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Certainly not after⁠—

“Pleaseeeee.” Now, Eloise was near whining, and it reminded her that the girl was only a child.

An adorable child that she couldn’t quite say no to. Not yet, anyway. Juliet sighed. “Left rein, next turn. Watch.”

Eloise went into the bend. Her left hand crossed by two inches. She came out of it, looked at Juliet, and said nothing.

“Faster,” Juliet said, “when the turn is clean.”

Eloise applied herself to the turn and, by the fourth circuit, her hands had found the correct position and stayed there; her body moved with the horse instead of against it, and her carriage changed completely, the stiffness of concentration easing into a looser, more instinctive rest.

“Now?” she asked.

Juliet looked at her, lips curving, and nudged Mercury forward. “Now!”

Eloise’s face split into a grin. She asked Moonsong to canter, and the pony did willingly. They went once around the paddock at a clip that made Eloise laugh out loud, her head tipped back and the loose braid flying entirely free behind her.

Juliet let her have two circuits before she called her back to a trot. “All right. That’s enough.”

Eloise slowed, breathless and delighted. “Will we do this again tomorrow?” Her eyes were bright with hope that Juliet couldn’t bear to crush just yet.

So she said, “If your seat holds.”

Eloise beamed as though this were an unconditional yes, which Juliet supposed it was. It was a rather hard thing to say no to that beautiful and innocent face. She wondered how the duke managed it.

Maybe because that man’s heart is as hard as rock, she thought to herself. Although that part of him was definitely not the only part that could be as hard as rock. Eyes flying wide, she jumped down from her horse when they got back to the stables, her cheeks heating up in horror at the things she was even thinking about.

How could she think something like that with a child beside her? Was she truly going mad?

“What are we doing next?” Eloise was still full of energy, eager to move on to their next project. Juliet smiled down at her, taking the opportunity to push those inappropriate thoughts aside.

“Caring for the ponies. Wouldn’t you love to brush down Moonsong?” she said, and Eloise cheered.

“Yes, I certainly would!” she called, already running into the stables as two stable boys rushed after her, panic in their eyes.

“Yes, please, don’t let her run so fast,” Juliet said, hurrying after them.

But she said it without exasperation. Doing these things with little Eloise was far more than she’d ever thought she would be able to enjoy when she’d been engaged to the dastardly Penhurst.

When she got to the stables where the ponies were, the stable boys had their hands full trying to contain Eloise. With an apologetic smile, she took the girl by her shoulders.

“Be calm now,” she said. “The ponies are not running away.”

Eloise was jumping on the spot. “I want to brush down Moonsong!”

Juliet laughed. “All right, all right,” she said, nodding to the stable boys to get the brushes and some apples to feed the horses. But barely a few minutes into the endeavor, Eloise yelped.

“Ow! Moonsong bit me!” Eloise argued. “She absolutely did.”

“She mouthed you.” Juliet drew the brush along Sable’s flank in a long, steady stroke. “There is a meaningful difference.”

Eloise harrumphed, holding up her arm. “I have a mark to show for it.”

“You were holding the apple too far forward. She had to search for it.” Juliet nodded toward the adjacent stall. “You should put your palm flat next time, so she comes to it instead.”

Eloise considered Juliet’s words before she extended her arm again; palm up, a piece of the apple balanced at the center. When Moonsong’s nose came forward, the little child tensed for a moment, but the horse seemed even more aware of her earlier blunder, her lips moving gently—almost apologetically—and the apple was gone.

“Oh!” Eloise said, her face breaking into a smile that Juliet found to be absolutely adorable.