“I am not frowning,” he replied without looking at her.
“You are. Children are fleeing your path as if you were an executioner coming to fetch them.”
That earned her a sideways look, his mouth twitching.
“And you, Lady Adeline, are smiling at them like a governess desperate to win affection.”
She laughed softly, though the sound wavered when a passerby jostled her, pressing her shoulder against Winston’s arm. He stiffened, then shifted slightly, but not enough to break the contact.
“I suppose,” she murmured, “we are both failing at disguise today.”
His eyes lingered on her face for a beat too long. “Some more than others.”
The words sent a current of heat down her spine, though she forced herself to turn away, pretending sudden interest in a stall of ribbons. She sifted through the silks, her fingers trembling faintly, while inside her chest a storm gathered.
This is maddening. When I am in his company, my mouth speaks words I do not wish to utter, and my mind thinks thoughts I do not wish to entertain. Attachment is not something I am seeking and especially not to this…this bramble bush.
“Do you prefer the blue or the green?” she asked, only to cover the silence.
“Neither. They would be wasted on you.”
She turned sharply, offended, until she caught the gleam in his eyes. He was teasing her. It was unbearable, how rare that was.
“You are insufferable,” she muttered, though her cheeks betrayed her.
“Entirely,” he agreed.
They moved on, the crowd growing denser near the musicians’ square. Fiddlers scraped a reel while young couples whirled, skirts flashing. A boy bumped into Adeline, nearly knocking her off balance, but Winston’s hand shot out, steadying her waist. The touch was nothing, a simple, practical gesture but it lingered a heartbeat too long. His palm felt warm against her through thefabric of her light, summer dress. Her breath caught. She dared not meet his eyes.
“You should watch your step,” he said, voice pitched low. “This is no place for…”
“For what?” she challenged, though her pulse was a drum in her ears.
“For innocence,” he said simply, his thumb brushing her side before he released her.
Heat flared across her skin, leaving her shaken. She wanted, foolishly, audaciously to step back into the shelter of his hand. But there were too many eyes. Suddenly, the music surged, and a laughing couple bumped into them, forcing her against him. His chest was solid beneath her hands, his breath stirring her hair.
For an instant, the world narrowed to that single point of contact, his body pressed to hers, the hunger in his eyes, the reckless temptation she felt to lift her face to his. But then a voice shouted nearby and a horse reared. Mayhem erupted as a cart was kicked over by the panicked animal. People scattered except for the horse’s owner and his men, who tried to reach its bridle as it kicked and stamped. Winston pulled her tight against him, shielding her as the animal thrashed. His arms locked around her, his body an unyielding barrier. She clung to him, heart racing, every nerve alive.
The men closed on the panic-stricken animal but then scurried away when lashed out with its hooves, eyes rolling in terror. Winston growled in his throat.
“The oafs are just scaring the animal. Such a highly strung beast should not have been brought into this environment. Stay here.”
He firmly positioned Adeline behind a stall selling pies, almost picking her up to deposit her somewhere safe. Then he strode into the melee.
“Get back all of you!” he snapped at the owner and his hapless helpers. “Bloody fools, you’ll get yourself brained or worse. The animal’s leg broke in its panic.”
They did not ask who he was, whether they recognized him or not. They retreated from his tone of command without question. Winston was suddenly alone with the maddened horse. Adeline watched breathlessly as he calmly walked towards it. He spoke softly and kept his hands raised at his sides, letting it see that he held nothing. It reared, pawing the air and Winston stood calmly before it as its hooves slammed down into the ground inches from him.
He reached up and laid a hand on the horse’s nose, running it down in a slow, smooth motion. Again. Again. He moved to the side, stroking its neck and then its flank. His hand stopped.
“You bloody idiots. It's got a splinter a foot long from the fence you kept it too closely tethered to. If you don’t know the proper care, you’ve no business owning such a magnificent animal!”
He plucked the splinter with one quick motion, discarding it. The animal shied but quickly calmed again with the source of its pain eliminated. It turned its head to study Winston, registering him as the one who had ended its suffering. The horse nudged him with its nose. Adeline watched the smile spread across Winston’s face as he took the animal’s head between his hands and pressed his forehead against it.
I do believe this is the first time I have seen a genuine smile of pleasure on his face.
“This wound needs to be dressed. Take him up to Greystone and my stable manager will see him looked after,” Winston instructed.
