“Are you not?”
“Beyond all belief,” she said. “But there is plenty to eat.” She opened his saddlebag and removed a round loaf of horsebread. Basilisk turned to watch her with interest.
“You cannot mean to eat that,” Ramsay protested. He had, of course, eaten horsebread many times, and others had wished he had been sufficiently fortunate to have some, but he never imagined a noblewoman raised in privilege like Evangeline would have ever tasted it.
“For a poor man, you are foolishly proud,” Evangeline chided as she tore the bread with her hands. He did know how to protest her surety of his poverty so said naught. She ate a bite, studying it as she ate. The stallion nipped in her direction, but she ignored him.
Ramsay expected her to criticize it, but when she chewed more slowly, he realized she was assessing it.
“There are nuts in this,” Evangeline said with a measure of awe. “We never make it with nuts at Inverfyre, but it is a good addition.” The stallion snatched for the bread, biting only air. The creature truly had the worst manners of any horse Ramsay had ever known.
“Acorns, I believe. Hugues makes it when he can.”
“It is marvelous,” she said to his surprise, handing him half of the loaf and taking another bite from the piece she held. The black destrier snorted outrage and she smiled as she surrendered a chunk to the creature. Ramsay opened his mouth to protest as her hand neared the stallion’s mouth, but Basilisk already snapped at it, snatching it out of her hand and turning away to devour it.
“You could have lost a finger.”
“He is gentler than he looks.”
Ramsay laughed. “He is a rogue and a troublemaker. I wager he serviced every mare in Inverfyre’s stables, then did it all again.”
She smiled. “All the while looking both innocent, dangerous, and remarkably handsome.” She smiled at him, her wicked look of appreciation making his blood heat. “I doubt any of them would have resisted, had they been offered the chance.” The glint in her eyes was distracting beyond all.
“I cannot believe you are eating it,” he managed to say, well aware that Hugues and Anna were close at hand.
“Why? You should, as well,” she said, nodding at the piece he still held. “It is good.”
“I eat it all the time. I anticipated that you were accustomed to finer fare.” Ramsay tore off a piece himself, granting a larger piece to Foudre, much to the black stallion’s indignation.
“We used to challenge each other over who could eat more. Nigel usually won, simply by force of will.” Evangeline’s mischievous smile returned. “But then he lost, because Maman always knew what he had done and we were not supposed to eat the horsebread.”
“How could she know?”
“Lentils,” she confessed. “At Inverfyre, there are lentils in the horsebread. My brother is peculiarly susceptible to their…effects.”
Ramsay grinned. “He passed wind.”
“He trumpeted like a goose,” she said, eyes widening in mock dismay. “Only a deaf man could have missed it and my mother is most assuredly not deaf. When he was chastised for creating work for the ostler and grooms, he insisted I had challenged him apurpose.” She smiled in recollection. “Which I had, of course, though indirectly. He fell into the trap every time, much to my satisfaction.”
“You vexed him.”
“I believe that is the sole merit of an older brother.” She raised her brows. “Truly, horses learn more quickly than Nigel used to.”
“Was he witless?”
“Nay, he simply cannot bear to lose and never could. His wits are addled when he his challenged, his pride rises and—” She shrugged, untroubled. “Some maiden will compel him to surrender some day, I hope.”
Ramsay was intrigued by this glimpse of life within Inverfyre’s walls and her easy camaraderie with her brother, as well as her understanding of that man’s nature. She loved Nigel despite his foibles, it was clear, and Ramsay expected the affection was returned. Theirs must have been a noisy household. He felt a yearning then for a life he had never known, surrounded by family who cared for each other, teased each other, and tolerated each other’s flaws.
If he and Evangeline survived this flight from Rufus, he might have that life—a wife and children, a secure home, comfort and prosperity. Indeed, Ramsay ached for it with a vigor that stole any words from his lips.
They each partook of another chunk of bread, while Hugues fetched some for himself, Anna and the two palfreys. Ramsay could never eat very much of it, which he now saw as a blessing.
His ring flashed on Evangeline’s hand as if to remind him of his pledge. Time ’twas to make matters right. Ramsay cleared his throat and nodded toward the distant cluster of buildings. “No doubt there is a chapel in that village,” he said and she flicked a glance his way.
“No doubt,” she agreed, her smile turning playful. “Have you a confession to make, Ramsay?”
“Not I,” he said, matching her mood. “But there will be a priest at such a chapel. We could repeat our vows before him and be wed to your satisfaction.”
