Sweet Deception Regency 07 - The Divided Hearts (13 page)

“An efficacious cure, I vow,” Simon gritted
hoarsebbly.

“Are you positive you don’t want me to send
for Doctor Case?” Nate asked, his forehead bunched in concern.

“The old goat will just pull his beard and
tell me to cut out brandy, pipe smoking and rich foods,” Simon
grumbled. “He says that every time I see him. Not to worry, lad.
It’s happened before. If I stay flat on my back it will soon ease
up.”

“Then I insist that you accept my
hospitality until it does.” Turning to Judith, Nate said, “Lady
Judith, I would hope that you might remain also. Then you won’t
worry about your father.”

Dismay at the invitation, caused her to look
anxiously at her father. His eyes, twinkling despite his injury,
were steady on her face. She had told him of her dislike for
Nathanael Bellingham, yet he appeared totally amused that she was
forced to accept his hospitality. With an uneasy feeling that she
was somehow being manipulated, she accepted as graciously as she
could. As Nate led her from the room, her father’s chuckle made her
question the entire incident. Although she knew him to be in pain,
there was a certain smug satisfaction about the old man that
worried her. She suspected there was something havey-cavey going
on, but she was unable to pinpoint it.

Sunlight blurred the outlines of the windows
and patterned the carpet with sharp rectangles of bright color.
Judith sat up slowly, fluffing her hair then piling it in a jumble
of curls on top of her head as she stretched the muscles of her
back. Looking around, she found the corner room overlooking the
garden even lovelier than she remembered from the night before.

The paneled walls and fireplace were painted
a soft mint green that projected a unified serenity in the room.
The furniture was mainly Chippendale, accented with American pieces
of an earlier style. The square legs of the bedstead led up to
graceful reeded pedestals that held up the tester. Antique green
silk taffeta bordered in deep gold made up the bed hangings,
matching the draperies at the windows. Judith liked the openness of
the bed. The curtains instead of hanging from the four corners were
pulled behind the elegant, uncarved headboard. Across the room was
a cream and green striped upholstered settee with lines so graceful
it appeared almost fragile.

The appointments in the room had been
selected with care. There was a delightful harmony, a blend of
practicality and style that made each piece seem designed for its
place in the total scheme. Even the fire screen, which normally
Judith found too fussy for her taste, became an integral part of
the decorative scheme. The moveable screen attached to the pole
stood on a tripod with sweeping arched legs terminating in elongate
claw-and-ball feet. The tapestry was a soft blend of green, white
and cream colored yarns.

Eager to begin the day, Judith pulled the
tapestry bell rope beside the bed to call Alice, the maid who had
assisted her to bed. Laying back against the pillows she let her
mind once more puzzle over the behavior of Nathanael
Bellingham.

Judith had been aware during lunch that her
host had withdrawn from her, exhibiting once again the shallowness
of the fashionable set. Making sure that Simon was comfortable
after the accident, Nate had taken her on a tour of his home.
Wielding his quizzing glass like a tutor’s pointer, Nate drawled
the descriptions and the history of each room. The understated
elegance of the furnishings was in such contrast to her guide’s
outrageous behavior that Judith felt bewildered.

Judith was relieved when Nate announced he
would be unable to join her for dinner. At the time she had not
questioned the fact that a previous commitment would rob her of his
company. Now she wondered if she bored him as much as he irritated
her. However she and Patrick had dined quite cheerfully, with the
new pony the predominant topic of conversation.

At the scratching on the hall door, Judith
called for the maid to enter as she flung back the covers and stood
up.

“Morning, Miss Judith,” Alice said.

The young black girl smiled as she crossed
the room with a can of hot water and some fluffy white towels. She
shook out the freshly laundered riding habit, inspecting the skirt
critically, before she laid it across the back of the chaise
lounge. Humming under her breath, the girl straightened the room
while Judith washed. Then she helped her dress and brushed her
golden curls until they crackled.

“I’m gonna pile this on top yore head, miss.
The sun’s got lots of heat in it this morning and if yore planning
to ride, you’ll be plenty warm.”

In the mirror, Judith nodded her agreement.
“Has Master Bellingham had breakfast yet?”

“Mr. Nate’s already out in the barns. He’s
out there most mornings before the sun’s over the trees.” Alice
chuckled around a mouthful of hairpins. “He say yore to have some
breakfast and then join him in the stable yard.”

Thanking Alice, Judith dashed along the hall
to check on her father. Simon was much improved, devouring a
breakfast tray that would have fed his daughter for a week. Kissing
his cheek, she hurried down to the dining room where she bolted
down several sweet buns and a dish of tea. A waiting footman
ushered her through the house to a side door, pointing to a
familiar figure leaning against a railed fence.

“Good morning, Lady Judith.”

In the buckskins Nate wore, his elegant bow
appeared ludicrous. Unsure of the personality he had chosen for the
morning, Judith warily smiled her greetings, looking beyond his
broad shoulders to the black-haired boy in the center of the
fenced-in area. As he sat on the broad back of the tan pony,
Patrick’s face was pinched in apprehension. He held, or more
accurately clutched, the reins of the pony, even though the docile
animal was being led by one of the stable hands.

“One tends to forget the terror of one’s
first ride,” Nate said as he turned toward the fence. “The boy’s a
natural rider and stubborn to boot.”

Patrick glanced in their direction and
seeing Judith, he raised a hand to wave. As his balance shifted, a
look of horror crossed his face and he jerked his arm down to bury
his fingers in the pony’s mane. Finally in control, he flashed a
triumphant grin before his face settled back to a look of intense
concentration.

Laughing, Judith turned to Nate. “He’ll be
the scourge of Newport now.”

Nate felt imprisoned by the gleaming gold in
Judith’s hazel eyes. Her upturned face was so close to his that for
a moment he wanted nothing more than to touch her soft mouth with
his own. His body swayed toward her as though pulled by some
unknown magnetic force. He opened his mouth, wanting to break the
spell, yet at the same time unwilling to reject the current of
feeling that rushed through him. As he raised his hand to caress
her cheek, Judith’s eyes widened and she involuntarily stepped back
a pace. Nate shook his head, dropping his hand to take her elbow
and turn her toward the yard.

“Your father has chosen several horses for
you to consider,” Nate said, his voice carefully neutral. “I hope
you’ll approve.”

“I’m sure I will.” Judith responded
politely, but her mind whirled with confusion. For a moment she had
thought Nate was planning to kiss her. She was sure she had not
mistaken the momentary flash of electricity that had passed between
them. She did not understand why she kept receiving such
contrasting signals from this aggravating man. One minute he was
coldly correct, the next he appeared to be courting her attentions.
At times he was a charming and entertaining host, then later he was
more artificial than before.

Her confusion of mind was dismissed when
they arrived at the paddock where three horses awaited her perusal.
The sight of the thoroughbreds filled her with admiration and
excitement. There was a chestnut, a black and a grey. Individually
each horse would have elicited approbation, but together Judith was
awestruck. If this was the caliber of horses that Tregonwell was
producing, no wonder buyers came from other states to purchase
them. Her eyes already appraising the animal, Judith approached the
bay to examine him more closely.

On Simon’s visits to England he had taken
great pains to provide Judith with enough information to be able to
select her own cattle. At one point, her father had the audacity to
take her, suitably disguised as a young boy, to Tattersall’s
because he felt that was an important part of her education. Now
under Nate’s professional eye, Judith was glad that Simon had been
so demanding.

Nate leaned negligently against the fence as
Judith examined the horses, circling around each one and then
asking the groom to walk them across the grass. Simon had told him
that his daughter was knowledgeable but despite himself, Nate was
impressed with her thoroughness. She neither hurried nor dawdled
but moved efficiently from one horse to another. Her attention was
so concentrated that he suspected she was not even aware that it
was he who gave her a leg up as she mounted each horse. After
putting each of the horses through its paces, she slipped to the
ground, handed the reins to the groom and crossed to Nate.

Her face was flushed with color; her upper
lip dewed with perspiration. Reaching into the pocket of her riding
coat she removed a snowy handkerchief, patting her forehead then
waving it to cool her face.

“Alice warned me that it was going to be
warm.” Judith chuckled at her own discomfort. She accepted the cup
of cold spring water that Nate provided. “Oh thank you. Riding
always makes me thirsty.”

Nate studied her while she gulped down the
water, noting that even as she drank, her eyes returned to the
horses for a final assessment. He could almost tell the moment she
decided and as she turned, he held up his hand.

“Wait. Before you tell me which horse you
have chosen, I must warn you that your father and I have a bet,”
Nate said.

“A bet? On which horse I’ll choose?” Judith
chortled happily. “I should have known that Simon would somehow
contrive to make a profit out of the purchase. I trust, Nathanael,
that the stakes are not exceedingly steep.”

“Steep enough,” Nate said drily.

“Have you ever known Simon to lose? Did he
at least warn you that he had taught me to judge good
horseflesh?”

“Admittedly he did, Lady Judith.” Nate
pulled at his earlobe, clearly embarrassed. “However, in this case
I assumed he was blinded by fatherly pride.”

“Good heavens, sir.” Judith threw back her
head, her laughter rippling across the paddock. “Where betting is
concerned, Simon could see through a blindfold.”

“I should have suspected that it was too
easy a win,” Nate admitted ruefully. He placed a gloved hand across
his chest, grimacing as though in pain. “Do your worst, Lady
Judith, I am prepared to accept defeat.”

“The grey,” she said without hesitation.

“An admirable choice. And the one your
father predicted.” Nate extended his hand in congratulations,
holding hers lightly within his grip. He marveled that such a small
hand should exert such tight control on the high-spirited
thoroughbreds. “I have surely failed the test.”

“Simon, that old fox, was testing us both. I
assume you chose the black.” At Nate’s sheepish nod, she removed
her hand from his clasp, moving back to the fence where she
caressed the black’s shining muzzle. “A woman would look
magnificent on this beauty. But, if she looked at his forelegs, she
would see he was light of bone. I can imagine the picture you had
of me, Nathanael, to make this choice.”

“I based my choice on the women I have
known,” Nate said, saluting her. Then curious for her reasons, he
asked, “And the chestnut?”

“Ah, that’s where Father was testing me. If
I’d chosen her, he would have spent the rest of my visit crowing
that I had been blinded by her color. The odious man knows I am
partial to chestnuts.” Judith pulled the filly’s head down to
scratch her ears. “She’s a beauty all right. But she throws her
left leg out just a little bit on the corners. If not for that she
might have been my first choice.”

“He said you’d never notice,” Nate said,
laughing and Judith rolled her eyes in exasperation. As she
approached the grey, he signed to the grooms to return the other
two horses to the stables.

“What do you call her?”

“It had been raining off and on the night
she was foaled. It was early morning and the fog was heavy. With
her coloring she seemed to appear right out of the atmosphere. I
thought of mist, but she reminded me of smoke.” Nate reached across
the railing to caress the filly’s neck. “I prefer the French,
fumé
. But naturally, she is yours and you must choose the
name you prefer.”

“I think Fumé is perfect,” Judith said.

“She’s American born but her lineage is
English and Irish. One of our mares was bred to Diomed.”

“The winner of the first English Derby?” she
asked, her voice reflecting her astonishment. “I heard he was
unsuccessful at stud.”

“Very good, Lady Judith.” Nate saluted her
knowledge with raised eyebrows. “He was a failure in England. He
was twenty-one when he was sold and brought to America. There was
something about this new country that rejuvenated the old boy.
Eight years ago he was named champion sire and that at the age of
twenty-seven.”

“I can’t tell you how thrilled I am,
Nathanael.” Judith’s face radiated her excitement.

“Simon hoped you would be. He was down in
Virginia at a race meeting where he had a chance to see Diomed. He
was much struck by some of the stallion’s progeny. Diomed sired Sir
Archy which some consider one of America’s first great racehorses.
It was at Simon’s suggestion that we sent our broodmare, and I’ve
never had a moment of regret.”