Let Love Find You (7 page)

She’d almost barged in on her brother’s conversation with Baldwin, had been getting up the nerve to do so. And what had that been about? Nervous? Her? She was
never
overcome with shyness like that! But Baldwin certainly wasn’t the sort of gentleman she was accustomed to—if he could even be called a gentleman. And it was a good thing she did hesitate. The few words he’d said to her had confirmed that her first impression of him had been accurate. He was nothing but a rude,
presumptuous country clod, and he’d better hope she never saw him again or she’d tell him so!

Ophelia came by early that morning to invite her on an outing. “Where are we going?” Amanda asked when she came downstairs to join Ophelia and her maid, Sadie O’Donald, in the parlor, where they’d been waiting for her. “Am I dressed appropriately?”

Both women stood up to put their coats back on. Amanda had brought a fur-trimmed pelisse with her, but kept it over her arm, not sure if she needed it. It was late autumn, but not quite cold enough yet for more than the heavier clothing and extra petticoats favored at that time of year. Amanda’s pale blue–and-white walking dress was made out of thick brocade, and the matching jacket that ended at her waist was likely all she’d need to keep warm.

“You look perfect, m’dear, as always.” Ophelia hooked her arm through Amanda’s to lead her back to the foyer. “We’re going shopping. I thought you might like to get out of the house, and I need to pick out your brother’s birthday present.”

“And you need my advice on what he might like?”

“Actually, no. But come along, I’ll explain on the way.”

Ophelia wasn’t quite sure how to broach the subject, or even if she should yet. She’d made a bold decision to hire Devin Baldwin to help Amanda, despite Rafe’s initial distrust of the man. In fact, she was acting against his wishes. She’d spoken to Rafe about it last night after the party, teasingly suggesting that Cupid might be able to figure out Amanda’s problem. Rafe had rejected the idea out of hand, said he wasn’t quite sure what to make of the man after talking to him, but until he could put his finger on why he still had misgivings, he’d rather Amanda not become acquainted with the chap for any reason.

Ophelia didn’t always agree with her husband. This was definitely one of those times. After being intrigued by Cupid’s more modern approach to matchmaking last night, and having spoken with the couple he’d already helped and heard from them about some of his other successes, she’d been convinced that Cupid was just what Amanda needed.

She’d never gone against Rafe’s wishes, though. But if this worked out as she hoped, then everyone would be happy, and Rafe didn’t even have to know that she’d played a part in it. But that was if Devin would even take the job. He might already have too many clients. He might simply not have the time, since his horse farm was apparently his first priority. She had to find that out first. So there was no point in jumping the gun and telling Amanda about it until the man had actually committed to helping her.

“Shopping outside of London?” Amanda said when she noticed they were on a country road.

“Yes, your brother mentioned a few months ago that his stallion is getting old, so I thought a new one would be a nice surprise for his birthday. And an actual horse farm will have a good selection to choose from. But I invited you along because, honestly, m’dear, I know you don’t like to ride and why, but don’t you think it’s time you gave it a try again? We could get you a mount today, too.”

“No,” Amanda said immediately.

“But it’s such fun and a very social activity, too, you know. And riding in one of the parks while you’re staying in town, there’s no telling who you might meet. It will also give you something to do during the day, since you discourage your young beaus from calling on you at Julie’s—do you still discourage them? Or was that just last year?”

Amanda rolled her eyes. “I see too much of them as it is, when none of them really interest me.” Then she grinned. “And Aunt Julie is such a perfect excuse to use. Once they’ve met her, they readily believe that she doesn’t like men cluttering up her parlor. The ladies still call, of course, but that doesn’t take up all morning and afternoon.”

“No, of course not,” Ophelia agreed. “Which is why I thought you might want to try riding again. It would be a good way to fill in some of those idle hours.”

Amanda actually bit her lip for a moment. “I am hoping to find something interesting and fun to occupy me while I’m in town, but it
won’t
be riding. Really, Phelia, I did try it again—well, I was going to, but I just . . . no, riding just isn’t for me.”

Ophelia didn’t press it. That had been a long shot anyway. Raphael had told her about the fall Amanda had been injured in when she was a child, and that it had left her afraid to get back on a horse. Ophelia had hoped enough time had passed that Amanda might have outgrown that fear, but apparently not.

“Well, that was just a thought anyway,” Ophelia said. “You can still help me pick out a horse for your brother. I’m sure it won’t take long.”

But a few minutes later she amended that statement. Laughing at herself after glancing out the window, Ophelia said, “Oh, my, I can’t imagine why I was expecting all the horses to be inside a single stable. I had no idea this farm was this big.”

As her driver helped them out of the coach, Ophelia was forced to conclude that Devin Baldwin was definitely not just a dabbler at horse breeding like so many aristocrats who tried their hand at it, loving horses as they all did. She had no idea where they might find him. She had thought he’d probably be
in the stable, but there were three of them! And a barn. It was definitely a decent-size property for a horse farm.

“Well, since no one is rushing out here to help us, Paul, you try the left stable, Mandy, you check the center one, and I’ll check in the one on the right.”

“What are we looking for?” Amanda asked.

“The factor or owner, or anyone who can show us the horses that are currently for sale.”

A
MANDA WAS IMPRESSED. SHE
’
D
been driven past many horse farms in the country, but she’d never seen one on such a grand scale as this. In addition to the three stables, there was a barn and a rather rundown two-story house. So many horses were grazing in the fenced-in fields that she didn’t even try to count them. There was even a riding track! It looked like a smaller version of the racetrack to the south that she’d attended with her aunt, but it didn’t have any stands or other accommodations for spectators, so she doubted any races were actually held here.

Amanda struggled to open the regular-size door of the middle stable where Ophelia had directed her to look for the owner. The large double doors of all three stables were closed, no doubt to retain any heat inside during the cooler months.

But she encountered
much
more heat than she was expecting when she finally got the door open. Good grief, it felt like a hothouse in here. Lanterns hung from numerous posts, and she counted three large braziers that gave off light as well as heat. A
wagon filled with hay stood in one aisle. Horse stalls lined the sides of the cavernous space, which accommodated a third set of stalls down the center. Walking down the aisle on the right, she saw a horse in every stall she passed.

She wasn’t quite sure, but most of the horses appeared to be in the latter stage of pregnancy. This didn’t surprise her. Aunt Julie had told her during one of their visits to the racetrack that racehorses were usually mated during the spring and summer months because it took a mare nearly a year to produce a foal. This timing ensured that two-year-old foals would be ready to be tested in the late spring when the racing season began. Races took place throughout the year, weather permitting, but the races during the prime season were the most exciting and the best attended because racegoers got a chance to witness new champions in the making.

Amanda passed a worker who was grooming a mare in one of the stalls. She was about to question him when she realized he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Unaccustomed to speaking with bare-chested men, she moved on. One of the double doors at the back of the stable was opening, letting in more light, and she saw a man on a horse silhouetted against the bright light of day. Shielding her eyes, she called, “Hello! Is the owner about? My sister-in-law is here to buy a horse.”

Having got the horse inside, the man was closing the door again. Had he even heard her?

“Lady Amanda, isn’t it?”

She gasped and swung around to see Devin Baldwin poking his head out of the stall she’d just passed. There was that deep voice again, that same voice that had insulted her last night. She opened her mouth to give him the belated tongue-lashing he deserved, but the words didn’t come. He’d brought the rest of
his body out of the stall and closed the stall door behind him. He shouldn’t have done that. He was half-naked!

Amanda didn’t look away as she ought to. The thought never even occurred to her. Nothing could have got her eyes off his tall form in such virile disarray. Muscles bunching in his arms, a mat of dark hair covering his wide chest, which was glistening with sweat, his trousers tucked into a pair of old work boots caked with dried mud and who knew what else. His brow was sweaty, too, which he wiped now with the short towel that had hung over one of his shoulders.

Being confronted with someone who was exposing more skin than was proper wouldn’t ordinarily have bothered her. She would have just tsked daintily and quickly averted her eyes. It wasn’t as if she’d never seen male servants before who had adjusted their attire because of the heat. In the summer on the way to town she’d passed bare-chested gardeners working under the hot sun, not that the Norford Hall gardeners stripped down that way. The employees of a duke had to maintain decorum at all times, no matter how hot the sun—or overheated the stables.

She was just having that thought when
he
seemed to realize the inappropriateness of his attire, or lack of attire, in her presence and reached for the shirt hanging on a stall rail. But then he swore and reached for a bucket of water instead.

Amanda gasped again as he bent forward and poured water over his head, splashing her boots and the hem of her dress. This was the man who was the
ton
’s latest sensation, the matchmaker called Cupid? How dare he treat her like this! He was nothing more than a boorish brute!

“Sorry.” He rubbed the towel over his head and chest. “We keep it hot in here because I don’t want any of these ladies catching a draft. I’ve got a good horse doctor for them who
lives nearby, and even he tells me I pamper them too much. But pampering doesn’t hurt. I haven’t lost a foal yet.”

She just stared at him wide-eyed, prompting him to guess, “You don’t remember me? I’m Devin Baldwin. We met last night at—”

“No, we did not!” she cut in, finally finding her voice. “You didn’t bother to introduce yourself to me properly before you insulted me with your misplaced advice. One goes before the other, in case you don’t know.”

“I’m aware of what goes where,” he said with some amusement.

“And I certainly don’t need advice from the likes of you!” she huffed. “You don’t know a thing about me. How can you possibly presume to—”

“I know you chatter too much. You’re doing it right now. But last night at your sister-in-law’s party, you didn’t give those poor boys a chance to say a bloody thing to you. How’s a man to flatter you if you won’t keep quiet long enough to hear his compliments?”

Amanda’s eyes narrowed in a scowl. “Did it never occur to you that those young men aren’t new acquaintances of mine? That I’ve known them a long time? That they’ve already given me every conceivable compliment they can think of?”

“Name me one.”

“What?”

He snorted. “As I thought, you heard them but you didn’t
really
listen to them. Now I understand. Really, Lady Amanda, why waste your time if you’re not interested in these gentlemen?”

“Maybe because unlike you I’m not
rude
?”

He raised a brow. “You don’t think it’s rude to keep them
dangling like that? Young men actually hopeful of finding wives? If you don’t want to marry any of them, send them on their way so they can find women who are willing.”

Beyond enraged, Amanda yelled, “I give them no encouragement a’tall!”

“No, you just like that they all flock to you whether they stand a chance at winning you or not. But I realize it’s
who
you are that is the problem. They’re not going to stop trying for a duke’s daughter until she’s no longer available. So pick one of them and put the rest out of their misery.”

She was speechless. That was absolutely his worst insult yet, saying that her beaus only danced attendance on her because of who her father was. He might as well have said no one could find her attractive or like her for herself.

But then Devin Baldwin’s eyes passed over her from head to foot, slowly, too slowly—even
that
was an insult—and he added grudgingly, “You’re pretty enough. It’s too bad you haven’t figured out how to utilize that instead of monopolizing conversations and—”