“Who is there?” she called, sure there was someone there. Again, there was nothing more than the breeze through the trees in response to Alaina’s question.
Just as Alaina was about to chide herself for being paranoid, a large black stallion bounded toward her and her horse from the dense copse of trees. Alaina was able to pull her horse back just as the other passed in front of them, narrowly avoiding a collision that would have sent Alaina airborne. Her horse regained its footing and did not appear to be spooked overly much;thank goodness for being given the most even-tempered horse in the stable, thought Alaina. Alaina watched as the stallion ran a little way up the trail then disappeared into the trees, obviously spooked by something. It had a full complement of tack, saddle, bridle, and reins. Maybe someone had been thrown and was hurt?
Fighting the urge to flee, Alaina dismounted and was leading her horse toward the thicket when a woman emerged, looking disheveled. The woman’s hat was askew, a few twigs protruding from her hair. Her riding habit didn’t look torn, so Alaina assumed she was largely uninjured, just shaken from the fall from the black stallion that had just bounded through the trees. The woman stood looking about before turning toward Alaina, and recognition was immediate.
“Lady Barbara?!” Alaina exclaimed.
Lady Barbara’s eyes narrowed, and she advanced on Alaina wordlessly. Alaina felt cornered, and without a stump to once again mount her horse, she was stuck facing Lady Barbara alone and on foot. Trying to diffuse the situation, Alaina forced her tone to be cheery. She refused to let Barbara see her terror in meeting anyone, let alone her nemesis, in the woods. “Are you hurt? I am guessing your horse got the best of you; I fear I am no stranger to that. Surely you want to retrieve your horse before he gets too far afield.” Alaina’s voice lost its volume as the other woman approached, stopping just short of Alaina and her horse.
Lady Barbara looked back toward the black stallion, happily grazing in a nearby clearing, and shrugged before she turned back to Alaina. It was then that she finally broke her silence. “Out and about alone, Alaina? It is strange that the duke would let you out of his sight and let you traipse around Ashford without an escort.”
“I am not alone, Lady Barbara, I assure you,” Alaina said weakly, as she swallowed hard against her fear.
Lady Barbara once more looked about, as if she were looking for anyone to prove Alaina’s claim, and then chuckled, “It appears you do not have anyone to save you today, Alaina. I have been frustrated at our last few encounters. Now it appears we have all the time in the world tochat.”
The emphasis on the last word made Alaina’s skin crawl, and she took a tentative step back toward her horse; maybe if she could get a foot in the stirrup, she could hoist herself up. Surely Lady Barbara could not chase her on foot.
But Lady Barbara saw her motion, and closed the distance between them, grasping Alaina’s arm before she could turn toward her horse. Her next words were spit out in anger. “You think you can escape on your own?! You have humiliated my family at every turn, you have been saved at every interaction, and now I shall have my own form of revenge without society’s prying eyes.”
With Lady Barbara so close, Alaina took stock of the fact they were of equal size, for up until then Lady Barbara had loomed large, Alaina’s bully and tormenter. It was also apparent that Lady Barbara would never cease in her mission to avenge her brother for what was an insignificant slight, nor would she ever cease to hate Alaina, foranyreason. No matter how passive or even kind Alaina was to Lady Barbara, it would never stop. It was this that finally caused Alaina to erupt, the long-held anger at her treatment this season bursting forth unchecked. Pushing with all her strength, Alaina surprised Lady Barbara, throwing her off balance. Lady Barbara lost her grip, and stumbled. Her eyes burned with fire as she landed squarely on her backside.
Alaina capitalized on her moment of surprise and quickly placed a foot in the stirrup, her arms barely finding purchase on the saddle as she tried to hoist herself up. Lady Barbara quickly righted herself and came after Alaina with intent, but the sound of approaching riders stopped her in her tracks.
There was no time for Alaina to react as Lady Barbara turned and ran for the glade where her horse still grazed, throwing one last verbal volley over her shoulder. “This isn’t over, Alaina!”
Alaina felt a rising panic, as the sound of hooves signaled that the group of riders was almost upon her. She struggled to find her seat in the saddle and whirled her horse around in the path just in time to see Graham and Christopher gallop through a thicket and come into view. Alaina breathed a sigh of relief and quickly looked around for Lady Barbara, intent on alerting the men of her presence, but she found no trace of the woman.
The gentlemen had stopped just short of her position when she heard the sound of an easy trot from the opposite direction, and espied Evelina.
“Alaina! What happened to you? I know I raced ahead, but I had expected you to catch up to me ten minutes ago.” Evelina seemed concerned, and Alaina watched her sister’s eyes widen as she caught sight of the duke and the marquess.
Christopher and Graham had joined them on the tight trail, Graham in front, Christopher close behind. Before Alaina could respond to her sister, both men spoke.
“Alaina, are you alright?” Graham calmly asked, Christopher’s identical question just behind the duke’s.
“What is going on?” Evelina gathered quickly that something was amiss.
Graham opened his mouth, but it was Alaina who answered first. “I am ok, I think,” she said, as she rubbed her arm where Lady Barbara had held onto her. “I am thankful you all are here now, you have impeccable timing, really.” A nervous chuckle escaped her lips before she continued, “I just saw Lady Barbara, and she… well, she…”
Alaina felt her throat close up, and her fear of what could have happened took over as her body shook uncontrollably. As if he could wait no longer for an explanation, Christopher interjected, “She what?”
Alaina took a steadying breath and attempted to continue. “She seemed quite angry with me, but that is not so unusual. She seemed happy to find me alone, and she grabbed me, but I was able to push her away. I fear I only escaped because of your arrival. Why is she even here?”
Finally, Alaina looked up and saw the shock on Evelina’s face and ominous looks from Graham and Christopher.
It was a few moments before anyone said anything. Finally, the duke took charge. “Alaina, Evelina, can you follow Christopher back to the house? I have to go visit some neighbors and alert them to the goings-on of the afternoon. With Lady Barbara’s appearance, I fear Percy is at the root of all the mischief on the estate, and now they are threatening bodily harm!” Graham practically growled. After a pause he continued, “I hope you forgive my abruptness, but trust me, it is for your safety.”
Evelina and Alaina both sat in stunned silence and could only nod in agreement as Graham steered his horse past Christopher, giving his friend a look and nod.
Christopher was quick to motion for both Evelina and Alaina to precede him on the ride back to the stables, Evelina taking the lead. The sound of plodding hooves filled the silence as the group picked their way along the trail.
Evelina spoke first. “So, it seems all the issues Graham has been called away for are related to his cousin?”
Christopher was slow to respond. “Yes, most of them have been vandalism or theft: a broken plow here, a missing sheep or two there, nothing to alert us of any real danger. But we had just come from a fire at the barn when we met with Georgiana and she said you were out riding alone. Trust me, if I had ever had any reason to suspect, if I had known…”
Alaina and Christopher’s eyes met, his steel-blue ones delving into hers, and he finally finished, his voice choked, “I would never have let you out here to ride alone,never.”
Alaina held his gaze for a few seconds more and then turned in her saddle. The look in Christopher’s eyes seemed to say too many things at once: anger, fear, possession. It was too much to bear, and they rode on in silence as Alaina wished for the solitude of her chamber to settle her mind.
