the padded seat.
“Maybe,” she said cheerfully. She lifted her voice to Mr. Anderson, the driver. “How fast does this beast go?”
“You should know,” answered Mr. Anderson. “He came from your farm.”
Elijah turned to Olive with wide eyes. “Is it too late to throw myself from the sleigh in a dramatic, yet heroic effort to save my own life?”
“Too early,” she whispered back. “We haven’t started moving yet.”
He nodded gravely. “Let me know when it’s time.”
She hid a smile. Blast him. She liked him far more than she wished to.
He wasn’t trying to impress her, which was in itself impressive. By admitting his fears and perceived flaws, he was giving her power over him. On purpose. She could mock him if she liked. Make him feel bad for being who he was. He was putting the choice in her hands.
Trusting her with his true self.
Prancer ambled forward. Anderson glanced back over his shoulder. “I can scarcely believe you dragged this lady away from her farm during the busy season.”
Elijah blinked and turned to Olive. “I can’t believe it either.”
She swallowed hard.
She’d like to believe this outing together had been spur of the moment. The consequence of her father’s not-so-gentle insistence. But she was wearing a pretty morning gown, not her riding habit. From the moment she awoke, she’d been looking forward to seeing Elijah.
Of course, she hadn’t planned on parading through the village with him in the back of an open sleigh.
Anderson was right—this was Cressmouth’s busiest season. Witnesses abounded. Even though Olive intended to turn down Elijah’s suit, his interest in her—mercenary though it may be—was now public.
She wished he were here because he wanted to be, not because their fathers had commanded it. She wished she had been brave enough to accept a second kiss.
Three different friends had already waved with expressions indicating this incident would not pass by without comment.
Olive wished she and Elijah weren’t incompatible opposites in every way.
“Here we are,” said Anderson.
Elijah wiped imaginary sweat from his brow as they exited the sleigh, then lowered his voice. “Someone should attend to Prancer.”
Olive looked at Elijah in astonishment. She’d planned to review Prancer herself once she deposited Elijah in the castle. “You noticed him favoring his front leg?”
“I noticed a weakness in his extensor tendon leading to over-reliance on his suspensory ligament,” Elijah replied.
Her mouth fell open. “What did you just say to me?”
He widened his eyes. “Was it confusing?”
“It made me tingle in places I didn’t know I could tingle.” She crossed her arms. “You made me think you didn’t know anything about horses.”
“I told you I preferred not to ride them.” He offered his elbow. “I didn’t say I was unaware of what they are.”
“That’s not common animal knowledge,” she stammered. “Extensor tendons and suspensory ligaments are—”
“...the sort of pedantic details one might pick up in a book, rather than a hands-on examination?” His expression was amused. “I am a gentleman and a scholar. You have found me out.”
No, Olive was beginning to doubt she’d cracked the surface. “How familiar are you with your father’s business?”
He gave a dramatic shudder. “Intimately.”
“You understand the care of horses?” she pressed.
He lifted a shoulder. “Relevant to the southern half of the country, as you’ve made clear.”
“The feeding of horses?”
He tapped his chest. “Plant scholar.”
She glared at him in consternation.
He’d allowed her to believe him useless in all of the things that mattered most to her, when in fact their talents were complementary.
“You wouldn’t ruin our farm,” she said, forced to revise once again everything she thought she knew about Elijah. “You still can’t have it.”
“I don’t want it,” he assured her. “I was ordered to come here by both of our fathers, remember?”
They were on the same side.
How was a woman supposed to fight against that?
“Olive!” A group of her friends spilled out of the castle door.
The le Ducs talked over themselves to fill her in on everything that had happened since she’d last seen them four short days ago, and to beg her to join them on the activities they had planned for the next week.
“I wish I could,” she laughed, careful to cover her mouth with her hand. “Papa needs me at home. I’ll have two new horses to train. It will be chaos.”
“Don’t believe her,” Sébastien said to Elijah. “The last time I raced against one of her ‘untrained’ horses, I could barely see the track through all of the dust she left behind.”
“I promise to avoid races,” Elijah murmured.
As the group continued on their