a parent or guardian.
The boy was a little too well-dressed to be a stable hand or groom.
He continued speaking to the horse with his right hand outstretched and a look of wonder in his warm brown eyes.
He did not seem to be in immediate danger.
The horse was calm and tolerant of his touch, but Daisy was still worried.
What is he doing all on his own?
“I’ll wager he ran away from his guardian,” Daisy murmured to herself.
She had five sisters, all of whom were married with their own children. She’d been present a few times when one child or another ran away from their nurserymaid because they had become distracted by some shiny thing.
The carthorse was certainly not shiny, but it would catch the attention of an inquisitive child.
Daisy took a step closer, opening her mouth to greet the child when there came a loud boom, and fireworks exploded above them in a kaleidoscope of color and sound.
Daisy jerked in surprise. She knew the air balloon was supposed to launch soon, so she had not anticipated an accompanying fireworks display, especially since it was still daylight.
The boy looked up at the sky, his mouth agape.
But the horse startled, reared up, and whinnied in fear.
The beast’s large hooves began pinwheeling in the air.
Daisy gasped and dived for the boy, towing him away just as those hooves landed with a thud, exactly where he’d been standing a moment before.
Heart racing, Daisy pulled the boy to her side. “Are you all right?” she asked with a shaky voice.
The boy nodded, clutching her skirts as if he would never let them go. Daisy got to her feet, grabbing the still-agitated horse’s ropes and speaking softly to him. “It’s all right. Just some fireworks,” she said soothingly as she tried to settle the horse.
It took some time to stop it from trying to trot away as the beast pulled at its tether and whinnied nervously.
“Is he angry at me?” the boy asked.
“No, no, he’s just afraid. The sound terrified him.”
“You mean the fireworks?” the boy asked, peering at the horse from behind Daisy.
“Yes. The fireworks, the lights, and the noise.”
“It is rather frightening,” the boy agreed.
Daisy turned to him. “You’re safe, don’t worry. Do you see, the horse has calmed down now?”
The boy took a peek and then nodded in agreement.
“What’s your name?” Daisy asked.
“Lord Harry Foster, at your service, my lady.”
Daisy smiled at him. “What a proper young man you—”
There was another boom as more fireworks were released, and Harry screamed. The horse reared, lifting Daisy slightly off her feet as he pulled at his ropes.
Daisy let go of the ropes and fell to the ground, landing on her knees beside Lord Harry.
The horse lurched back, neighing loudly, legs jerking, towering over them.
“Harry!”
Edmund broke into a run as he spotted his son standing with a strange woman while a horse reared up over their heads. He wanted to scream Harry’s name again and tell him to run, but terror made him mute.
Harry’s shriek of fright tore through Edmund like a knife, and he ran faster.
Then the woman reached up and grabbed the horse’s rope.
Her free hand raised slowly as she said something to the horse.
She pulled at the rope, making the horse land on its forelegs and then began to stroke it gently on the nose, all while murmuring to him.
To Edmund’s surprise, the horse settled.
Harry moved closer to her, staring up at her in awe as she smiled down at him, while still caressing the horse’s snout.
He’d never seen his son look at anyone like that before.
He paused, staring at Harry and then the woman before lunging forward to grab his son by the arm and pull him against his side.
The woman turned, her mouth open as if to protest, but whatever words she was about to say died as their eyes met. A tense silence ensued before Edmund got his voice back.
“Would you care to explain just what you were doing with my son?” he bellowed.
She blinked at him, seeming nonplused, and then she replied, “I was saving your son. Why would you expect anything else?”
She seemed to be speaking more to herself than to him, and he frowned. “Saving my son? He would not need saving, were you not so reckless.”
“Reckless? Me?” Her nose wrinkled as she gave him a critical stare.
“That is the singular most absurd thing I have ever heard.” She looked down at Harry, and they shared a quick, speechless shrug.
The lady nodded briskly, then stood taller and squared her shoulders.
“I assure you that I am the most cautious and careful young lady you shall ever meet.”
Her gaze flitted toward Harry once more. Then, without releasing the grasp she had on the horse’s reins, the woman bent forward so she and Harry were on eye level with one another.
“And since we are speaking of behaving prudently, I must ask you, Lord Harry Foster… is this man indeed your father?” she asked.
Harry nodded.
“Yes, well explain to him what happened.”
Harry looked up at him. Now that Edmund was close to his son, he could see that Harry’s sense of fright had passed.
Now, he was merely enthralled and ready to tell his tale.
“The lady wasn’t afraid of the creature even though the horse was making a great loud noise and kicking its legs in the air.
” Harry demonstrated by waving his hands about.
“Then the lady pulled me away from the horse and began telling it to hush, and finally the horse did. But then the loud noise came again.”
Harry looked both to the left and right as if he meant to locate the person who had let loose the fireworks and give them a solid reprimand.
“And the horse jumped again, and I thought he’d step on me, but the lady pulled me away and calmed the horse,” the boy went on. “She was so brave, Papa. She…she saved me and my new friend!”
Harry spun on his heel, then tentatively reached out and laid his hand next to the woman’s on the horse’s nose. He gently stroked the creature’s snout.
Edmund blinked at his son, at a loss for words. “I…see.”
The lady smiled at Harry, then turned her gaze on Edmund, giving him an expectant look. “Is that all you have to say?”
He cocked an eyebrow, inclining his head to the side to give her a curious glance of his own. “What more is there?”
“Well, for one, you might acknowledge that far from putting your son in danger, I, in fact, rescued him.”
His lips twisted. “What were you doing with Harry in the first place?”
“I found him here, studying the horse.” Lovingly, the lady laid the palm of her glove-covered hand flat against the horse’s head and stroked it again.
“Clearly, he has some fascination with animals and wants to be closer to them. Perhaps you should accompany him to the stables more often so that he may do so.”
The woman’s tresses were mostly hidden underneath a large-brimmed sun bonnet, but when she tossed her head, Edmund noticed the unique hue of her copper-tinted blonde hair.
He stared at her for a long moment, slightly mesmerized, and did not quit the endeavor until she turned to face him once more.
Now, he could see that her emerald-green eyes were shining with mirth, almost as if she understood that her words, deeds, and beauty had momentarily hypnotized him.
While Edmund scrambled to recover, he said the most sensible thing that came to mind. “Are you telling me what to do with my own child? Is it not enough that he was almost trampled once? Now you want me to make it a habit?”
“Horses get spooked once in a while, regardless of how well they’re looked after or their pedigree. It is a good thing to prepare your son so that he knows what to do the next time a horse shows a bit of verve.”
“I do not understand why you are telling me what I should do with my own child.” He eyed the woman seriously. “Have you a son of your own? Do you and your husband…”
The woman gasped, then expelled a breath. “This discussion has veered off the path. I apologize for my part in that. However, I do not apologize for finding and helping your son.”
She gave him a flinty look that cut right to his core.
There was something about her that he felt himself respond to, much as he did not want to.
“Strange that you call it a discussion when all you’ve done is lecture me on how you think I should conduct myself.”
He didn’t understand why he felt the need to provoke her.
This lady could be anyone. She might be the daughter of the stablemaster or the wife of a Marquess.
He eyed her apparel, but that gave him little clue as to her situation.
The quality of the white muslin fabric she wore was commonplace amongst members of the peerage, but it had also lately fallen into fashion with those in the lower classes.
Her skin was a lovely, creamy white, but her cheeks were lit with bright pops of carnation pink color.
Perhaps this woman intrigues me because I do not know her or recognize her at all. She is certainly not cut from the same cloth as Lady Emily and lining up to curry my favor.
“I was not lecturing you,” she muttered thickly. Her voice reminded Edmund of the way the last dregs of honey were reluctantly poured out of a jar.. “Though you certainly could do with some manners.”
He surprised himself with the urge to laugh and had to bite his lip to stop himself from doing so.
Perhaps I find myself interested in this young woman because she gives as good as she gets.
He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had made him feel so alive. There was something about the way she gently stroked the horse and communicated with Harry while also radiating challenge in Edmund’s direction that he found compelling.