She couldn’t contain her surprise. “How did you know?”
Mary poured a cup of steaming tea and motioned for Eve to take a seat by the fire. Alfred claimed his spot by sprawling over the cushion.
“I’ll let him have his chair. I’m a guest, after all.” Eve chose the chair beside it and accepted the tea.
“You wouldn’t be the first to seek sanctuary,” Mary said. “Spent a bit of time there myself.”
The hot tea felt heavenly sliding down her throat. She was still soaked through, but the fire and the tea helped tremendously. Eve wasn’t sure how to respond to the woman. If she revealed too much, she feared they would send her home. “Thank you, Mary. This is lovely. Once the storm clears, I will be on my way.” As long as her horse was fit to travel. “I do hope my horse will be all right.”
“Our groom has years of experience with horses, miss. If the injury is more than Thomas can heal, we also have a blacksmith in the village we can call upon. From the looks of this storm, I say you’ll be with us a day or two. I’ll prepare a room for you.” Mary motioned to the tray. “Mutton stew and bread if you’re hungry.”
“I’m famished.”
“Then eat. And don’t let Alfred get too demanding. If he believes you’ll give him any stew, you’ll never get rid of him.”
The cat’s head popped up over the arm of the chair and he stared at the bowl.
Eve laughed.
Mary gave Alfred a wink and left.
“Well, Alfred. It is you and I and this bowl of stew. What do you think?”
The cat meowed but remained seated.
“Very kind of you. Tell me about your master.” Eve picked up the bowl and settled back into the comfort of the chair. The wind continued to howl outside, and a tree scraped against the windowpane. The rest of the house remained eerily silent.
Chapter Four
The storm wasdamned inconvenient. Ambrose strode across the yard to the stable the next morning to check on the woman’s—on Eve’s—mare. His stable hand, Thomas, had helped him to settle the horse, then clean and wrap a small wound the night before. It had been hard to see the extent of the injury in the lamplight, so he’d done what he could, then left Thomas to feed and brush the animal down.
Thick flakes of snow continued to fall, accumulating in large drifts. He couldn’t in good conscience send the woman away in this weather and yet, she couldn’t stay. He’d barely slept the night before, half worried about what he might do as the murmuring voices in his head grew more insistent, even though he couldn’t understand their words.
He stomped into the stable and brushed the snow from his hair and cloak. “Thomas?”
“Here,” the man called. He stuck his head out from one of the stalls halfway down. “Checking on our girl.”
Our girl.Ambrose’s heart thumped as images of Eve flashed through his mind. She’d been stunning with her dark hair and those wide, blue-green eyes that pleaded with him for help, even when dripping wet on his doorstep. He knew Thomas meant the horse and not Eve. His reaction to those two simple words made little sense. Further proof that he was losing his grip on his sanity.
He cleared his throat and joined the man. “How is she?”
“Happy and warm,” Thomas replied. The mare put her head over the low gate of the stall and bobbed it as if in agreement. “I was about to check her leg.”
Ambrose stroked the horse’s nose. She was tan with a flaxen mane and a white swirl on her forehead. It was clear she’d been well cared for prior to this journey. “I’ll assist.”
Together, they crouched to remove the wrap and inspect the hoof. The wound on the mare’s leg was no more than a scratch which didn’t look deep.
Thomas studied the mare’s hoof next. “The woman said the horse slipped?”
“Yes. On a hill, as I recall.”
“Makes sense. In the snow, neither horse nor rider can avoid the rocks. It could have stumbled and lost footing or stepped on a sharp rock. This area here looks bruised.” Thomas cleaned the hoof, then gently prodded the surface. “Aye, a stone bruise.”
“Will the mare recover?”
“She should be quite well in a week or so.”
Ambrose rocked back on his heels. A week! The woman couldn’t stay that long. “Are you certain? Is there anything we can do to speed the healing? Could she travel after a day or two?”
