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Where was McFarland? Kilburn? McArdle? Anyone?

Through the open doors on the other side of the stables, he caught sight of the three men, gazing into the pasture and enjoying a smoke. Evan didn’t begrudge the servants stealing a few moments for themselves. All were hardworking and reliable. Besides, when Evan rode this early, he generally saddled his own mount.

Did they know Miss Slater had snuck into the stables?

The wench had probably given them a winsome smile, said something witty, and they’d let her have her way.

On silent feet, he approached Eclipse’s stall. He watched Sophronie, small and fragile compared to the giant horse, skillfully brush the stallion, murmuring to the horse the whole while.

Eclipse spotted Evan first and, lifting his head, gave a snort of greeting.

Miss Slater stiffened before lifting her gaze to mesh with Evan’s over the top of the stall gate. No guilt shone in her clear blue eyes for having trespassed in much the same manner as she had in the library last night.

She wore boy’s clothing from tight breeches that delineated every feminine curve of her slender legs and nicely rounded bottom to a simple white shirt and the jacket she’d worn last night. Boots covered her legs to her knees, and she’d twisted her mane of hair into a simple knot atop her head. She was an aggravatingly appealing and perplexingly pretty combination of femininity and spitfire.

Evan rested his forearms on the top of the door. “What, pray tell, do ye think ye are doin?”

She stroked Eclipse’s withers before pushing a curl that had sprung free of her haphazard chignon. “I was missing my horse, Cinnamon. Forgive me if I overstepped again.”

Miss Sophronie Slater perpetually overstepped.

Eclipse gently nuzzled Evan’s arm, and he obligingly rubbed between the horse’s eyes. “Good mornin’. Ready for some exercise?”

A spark of wistfulness entered Miss Slater’s gaze. She gave Eclipse one final pat and then approached the stall door. “I shall leave you to your ride, Your Grace.”

Evan backed up a couple of paces and slid the door open.

“Would ye care to join me?”

He hadn’t intended to ask Sophronie to ride with him, but he understood her need to be near horseflesh. To smell their scent, to feel their strong, sinewy bodies beneath you as you rode, to communicate with an animal that wasn’t human.

Instant joy lit Miss Slater’s face, causing her freckles to stand out in a rather adorable fashion. “You wouldn’t mind?”

She replaced the brush on a nearby shelf, then wiped her hands on her breeches.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I minded, Sophronie.”

She digested that for a moment, then smiled. “I would, in truth. As long as I’m not intruding.”

Evan shook his head and lifted a hand in greeting as his men wandered into the building. “Please saddle Starlight for Miss Slater.”

“Aye, Yer Grace,” Kilburn said, heading toward the mare’s stall.

Nearly as black as Eclipse, but sporting a white patch on her forehead, Starlight was a spirited yet gentle mare. She was one of Evan’s smaller horses and Larissa’s favorite.

In short order, Evan and Miss Slater guided their mounts out of the barn and toward the circular drive. “Would ye like to see this year’s foals?”

The foals were kept in a field on the other side of the castle.

“Do you need to ask, Yer Grace?” Grinning, Sophronie nodded. “Of course I would.”

He chuckled. “I thought as much.”

Evan kicked Eclipse’s side, encouraging him into a canter.

Sophronie matched his pace, as comfortable in a saddle as any man Evan had seen.

“How fares yer father this mornin’?”