Nicholas took the lead, since he’d spent the most time exploring the property. He guided the women around the manor house, avoiding the gardens as much as possible, down the driveway, and into the open fields.
Now that there was more space available to them, he picked up the speed, urging his horse into a trot. Sophie followed suit. He glanced over to ensure the maid was comfortable with the pace, but she looked as at ease on horseback as Sophie was. Perhaps they rode together often.
Trees stretched along the side of the field and curved a few hundred yards in front of them. The land between wasmostly flat, with a few dips, hollows, and patches of long grass and low shrubbery.
“Race you to the trees?” Sophie called, gesturing toward the point where the semicircle of trees ended ahead of them.
A shot of adrenaline rushed through him. “Don’t think I’ll take it easy on you because you’re a woman.”
Her head tipped back and she laughed, the pale column of her throat rippling in the dawn light. “I’d be angry if you did.”
“On the count of three?”
She adjusted her position, her jaw jutting forward as her expression set in place.
He turned to the maid. “Will you count for us?”
Her eyes flicked from him to Sophie, who gave a subtle nod. “Three,” she called, her voice huskier than he’d expected. “Two. One!”
They took off.
Nicholas didn’t rush into motion as he usually would during a race. Instead, he held back slightly, curious to see how she’d approach it—and wanting to ensure she wouldn’t lose control.
Her mare sprang forward, and she moved with the horse as fluidly as any of his racing companions might. He watched her for a breath, and then, satisfied she wasn’t in danger, urged Pepper onward.
He leaned low, reducing the wind resistance, and shifted from a trot to a canter to a gallop. Heart pounding, he murmured encouragement to the horse and made small adjustments to his position as they dodged around long grass and leapt over rabbit holes.
As they neared the trees, a shape appeared ahead of them, long and dark, with grass partially hiding it from view.
Nicholas’s breath caught. It was a fallen tree. Quickly judging its size, he estimated it stood four feet above ground level at its highest point, and he and Sophie were barreling straight for it.
The tree was long enough that there was no way to dart around it. From a distance, they must have mistaken it for a natural rise in the ground, but this close, there was no denying that it was something much more dangerous.
“Sophie!” he shouted, his voice whipped away by the wind as he yanked on the reins, desperate to stop his horse before they reached the obstacle. “Tree!”
But Sophie didn’t stop. Hadn’t she heard him?
“There’s a tree!” he called again, lurching forward in the saddle as his horse came to an abrupt halt.
If anything, Sophie urged her mare faster.
Fuck.
She was going to hit it, and he was too far away to do anything.
He watched with his heart in his throat as Sophie raced toward the tree. At the last second, the mare jumped, clearing the tree by a matter of inches.
Nicholas exhaled roughly, his pulse hammering in his ears as Sophie closed the distance to the standing trees and slowed.
She turned the horse around to face him. “I win!”
He stared at her, completely speechless.
She ambled back toward him, and it wasn’t until she’d nearly reached the fallen tree again when he got control over his vocal cords.
“You scared ten years off my life!” He rubbed his chest, which was tight and achy. “Have mercy on my goddamn nerves.”
She grinned, completely unrepentant. “I’ll give you a head start on the race back.”
