did to hers, if he thought of her when he looked at his Andalusians, as she thought of him when she looked at Black Satin, then he would come.
Love was its own kind of magic. It needed no help from witchcraft. It required only opportunity.
She touched the pressed flower with her fingers and murmured one more time, as if she were whispering in someone’s ear,
Don’t delay.
Come today.
Harriet was certain Annis would be overjoyed to see James again. She was certain, also, that the marquess would accept her magical invitation. As her rite ended, in that powerful moment when the stone shimmered and the smoke curled around her and the electric tingle of magic flowed through her body, she knew.
40
Annis
Annis rode Black Satin every day during the cool, bright
days of autumn.
She spoiled him so much that Robbie scolded her, warning her that too many treats would not help the stallion’s health, and that too much indulgence would ruin the exacting training routine they had always employed.
“No need to make up for the harm,” Robbie said. “He’s forgotten it, even if you haven’t.”
Robbie was wrong, though Annis didn’t try to explain that to him. She sensed the horse’s need to see her every day, as if their enforced separation, ending in his being taken away from his home, had really hurt him. She thought he must be like a child who couldn’t understand why a parent had abandoned him and didn’t trust in that parent’s return.
She had known from the moment of his homecoming how distressed he had been.
She had been waiting in the breakfast room, where a window gave a view of the drive and the stableyard at the corner of the house. She saw Neufeld’s stableman ride up on a thick-legged cart horse, with Bits and Sally on halter leads. Gentle Sally followed the cart horse in her customary docile fashion, although her neck was stretched to its limit as she tried to keep up on her short legs. Bits, however, was anything but docile. His head was high, and even from the window Annis could see how he jerked the halter lead so hard she feared he would dislocate the stableman’s shoulder. Bits stamped and sidestepped, blowing spittle and switching his tail.
It must have seemed to the stableman like bad temper, but Annis knew better. Anxiety and fear were making her beloved horse behave in such a way. One of his best qualities, which brought many mares to him, was his easy disposition, but only if Annis was there to manage him. He would not, in the end, have pleased Mr. Neufeld or his customers.
She flew from the breakfast room and cut across the shrubbery to the stableyard. She slowed as she approached the party, not wanting to startle the horses, but she called out, “Bits! Bits, easy, easy. I’m here. It’s all right now. I’m here.”
He whirled, finally succeeding in ripping the halter lead from the stableman’s hand. He stood for a moment, trembling, staring, then trotted toward her with a strong, high step. The stableman cried, “Miss, have a care!”
It must have looked as if Black Satin were going to trample her, but he stopped when his feet were just inches from her own. He blew a noisy breath and lowered his head as she put up her arms. He pressed his warm forehead to her chest, and she hugged him to her, shedding two hot tears of relief. When she pulled back to look into his deep dark eyes, she thought that if horses could cry, he would be weeping, too.
The stableman dismounted and stood, clearly mystified by this display. He shuffled his feet and fiddled with his stained cloth cap until Annis turned to him.
“Thank you for bringing Black Satin home,” she said. “And Sally. I’ll take them now.” She picked up the end of Bits’s dragging lead and held out her hand for Sally’s.
He handed it to her with some reluctance. “Miss, I’m supposed to take the payment back. For the horses, I mean.”
“Oh yes, of course. There’s a check for you. I forgot to bring it out.” She stroked Bits’s cheek. “Let me just stable these two, and I’ll be right back.”
Belatedly Robbie appeared, hurrying across the stableyard. “Here, Miss Annis. I’ll take ’em.”
Annis handed the two leads to Robbie, but not before planting an unabashed kiss on Bits’s wide, smooth cheek. Neufeld’s stableman gasped at such behavior with a breeding stallion. Robbie only chuckled.