Violetta sent me a quizzical look before she followed her friend, and I exited the coach to meet a party including Ambrose, Maxwell and Zachariah.
“I hope the journey wasn’t too tedious,” Maxwell said, clapping my shoulder as he watched Isabel accept a champagne flute from a servant.
“We made the most of it,” I told him. I gestured to the tents across the lawn. “What’s all this?”
“This,” Ambrose said, coming to stand on my other side, “is the activity I’ve been looking forward to all week.” His eyes glittered as he leaned into me. “I hope you’re as good with a gun as you are with an umbrella.”
“A gun?” I repeated.
“What about a gun?” Isabel asked, sauntering over, a crease appearing between her eyebrows.
“I don’t very much like guns,” Violetta professed, clasping her book before her like a shield.
“We’re going on a hunt before the sun fully sets,” Ambrose proclaimed. “I’m just glad the timing worked out. Barely arrived in time.”
“A hunt?” Isabel wrinkled her nose. “Don’t tell me it’s a ghoul hunt again.”
“Of course it’s a ghoul hunt!” Ambrose laughed, looking giddy. “We’ll run those little beasts out from these woods by the time we’re done. These grounds have multiple cemeteries, you know. Attracts them like flies to dung.”
I shuddered. I’d never been fond of ghouls. They fed on dead flesh, often desecrating graves for their meals. They were little more than animals, but find one hungry enough, and they weren’t picky about their dinner. Vampire flesh was just as tasty as a corpse, apparently. I’d been attacked by three at once just outside of a small village, but luckily I’d been fresh from feeding, so I was at the height of my strength and was easily able to fend them off. They wouldn’t have been able to kill me, but ripping gouges in my flesh with their rows of tiny sharp teeth wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.
A wistful look crossed Ambrose’s face. “Father and I used to come here to hunt often when he was in better health. We’d join neighbors in hunting excursions, sometimes for weeks at a time. Those days were so thrilling.” He shook his head as he walked back to Flora’s side.
“So, this test is for the duke’s benefit,” Isabel scowled. I met her eyes, and I saw a distaste for the duke that matched my own. Emmett would have told her about his experiences with his father, of course. It was good to see I wasn’t the only one who loathed the man.
As carriages carrying other guests disembarked, we headed up the stairs to our rooms to prepare for the evening’s festivities. Isabel caught my arm to let others wander ahead. “This provides the perfect opportunity, of course.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Opportunity?”
She sent me an exasperated look. “Cecelia. She’ll be out there with us. It’ll be dark, a lot going on …”
I frowned. “What do you expect to do? Feed her to the ghouls?”
Isabel looked thoughtful, as if considering it. “Hardly, but if we can make her look inadequate during the hunt, I think that would knock her down in the family’s regard. The duke loves hunting, as does Ambrose. They would expect any partner joining the family to be capable in the pursuit.”
I nodded slowly. “If we can humiliate her, that could knock her out of the competition completely.”
“But only if we do it right. We must make her appear utterly inept.”
Conflicting emotions surged through me. But as much as I liked Cecelia, in the end, I needed to come out on top in this competition. “Let’s see what we can do.”
The hunting dogs barked excitedly, tails wagging and pulling on their leashes as the riders mounted their horses. The sun was bruising the sky with the tender glow of evening, dark enough for the ghouls to begin seeking out food for the night, but not so black that we would be fumbling blindly after them. Lanterns were outfitted on our saddles for when the sun didn’t provide enough light, our signal to return to Foxglove Abbey.
I watched the others mount their steeds and mimicked them. Luckily, I was a quick study, for I hadn’t had the opportunity to ride a horse for centuries, given that the animals wouldn’t allow it. The closest I’d been to a horse, aside from my recent visit to the stables, had been when they’d pulled my coach. Touching one would have been disastrous. As with most occasions, if one was confident enough, it was almost the same as being seasoned. People didn’t question experience if one had enough boldness, and neither, it would appear, did horses.
I watched Maxwell stroke the side of his mount’s neck and did the same to the brown beauty I rode, Bella. In response, Bella nickered. I smiled in triumph, then began to command the reins as I saw others in my company do.
“You were certainly getting cozy with Isabel,” Zachariah said, sidling up to me. He searched me for a moment before shaking his head. “What are you two scheming at?”
“Scheming?” I scoffed. “It’s called being in a carriage together for two hours with no escape. It forces even enemies to become civil with one another.”
He looked doubtful. “I shudder imagining you two joining forces.”
I chuckled as Melbourne’s horse trotted over. “Go hunting often?” he asked me.
I shifted the rifle I’d been given to my other hand. “I lived for hunting. Just not on horseback. And not ghouls.”
Melbourne grinned. “Shall we make a wager? First to kill one of the bloody things?”
