How often she’d longed to return to those simpler times.They had been happier, too.But despite all the heartache she’d experienced since becoming an adult, nothing could compare to the joy of having a son.Andrew was worth every misery and each pain.
Sunny also had a fine seat on a horse, and Mantheria gestured for him to go first.She knew the fields around Hampford Castle like the back of her hand and the lands of the Glastonbury estates, but she didn’t trust herself to follow the old driver’s directions to Tunley.She’d attended school in Bath, but she’d rarely left the premises.Mantheria kept her horse close to Sunny’s as they kept a strict trot in the bustling stone-cobbled roads of the city.It was only once they reached dirt that Sunny urged his mount to a gallop.Mantheria followed suit.
The wind was in her face, the speed of her horse underneath her felt exhilarating, and most of all, the freedom and space to run.Mantheria had forgotten how much she enjoyed all these things.It was like rediscovering an old part of herself.Despite being a very proper duchess, she was still an excellent horsewoman who loved to ride swiftly.Once she found Andrew, she would not make him wait even one more day in London.They would travel to the Glastonbury estate of Avalon, and she would teach her son how to ride like the wind.And how to properly clean, load, and handle a pistol.The Roman soldiers might not have had guns, but she was certain that her son would overlook that historical anachronism.She would do everything with Andrew that she’d done with her sisters: swim in rivers, climb trees, and get up to all sorts of mischief.
Including racing Sunny on the pike road.Leaning her head forward, she urged her horse first to the side of her friend and then in front of him.The wind carried Sunny’s laughter to her ears.Her dear friend was like traveling sunshine.If only she could keep him near her for longer—but she would be scorched by his fire.And he would be disappointed by her coldness.
Mantheria eased her horse into a trot as they reached a fork in the road.Her father had taught her how to track animals, not carriages.But the fresh wheel tracks on the dirt road turned left, and the sign at the crossroads for Tunley was straight.Easing herself off her horse, Mantheria took its bridle and looked more closely at the pike road.She couldn’t see any small footprints in the dirt continuing on toward Tunley.But the road was very dry and compacted.Perhaps such a light person would not even leave tracks.
She heard a roll of thunder from a distance, and she could see dark clouds coming their direction.The roads would not be dry for much longer.
Sunny dismounted and led his mount to her side.Mantheria pointed at the wagon wheel tracks.“It looks like the farmer turned here.Do you think that Andrew got out and walked?Or continued in the wagon?”
She watched him take a deep breath and then exhale slowly.“I have no idea.I wish that I did.I fear that I will choose the wrong direction and disappoint you.”
Mantheria snorted.“You could not disappoint me, Sunny.”
“Except once.”
Her shoulders sagged a little.Yes.He had disappointed her once.Sunny had not danced the first set with Mantheria at her coming-out ball.But even if he had come, Sunny hadn’t been ready for marriage twelve years ago.He’d had no intention of courting her.Mantheria’s young and foolish heart would have been hurt either way.She sighed.As a lady and a daughter of a duke, her only purpose in life had seemed to be to find a husband.At least that was what Miss Cluess’s school had prepared her for.And there weren’t any other options for her.Her privileged life was a beautiful cage.
“You did,” Mantheria said at last, forcing herself to smile.“But perhaps it was for the best.I had a sillytendrefor you when I was a girl, and you aren’t the marrying type—as you so clearly told me then.”
Sunny’s expression was uncommonly serious and a bit grave.“I was a foolish boy, afraid of the responsibilities of a man.I had no father to guide me.Perhaps I was not ready then, but I think I could be now.”
The image of Sunny marrying a lovely young debutante did not sit well with her.If Sunny were married, he could not accompany her to balls or on rescue missions.But these were selfish thoughts.Sunny wasn’t hers to keep, and Mantheria had always known it.She wouldn’t be able to hold Andrew close to her forever either, but she hoped to create a strong enough relationship with her son that he would visit often.Like she did her own parents.
Pointing to the wheel tracks, Mantheria said, “I believe that we should follow the tracks.We know from the armband and button that we are in the right direction to finding Andrew.I think we had best follow the ruts in the road until we can speak to the farmer himself.The driver mentioned animals for slaughtering.Perhaps, the farmer has pigs like the sorceress Circe.Andrew loves that story about how she turned the Greek soldiers into pigs.He pretended that his food was enchanted for weeks, and after dinner, he would snort and crawl around on all fours.”
Before Sunny could offer to help her back into the sidesaddle, Mantheria quickly climbed on a rock and jumped into her seat.She didn’t want to feel his hands encompassing her waist.The warmth of his touch.
Or maybe she did.
That was the problem.
Sunny did not say a word, but he mounted his own hack, and they continued to gallop down the smaller road following the wagon wheel tracks.They had gone at least two more miles before ruts turned onto an even smaller road, no more than a path, really, between the stone fences of farms.
“Let’s continue to follow the tracks,” Mantheria said, although she allowed her mount to slow its pace.The poor beast was sweating and needed a bit of a break.
Sunny touched his hat and rode silently beside her.
Silence with Sunny had never before felt uncomfortable.He was one of the few people in Mantheria’s life she could be entirely herself with—and not fear that he would judge her or spread unflattering stories about her.Yet Mantheria felt unsettled, as if an insect was climbing down her back.Perhaps it was the thought of Sunny marrying a young woman and having children with her.
A man could wait until he was old to beget children, but a woman was not so lucky.Mantheria had always wanted a large family like the one that she had grown up in.Alas, the three Fates, who held the string of her life, had a very different path for her.She was still young enough to bear more children, but she would need a husband, and Mantheria could not trust another man with the control of her life or her body.She might love being a mother, but she despised being a wife.And she hated failing at anything, especially at marriage.
The tracks ended at a tidy barn near a large pigsty.If Andrew were here, he no doubt would be delighted by all of the swine.Mantheria dismounted again before Sunny could offer to assist her.His touch was a distraction that she didn’t need at the moment.Gritting her teeth, she tied the bridle to a post and was about to knock on the door of the cottage when a man came out of the barn.He was tall, handsome, and strappingly built like a blacksmith.She felt a gentle heat enter her cheeks.His straw hat was worn low over his face, nearly covering his eyes.But the rest of his face was striking and clean-shaven, as well as tanned from the sun.
“We are sorry to intrude upon your property, Mr.—”
“Ford.”
“Mr.Ford.We were following the tracks from your wagon wheels.Did you perhaps give a lift to a young boy wearing black?”
The farmer took off his hat and bowed lowly to her.“I did indeed, Your Grace.Master Andrew told me all about you, the Duchess of Glastonbury.”
Mantheria staggered from both relief and surprise.This man knew her son’s real name and her title.“Is he still here?”
“I’m afraid not.I dropped the lad off when I left the pike road for my farm.”Mr.Ford shook his head.“Right sorry he was to miss my pig farm.He told me all about a goddess named Circe, who liked to turn men into pigs.I didn’t have the heart to tell him that most of my herd is lasses.”