“You’ve fallen at the hedge before?”
She flushed. “No, I have not.” She frowned at him. “When Pearl cast a shoe.”
He tipped his hat and prepared to mount.
“Perhaps you are not aware you are on my uncle’s land,” she said to his back, unwilling to leave it there.
“I was riding over my land when I saw you make that reckless attempt,” he said over his shoulder. He mounted easily, making her aware of his muscled thighs in snug riding breeches. Then, without granting her a chance to reply, he turned his horse and rode away.
Maddie frowned after him. She would have liked to have the last word, but he was firm in his conviction that she was inept, foolish, and reckless, and she could say little in her defense. She hoped for a chance to show him how wrong he was and wondered how long he planned to stay.
When she tried to remount Pearl, she discovered a broken strap on the sidesaddle. “Well, that’s what happened,” she said, wishing he’d been there to learn of it. Her misjudgment had not caused the fall, and it galled her for him to think it had. With a firm shake of her head, determined not to give the man another thought, she gathered up Pearl’s rein and walked the horse back.
By the time she reached the stables, she was hot and thirsty. Henry, her favorite groom, ladled a cup of water from the barrel and handed it to her, then examined the saddle. “This is indeed strange, Lady Madeline. The strap didn’t break. It was cut.”
Maddie’s blood went cold. “Surely not.” She hurried over to see. It certainly looked like a cut. “How could that happen?”
Henry scratched his head. “Never seen the like before in all my born days.”
“I would like you to examine the saddle carefully before I mount Pearl tomorrow, Henry. For now, please attend to the horse.” Maddie wanted to go to her room and shut herself away and think. The strap must have rubbed against something sharp. While she couldn’t dismiss it so easily, her thoughts centered more on their neighbor than whether the saddle strap had broken or was cut.
Chapter Two
Lady Madeline’s long,slender legs were the first thing Hart noticed about her, as he approached where she sat examining her horse’s fetlock. She was slim and curvy in all the right places. And once he’d helped her to her feet, he discovered she was quite tall, her eyes just below his. But she was not pleased to see him. And that might have been his fault. He had been curt. He didn’t like to see a horse suffer in the hands of an inexperienced rider.
The following day, she remained stubbornly on his mind even when he rode to visit their tenant farmer, Wilkins. Hart left Wilkins heavy-hearted after listening to the farmer’s litany of problems. He wanted to help the fellow and he would. But when?
Passing the south meadow, Hart bellowed, “Hell and damnation!” When he saw another fence down. A flock of sheep had wandered onto his neighbor Wakeham’s land to graze in a field of turnip tops. He wished Rasputin was with him. The dog would do the job in half the time. Hart dismounted, rounded them up, shooing them back through the break in the fence. The obstinate creatures darted out of his reach, and as he uttered every swear word in his vocabulary, he spied Lady Madeline crossing the stream on her mare. The water almost came up to her boots. When she emerged, he saw she rode astride in men’s breeches. He gave up his thankless task, allowing more sheep to jump over the broken railing while his gaze fixed on her with wonder at her audacity. If she came across some fellow who wasn’t the gentleman Hart was, she’d be in danger. But he had to admire her devil-may-care attitude when she jumped her grey mare over a low fence and rode across the field to him. What a sight! He had to admit she sat well in the saddle, and was obviously a far more competent rider than he’d given her credit for.
She dismounted, jumping down before he could assist her. “Lord Montford. You have some renegades, I see.”
He couldn’t draw his eyes from her, and feared he was being crass, but good lord, her curves in those pants! “Yes, and they’re a rowdy lot.” He reluctantly turned to the errant sheep gathered together, happily grazing on the wrong side of the fence, making a mockery of his attempts to move them.
Lady Madeline tied her mare’s reins to a fencepost and walked over to him with an elegant swing of her hips. “I’ll help to round up the last of the reluctant stragglers,” she offered.
Hart swallowed. “Good of you.”
He sighed as she bent to give a woolly animal a push. The glimpse of her rounded derriere yesterday had stayed with him. He gave himself a mental shake. He was behaving like a schoolboy.
Half an hour later, they had corralled the sheep on the proper side of the fence.
Hart shoved the broken bit of fencing back into place to form a temporary barrier. Then turned to watch her mount her gray. She did it gracefully, and the effect on him was startling and immediate. “I appreciate the help.” He bent to brush the mud from his breeches. “You will need refreshment after all that work. I am happy to offer you some, but you are closer to your home than mine.” Dear lord, he could see his stablehands now.
“No, thank you. I appreciate the offer, but I enjoy physical exercise.”
He brushed away the thought of what form of exercise she might indulge in and whether he might be involved, and averted his eyes from her slender thighs before all the blood rushed south from his head and he sounded like an idiot. “You prefer to ride astride?” he asked inanely. Too late. His reaction surprised him. He was familiar with many ladies, most of whom flirted and invited his attention. Lady Madeline did not flirt. And he’d never felt so off his game.
“They are more comfortable,” she said, fortunately unaware of his difficulty. “I don’t expect to wear them again. Today it was necessary. A strap on my sidesaddle broke when I took Pearl over that jump.” She raised her eyebrows, a slight rebuke. “This happened the last time we met.”
He frowned. “It broke when you jumped that hedge? Dear lord. I’m glad you weren’t hurt.” He admitted his error and cleared his throat. Eating humble pie wasn’t easy for him. “I acted unfairly that day and must apologize. But your stable staff are not up to scratch to allow you to ride with a damaged saddle.”
“My groom and stable master are very reliable. The damage would have been difficult to detect. It was half cut through at the back of the strap.” She glanced at him and said wryly, “But your apology is accepted.”
He stared at her. “The strap was cut?”
“It looks like it.” She shrugged, but he saw worry in her eyes. “Must have rubbed against something sharp.”
That didn’t wash with him and made him profoundly uneasy. “I imagine your groom will be more careful in the future.”