A Gallant Gamble (2 page)

“Hold her head for me and talk to her as gently as you can.” Charlotte’s voice echoed around the stall.

Further down the stables Charlotte’s own horse, Lightning, seemed to sense that something was going on. The huge stallion screamed inside his stall and kicked at the wooden door. The sound of his distress filled the building.

Geoffrey rubbed Star Gazer between the eyes as he spoke softly to her and she whinnied a response to her mate.

“See what happens when you worry your man. He is anxious for you and wants his son to be born quickly. Your foal will be big and strong like him and you will be a proud mama soon.” The mare snorted out hot air and then nuzzled his shirtfront in response to his words.

Charlotte suddenly appeared beside him again, wiping her greasy arm with a handful of fresh hay.

“Yes, well that’s what happens when we let them out unattended together in Alexander’s pasture. In truth, I blame Giles. If he hadn’t been so blasted noble and had told the magistrate immediately that he was bedding his soon to be bride at the time of Lord Ellesworth’s disappearance, he wouldn’t have been so busy getting himself hanged, and we may have considered the consequences of leaving the horses out in the pasture together more carefully.” She smiled up at Geoffrey as she dropped the last of the soiled hay. He raised a querying eyebrow. “The foal’s leg was turned backwards. I’ve pulled it into position so if Star Gazer can just help us now, we could have a wonderful new foal in a few minutes.”

The beautiful grey horse whinnied again and took a few steps around the stall while Charlotte and Geoffrey watched apprehensively. Not five minutes later Star Gazer stopped walking. She stood still and appeared to tremble all over just before she began huffing out short, laboured breaths. Charlotte gripped Geoffrey’s forearm as Star Gazer lifted her tail and the foal’s front legs and head appeared.

It wasn’t long before the foal slithered into the clean hay at Star Gazer’s hooves. The mare turned and began cleaning her baby immediately.

Charlotte smiled in relief as the foal began to snort and move about. She sat down at the edge of the stall to watch the new mother come to know her baby. Geoffrey squatted down with her; partly because he was as mesmerized by the scene as Charlotte and partly because the young woman hadn’t let go of his arm.

“It’s so beautiful. Look at its colouring. White with a dark mane and tail. Depending on its sex we should call it either Starlight or White Star,” she spoke excitedly.

Geoffrey nodded contentedly at the sight of the healthy mother and foal as he agreed that both were excellent names.

“Either would be perfect but perhaps we should speak to Anne first as it is her mare. Not that it matters what you call the foal, but we should see if it’s a filly or a colt. I’ll have to go and tell Alexander. He’ll be interested to know if we can make an addition to our stables. Depending on its sex, we’ll have to weigh up the potential for breeding or if we should sell.”

Charlotte laughed quietly and nudged Geoffrey with her elbow.

“Trust a man to ruin this glorious moment and talk business. Let it get to its feet and then we can look. A few minutes more won’t matter. Alexander has probably gone into the drawing room by now anyway. You won’t want to become caught up in conversation with his mother. As sweet as she is, she can be hard going. She’ll have you married off to the nearest available woman in no time. I barely escaped before she started on about my come out.” She gave an involuntary shudder at the mere thought of such an horrendous occasion.

The foal suddenly lurched onto its knobbly knees and then to its feet. It stood stiff legged but triumphant. Geoffrey narrowed his eyes and stared at Star Gazer as she nudged the wobbly foal towards her teats, but his thoughts were not on either animal. His lungs had suddenly become hard to fill. A restrictive tightness gripped his chest.

“You’re having a come out? I didn’t think that you would go in for such a thing. Hardly your style.” He didn’t like how his voice sounded thick with fear.

Charlotte sighed as she watched the foal take a first suck of its mother’s milk. She hadn’t appeared to notice his tone.

“You’re right, but apparently Olivia is insisting. Never having had a daughter, she’s arguing that I can now fill that gap in her life. She’s adamant that I go to London in the spring with her. It’s a ridiculous notion. I’m already way past my prime. No one is going to want to court a spinster, and I’m really not interested anyway. It all seems such a pointless waste of time.”

Privately Geoffrey agreed with her that it was all a waste of time, but he had no intention of saying it. Instead, he let out a low laugh.

“Spinster? Good grief! How old are you? Sixteen or something?”

Charlotte lifted her nose in the air.

“I’ll be nearly twenty by the time I go, and well you know it as you came to my eighteenth birthday party earlier in the year. Many women are married by my age and already have an heir and a spare. I suspect that I will have to sit with the dowagers and widows and sew samplers all day.”

She sounded thoroughly miserable at the thought. Geoffrey knew that she wasn’t the type to sit quietly and embroider cushions. She loved riding wildly over the hills and along the beach. She delighted in the sensations of the wind in her hair and the sun on her face. London in the spring would stifle her, the balls would bore her and the men would...He gulped back the bile that suddenly threatened to rise as he looked down at her where she sat in her near transparent underwear beside him.
Good god! The men would devour her!

There was a sudden growling sound that echoed about the stable and Star Gazer shook her head nervously. She whinnied and snorted at her baby. The colt stopped drinking and nickered back at his mother before going back to drink again.

Charlotte glanced up as she suddenly realized that it was Geoffrey who emitted the strange sound.

“Are you feeling unwell, Geoff. Your insides are making some very strange noises. Have you eaten yet this evening? I’m sure that there was plenty left. Cook will be only too pleased to serve you up a plate.”

For a moment Geoffrey wondered what she was talking about. His stomach hadn’t made any sound, but just as he thought that, he realized that the angry rumble had come from his own mouth. His brows settled low on his forehead as he tried to rid himself of the image of Charlotte dancing with other men, flirting with them, possibly letting them call her by her given name.
What if they went any further?
What if they kissed her?
His breathing became deeper, harsher as it occurred to him exactly what a season in London might entail. Other men would lay their hands on her waist, the waist that he now knew was so beautifully curved and tiny. They might leer down her frocks at her evidently ample delights or dare glance at her ankle as she descended the stairs...His growl became louder, his eyebrows dipped further, his rage rose hotter.

The stable was becoming far too small. His body felt like it had begun to swell, his heart suddenly pounded so hard that he swore that he could hear his own blood pumping around his body. He gave himself a shake but nothing could rid him of the fury that began to fill him. He staggered to his feet and Charlotte’s hand slipped from his arm.

“Geoffrey, are you feeling alright? A new life is an emotional moment, I know, but there is nothing to worry about now. Both Star Gazer and her foal are doing well.” She stared up at him and blinked as fire appeared to smoulder in his eyes. “Geoff...” Her voice faded in wonder.

He turned his back on her and spoke harshly as he stormed towards the door.

“Put your dress on. I’m going to the castle to give Alexander the news. I don’t want him to find you in your...your unmentionables.” Geoffrey sounded as though he’d eaten powdered glass, but his words suddenly stopped and he staggered to a halt as another voice spoke up.

“Do I need to cover my eyes?” Alexander, Duke of Ormond’s amused tones echoed through the stables.

Charlotte forced a laugh as she gazed curiously at Geoffrey’s retreating back.

“Give me one moment, Alex. Star Gazer needed help and I didn’t want to ruin my frock.” There was the sound of rustling silks and then a small giggle. “I can’t reach the buttons. Geoffrey, would you mind...” her voice died away as Geoffrey interrupted heatedly.

“Yes, I bloody well would mind. I’m going to see to Lightning. He’s had a tough night too.” He barely glanced at Alexander as he strode down the stables towards the other horses.

Charlotte’s blonde curls appeared at the stall door and she stared after Geoffrey’s receding form before turning back to Alexander.

“Well, of all the nerve! Leaving me in a state of undress. I can’t go back up to the house looking like this. Your mother will have palpitations.”

Alexander smiled down at her and twirled his finger, indicating that she should show him her back. She followed his directions and turned around whereupon he made short work of the length of small buttons.

He spoke as he concentrated on her dress.

“It would seem that my stableman has had a stressful evening. Couldn’t possibly been as demanding as pandering to my dear mother, but who knows. Something has set him all to a fluster, that’s easy to see...There, all done and no one any the wiser.” He raised an eyebrow and looked questioningly as Charlotte turned around.

She glanced back over her shoulder at Star Gazer and her foal.

“I had to turn the foal’s leg. It was twisted beneath his body. We could have lost both of them if I hadn’t intervened.” She looked up at Alexander pleadingly. “You won’t tell Giles about my state of undress, will you? I know that he would understand, given the circumstances, but Geoffrey is clearly annoyed with me. I wouldn’t want him to get into any trouble over something that couldn’t be avoided.”

Alexander looked down at his best friend’s ward for a few seconds. She was highly unconventional, but a delight to behold. He knew exactly what his stableman had gone through, having been through a similar situation with his own gorgeous wife once before. No wonder Geoffrey had stormed out. Seeing the beautiful young woman in her small clothes must have been excruciatingly painful. The temptation to ravish her must have been almost overwhelming. That the man clearly hadn’t acted upon his rampant desires only lifted Alexander’s already excellent opinion of him even further.

“Nothing need be said, Charlotte, though you should be aware that not all men are as noble as Geoffrey.”

Charlotte snorted in a most unladylike fashion.

“I know that well enough, though I doubt that was all that restrained him. I was attacked here by three so called gentlemen once before, if you recall. I can handle myself one to one easily, Alex, have no fear.” She referred to the night of the Ormond ball, the night that she had been manhandled by several young men who should have known better. She had left them all very sorry for the way they had acted.

Alexander nodded soberly.

“Yes, I remember well.” He paused as he listened to the soft rumbles that came from Lightning’s stall before he spoke again. “It seems that Geoffrey is calming the new father. Believe me, I know exactly how Lightning feels about that too. I swear to God that I will never get over hearing Lily’s screams of pain as she birthed our beautiful Lillian. I wanted to beat down the bedroom door. If her maid Betty and Grady hadn’t stood guard it would have been a mass of splinters!” He smiled down as Charlotte laughed at his recollection of becoming a father for the first time. “We should return to the drawing room. Mother has set up a game of cards and is asking after you. I don’t think she would be at all happy if she discovered that you had been here half the night. I’m afraid that she wouldn’t approve of you helping a horse birth its babe, especially if she discovered that you were wearing nothing but your undergarments while doing it. Good heavens, I can see her swooning now!” He fluttered his eyelashes and staggered about as he swept a hand over his brow in mock faint.

Charlotte laughed at his absurd antics.

“Yes, I can imagine.” She glanced back to the stable again. White Star had lain down, her foal curled into her body as the horse nuzzled at her new babe. “I think it’s safe for us to leave. If Geoffrey doesn’t mind staying then we should return to the castle.”

Alexander nodded and looked down the stables, noting Lightning’s closed door.

“Geoffrey will be fine here for a while. You know what he’s like when we have company. He’ll come up to the castle for some food and wine later.”

Charlotte held onto Alexander’s arm and lifted her skirts over the muck as they walked across the cobbled yard.

“Why does he avoid people? I know that he had other duties tonight, but he’s not normally so irritable and standoffish. He eats with us all the rest of the time. I missed him at dinner tonight.”

Alexander turned back to the stables. He could see Geoffrey’s muscular figure outlined in the lamplight shining through the window of the stall. The man stood with his forehead against Lightning’s neck, his broad shoulders heaving as he took in deep breaths. Alexander turned back around and stared down at Charlotte. The young woman’s innocent eyes glowed like sapphires in the night. He sighed deeply. There was no way that he could explain it all, but he would explain some.

“Geoffrey was my father’s steward’s son. He has been my friend his whole life and due to certain circumstances that met me when I returned to Ormond after the war, I value that friendship more than you can possibly imagine, but he was born to a different station in life. I have tried to show him that this does not matter to me in the slightest, but he continually turns down my offers of raising his status. There is a saying that I think applies. ‘You can take a horse to water, but you’ll never force him to drink.’ Geoffrey’s only concession has been to take a share in the breeding venture, but even then he wouldn’t accept my offer of giving him his portion. He has paid in as much through working as the rest of us, to find the right breeding mares and he’s put in far more time and effort to gain good results.”