Sebastian’s heart raced.He could do it.And then ...then he’d have a Derby winner.He gulped.“That’s it?He won’t sell, but he’ll bet his Derby winner as a prize?”
The Duke shrugged as if it made sense.Bloody toffs and their odd relationship to money.
“Yes.Drive the zebras past the King’s box at Doncaster on St Leger day and Smolensk is ours.”Ours...Presumably the Duke didn’t mean to say that, and Sebastian covered his shock with a smile.
“At least he didn’t say Royal Ascot.A month would’ve been a challenge, but nearly four months will be easy.”
“Easy?”
“For a Derby winner, anything can be achieved.”Besides, the challenge of training four ugly striped mules to pull a cart sounded like a little bit of fun for the summer break before they began breaking in the yearlings for next season.After the Duke’s good three-year-old colts Glorification and Hero’s Valour hadn’t come up as expected for this year’s Derby, they needed some luck, not to mention the injection of Smolensk’s outcrossed blood to their broodmare band.He tapped his fingers on the fence post as he watched the zebras moving around the paddock, paying attention to them now that they represented something important.After a moment, Sebastian remembered something about betting.
“What if I can’t do it?What do you lose?”
“If I don’t drive all four zebras past the royal box at the St Leger meeting, His Royal Highness gets his choice of one of my horses, and I have to keep the zebras.”The Duke stared forlornly at the four animals who were eating grass quietly.At least they behaved like any other equine creature might.
“Never fear, your Grace.Even if I fail, which I won’t, His Royal Highness is a poor judge of a horse.I’m sure we can convince him to buy an untried colt, perhaps the Miss Swansea yearling who is already too big.”He’d probably sell the Miss Swansea colt as a hack rather than spend money to get him trained for racing.The colt was going to take years to grow into his oversized frame, assuming he stayed sound enough, but he would make a nice hunter for a larger person.Miss Swansea’s foal this year, to a much smaller stallion, was a more promising type.
“A big horse for a big man?”The Duke didn’t even crack a smile at his own crass joke, and for the thousandth time in the last decade, Sebastian wondered if it were possible to make him smile.
“If we win the wager, will he take the zebras back?”Sebastian wasn’t overly keen to have exotic animals eating grass that was for his racehorses.
The Duke shrugged.“Zebras that can pull a carriage will find a home.Perhaps Lord Byron will buy them and start a new trend.”
Sebastian flicked a glance at the Duke, and for the hundredth time, he couldn’t work out if the Duke was joking or not.Not for the first time, Sebastian wanted to see the Duke completely undone.What would he look like when he finally relaxed?He cleared his throat.Now was absolutely not the time to imagine his boss naked on a bed with a satisfied smile on his face; would he be smug like the lion he was?Probably.Sebastian couldn’t imagine the Duke ever letting down the barriers he kept between himself and the rest of the world.Dukes were probably born with that arrogant stiff upper lip that sneered down on everyone else.
“I’ll put together a plan.We have nearly four months until the St Leger meeting.”
The Duke clapped him on the shoulder blades.“Good man.”As the Duke walked away, Sebastian resisted the urge to touch his back where the Duke had slapped him.The Duke must be unsettled by this whole business, as he’d never done that before.Why had Sebastian never noticed how carefully they tried not to touch each other?Could a quartet of zebras finally be the thing that allowed Sebastian to see beyond the Duke’s rigid exterior?
Chapter 3
Two weeks later, Mauricestood in his top hat and tails at Epsom surrounded by the ton.His horse Glorification was running in the next and Maurice’s progress towards the birdcage continued to be stymied by everyone who wanted to talk to him.It was the downside of being a Duke.Couldn’t they see he had a horse to watch?
“Any chance, your Grace?”Lord Milnes-Wilkes asked.Maurice had gone to school with the Earl’s heir, although they’d had very different interests and hadn’t known each other well.Maurice had been a rower, while Theodore was a cricketer.
“Most of the bookies have him at ten to one.”He didn’t mention that the horse was first up after a minor hoof injury which had meant he’d missed a crucial lead up race for today’s Derby and was running in a shorter race instead.Assuming he’d kept his earlier form, Glorification should easily win this easier race, but the punters were being reticent given his time off with injury.
