“She is. You’ve done an excellent job teaching her,” Julianna replied, not looking at him.
“What was that?” He cupped a hand behind his ear.
“I believe you heard me.” But her smile belied the tone of her words.
“Praise? Words I never thought I’d hear coming from you, Lady Julianna.”
“She looks good, Rhys. I appreciate your…help.”
“Why, Lady Julianna, are you trying tothankme?” He batted his eyelashes at her.
She let out a long sigh and turned to face him. “Whatever else I may think of you, I happen to adore my sister, and she’s been scared witless of horses her whole life. That is until you helped her. She was thrown at the age of three.” Julianna shook her head slightly as if to dispel the unwanted tears that sprang to the backs of her eyes.
Rhys’s throat tightened. He searched Julianna’s face. “I didn’t know she’d been thrown, and at such a young age. I’m sorry to hear that.”
Julianna shrugged. “Not exactly something one mentions when one is courting.”
“No, of course not,” he replied. “But it certainly explains why she is so fearful. I don’t blame her.” He leaned back against the barn wall and stared out to watch Mary and Whisper.
“She’s had a difficult time of it,” Julianna continued. “Especially growing up in a household where the rest of us love horses so much.”
Rhys inclined his head. “I can imagine. I only hope I’ve been able to help her in some small way.”
A slight smile flitted across Julianna’s lips. “She couldn’t stop talking about the progress she made yesterday. She was quite proud of herself.”
“She should be proud. She’s done a fine job of overcoming her fear,” Rhys continued.
“Do you think she requires another lesson?” Julianna asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“That depends,” Rhys replied evenly. “Will you have time for more lessons after Lord Murdock arrives?”
Frowning, Julianna’s arms fell to her sides and she turned to face Rhys, her mouth slightly open. “Lord Murdock? What do you mean?” She eyed Rhys warily.
Rhys shrugged. “Clayton told me he’s arriving tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Julianna shook her head. Her frown intensified.
“You didn’t know?”
“I…ah, didn’t know what day it would be,” she replied, tugging at the collar of her riding habit.
“I see,” Rhys replied, just before the devil on his shoulder prodded him to say more. “I hear your wedding date is being moved up to autumn, as well. I suppose best wishes are in order.”
“Mywhat?” Julianna’s tone increased nearly two octaves.
Rhys nodded nonchalantly. “Clayton mentioned that Murdock wrote to your father to ask him to agree to move up the date. Surely, you knewthat.”
Julianna pressed her palm to her chest as if she couldn’t breathe. “Mary,” she called, in a frantic-sounding voice. “I think that’s enough for the day. We must get back to the house. I have a letter to write.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Early that afternoon, Rhys was still working in the stables. He wiped away the sweat dripping from his brow with the back of his sleeve. He stabbed more hay with his pitchfork and tossed it onto the heap at the back end of the empty stall in which he stood.
He’d been spending his days cleaning tack, bailing hay, mucking stalls, and grooming horses. Things he’d helped the stablemaster at Worthington Manor do when he was younger, but things he hadn’t done in years until now.
As a duke, he spent his days waking at noon, meeting briefly with his solicitor, drinking, gambling, and enjoying the finer things in life until well into the early morning hours. Then he fell into an exhausted slumber before doing it all over again the next day.
His time spent here working in Clayton’s stables was the first in years that he’d actually felt…useful. Teaching Mary Montgomery to ride yesterday had been one of the most satisfying things he’d done since he could remember.
