Not at all perturbed, she beamed back at him. ‘Oh, hello, Samuel. And I thought it was rather obvious—I am riding.’
Samuel shook his head, a stiffness in his jaw. ‘I know that you are riding, but what are you doing jumping unknown fences in a foreign country?’
Frederica slowed her horse down to a trot and glanced over her shoulder at him coquettishly. ‘I ride every morning for exercise. I do not know about you, but the ride to Genappe left me quite sore in the most unmentionable places.’
His eyes descended to her curvy body for a moment before he forced them back up to her face. Despite not choosing her for his wife, he wanted Frederica more than was decent. Few women could boast her perfectly balanced and generous curves. And like a courtesan, she seemed to know how to display her figure to the most advantage. In addition, she loved embarrassing him and he too easily fell into her traps. She’d wanted him to stare at her figure and he did.
Pressing his fist to his mouth, he said, ‘What if you fell and broke your neck?’
She shrugged her shoulders and raised her eyebrows. ‘Then you wouldn’t have to marry me after all.’
The thought of not marrying her annoyed him even more for some reason. He clenched the reins tighter. ‘You should be more careful. There are all sorts of unsavoury characters about.’
‘Like yourself?’
Samuel grimaced. After all these years, Frederica’s words still managed to needle him. ‘You didn’t find me so unsavoury the other day when we kissed.’
She raised one eyebrow. ‘Which one were you again?’
He opened his mouth, but then closed it.
Frederica let out a peal of laughter. ‘You’ve always been too easy to tease! Shall we have a race?’
‘Very well.’
Glancing back at her groom, she said, ‘Jim, you may go home and tell Harper that I am in Lord Pelford’s company.’
He doffed his hat to her. ‘Very good, my lady.’
Turning back to Samuel, she pointed to a white farmhouse in the distance. ‘The first one to jump the fence wins. On your mark, get set, go!’
He watched her spur her horse onward at a spanking pace. Samuel had a little more experience over the terrain and wanted to save his horse’s energy for the final gallop. Frederica led the entire race, over the fields, and past a road. Leaning forward, he squeezed his horse’s flank with his boots. His mare responded by increasing her speed and flying over the fence, a length ahead of Frederica’s grey. Samuel walked his horse a few more yards before turning back to her. The race had brought colour into her cheeks and she looked beautiful.
Frederica grinned at him. She angled her horse next to his and bumped his shoulder with her own.
‘Oh, good race, Samuel.’
For all her faults, she was never a sore loser.
‘Thank you.’
‘I do not know about you, but I am famished! Shall we buy some bread and cheese from the farmer and have a picnic?’
‘I need to get back to my duties,’ he said gravely.
Frederica laughed in his face. No soldier would have dared to do such a thing. ‘I almost believed you for half a moment. You do take yourself rather seriously, don’t you? Is that why you do not discuss politics with women?’
Samuel shook his head. ‘Must you dredge that up again? I only said that to avoid an argument with you. I am sure if I tell you that I am a Whig, you will proclaim yourself a Tory. Or vice versa.’
‘Iama Tory and please donottry to stop arguing with me. I love quarrelling with you. You have always been such a worthy foe.’
She slid off her horse, tied it to the fence, and walked off merrily to the barn behind the farmhouse. Huffing, he followed her, half hoping that the owners would rebuff her request. The Belgian farmer was in his late forties, with a scraggly beard that reached his waist, and after a few words exchanged in French, he treated Frederica like his daughter. He ushered them into the house, where a woman wrapped them a loaf of bread, a wedge of cheese, and a carafe of milk. Frederica thanked the woman profusely and paid her with a gold coin. He could not help but be impressed by Frederica’s fluency and accent. She sounded like a local and not an aristocratic one.
Frederica held up her newly purchased wares and gave him another smile. The farmer handed him a blanket and told Samuel to be sure to return it.
‘I will keep him in line and make sure he does,’ she said in French, winking.
Both the farmer and his wife laughed.