Chapter 15 #2
The Duke of Alderwick sounded the horn and, with that, the hunting party were on the move. The drumming of hooves upon the lawn echoed in Evelyn’s chest as, aghast, she could do nothing to stop Selina wheeling her horse around and stampeding with the rest of the group.
You are too slow, dear horse, she lamented as she took off after them, already falling way behind the sleek, athletic beasts.
Although he did not like hunting at all, Hugo could not deny that it was liberating to be sailing through the fields that surrounded his friends’ home, leaping over hedges, crashing through the undergrowth of the quiet woodlands.
He did not see why it all had to end in bloodshed when the ride alone was wondrous enough.
He had just urged his horse through a stream and was listening out for the sound of the dogs so he would know the direction, when he noticed a small congregation through the trees. Someone seemed to be in trouble.
Slowing his pace, his eyes widened as he saw Selina, flanked on either side by Evelyn’s brothers. He could not see clearly, but he suspected that a rein had caught on a tree or there had been some issue with the saddle.
“What is wrong?” Hugo asked, bringing his horse to a halt, his demeanor cold as he addressed Evelyn’s brothers.
“My rein is tangled,” Selina replied, huffing and puffing.
He frowned. “Where is Evelyn? I thought she was riding with you.”
“She would not be able to help. She is entirely useless in the simplest of situations, much less this,” Matthew said with a smirk that drew a sharper glare from Hugo.
“With respect, Mr. Bartlett,” Hugo said with no respect at all, “if you speak about your sister like that again in my presence, I shall knock you from your horse myself. I happen to know that your sister is very capable.”
It had boiled his blood to hear Matthew speaking so unkindly of Evelyn earlier, and in such a public forum, but he had held his tongue for the same reason that Matthew should have done, because everyone was watching. However, Hugo had no such restraint now, where there was no one else around.
“What?” Matthew blinked.
“You embarrass yourself by speaking about her like that,” Hugo snarled. “She has done nothing to deserve your unkindness. She is one of the most… interesting, astute, respectable ladies I have ever had the privilege of meeting, and I have to wonder how when she was raised with brothers like you.”
Luke’s eyes flashed with anger. “Now, you listen here, you do not get to speak to us like that. You know nothing about us, and you certainly know nothing about Ev—”
“Remember who you are talking to,” Hugo hissed. “Remember your place. I am the Duke of Ravenvale, and you are the son of an Earl. You should be careful of what you say to me.”
Luke recoiled, the anger in his eyes dimming to wariness, while his mouth twisted as if there was plenty more that he wished to say. But it was clear that he understood the veiled threat, holding his tongue as he returned his attention to the tangled reins.
“Where is Evelyn?” Hugo asked Selina.
The young woman pursed her lips and looked back over her shoulder, as though Evelyn might suddenly appear. “I cannot say that I know.” She paused. “I think her betrothed joined the hunt, so perhaps she is riding with him.”
“What?” Hugo froze.
“Well, she was there at the start of the hunt but… I do not believe I have seen her since. I am certain she will be with people she knows, and I saw her betrothed ride up just before everyone took off, so it stands to reason that she might be with him.” She cast him a shy look.
“I am sorry I do not know more. I was too busy trying to stay in the saddle, for I am not… the best rider in the world.”
“Then you should not be partaking,” Hugo snapped, feeling as if he had been pierced through the chest with a lead ball. “You should have listened to your friend.”
Betrothed? She did not say anything about a betrothed. He swallowed past the sudden tightness in his throat. Is this man the kind who is honest, and open with his love? Was she describing him in the study?
His brain buzzed as if a swarm of wasps had made a nest in his skull, his interest in the hunt vanishing altogether. The hunt for a poor fox, anyway.
“She will be fine,” Selina insisted. “Come, ride with me.”
Hugo ignored her and stared hard at Evelyn’s brothers, waiting for one of them to at least pretend they were concerned.
If Octavia’s whereabouts were unknown on a ride like this, he would have turned around already, racing back the way he had come, calling out her name until he was certain she was safe.
“I will find her, then,” Hugo said, his lip curled, cursing the cowardice and lack of compassion that Evelyn’s brothers had for her. “The two of you should be ashamed of yourselves.”
He did not stop to hear their retort as he wheeled his horse around and, with a squeeze of his thighs, urged his gelding back through the stream, retracing their steps in search of the missing Evelyn.
As he shouted her name at the top of his lungs, closing his bad eye so that he could survey the surrounding area better, fearing the worst might have happened to her, one word repeated over and over in his mind like a curse to drive him mad: Betrothed… Betrothed… Betrothed…