Race took his eyes off the road in front of him long enough to throw a quick glance at the duchess. She was smiling. His heartbeat sped up. She was enjoying their wild ride. The wind whipped at a few strands of her dark brown hair and feathered it across her beautiful face. He couldn’t help but notice the papers sticking out of the reticule hanging from her wrist.
“I’m sorry there won’t be time for me to look at your documents.”
She smiled at him. “You weren’t going to look at them anyway, were you?”
“I’m beginning to think I may have to if I want to find out your name.”
One of the carriage wheels hit a hole and almost bounced both of them out of the seat. They looked at each other and laughed, but Race didn’t slow the horses.
“Are you all right?” he asked as the curricle bumped along at a mad-dash clip.
“I’m enjoying the excitement,” she exclaimed. “Keep going.”
Race liked the duchess more and more. He was sure if he’d had any other young lady with him today she would be screaming or fainting from fear.
Race wouldn’t be so careless if he wasn’t sure he could handle the horses as they darted around the slower traffic. He and his cousins had been racing curricles since they were boys. And they still loved to do it when they were out at Morgan’s Valleydale estate.
Within minutes, he’d pulled the bays up short in front of her house. He set the brake on the curricle and hopped down. He reached for the duchess, grabbed her by the waist, giving her a twirl around before setting her feet on the ground. He didn’t know what madness came over him, but he bent down and kissed her soundly, quickly, on her soft lips and stepped back.
Her green eyes rounded and she gasped. At last he’d done something that left her speechless.
He smiled. “Thank you for going to the park with me, Your Grace.”
“You kissed me,” she whispered. “In bright daylight.”
“Yes, I did. I promised you would know just how attracted I am to you.”
Fear replaced shock on her face. “Someone might have seen you.” Her gaze darted from side to side to see if anyone was standing in the street, watching them.
“No one saw me. I checked to see if anyone was nearby as I swung you around.” He reached back into the carriage and grabbed the food basket. “Get used to it, Duchess. I’m sure I’ll kiss you again.” He handed her the basket, tipped his hat to her, and climbed back into the carriage.
“Race,” the duchess said and rushed up to the side of the carriage as he picked up the ribbons and released the brake handle.
She looked up at him with bright eyes and rose-tinted lips. Race’s stomach flipped.
“Susannah,” she said and then stepped away from the carriage. “My name is Susannah.”
The rush of hot, heady desire raced through him, and he smiled as he drank in her beauty. He flicked the ribbons on the horses’ rumps, and the carriage took off at breakneck speed.
Six
My Dearest Grandson Alexander,
Here are more wise words from Lord Chesterfield: “Consider all your own circumstances seriously, and you will find that, of all the arts, the art of pleasing is the most necessary for you to study and possess. A silly tyrant said, ‘Let them hate as long as they fear.’ A wise man would have said, ‘As long as they love me, I have nothing to fear.’ Judge from your own daily experience of the efficacy of that pleasing; for in men it is more engaging than knowledge, in women, than beauty.”
Your loving Grandmother,
Lady Elder
Race strode through his front door, flinging off his cape and throwing his hat and gloves onto a side table.
“Mrs. Frost,” he called as he walked down the corridor to the drawing room.
He entered, taking off his coat and tossing it across a chair that sat by the window. As he untied his neckcloth and loosened his tight collar, Mrs. Frost appeared in the doorway, looking alarmed.
“Yes, my lord?” she asked, twisting the hem of her apron with her short, stubby fingers.
He hadn’t meant to frighten the woman, but he had to admit he had seldom stormed into the house the way he had moments ago.
