concern to him.
“I have just the horse for you, Your Grace,” Wilson said in a conspiratorial fashion. “She’s a temper on her but my, oh my, how she can fly.”
Dalinda smiled more radiantly than any sun Rhys had ever seen. “I am looking forward to the challenge, Wilson. What is her name?”
“Stormy.” The groom shrugged good-naturedly. “It’s her nature.” He looked up at the reins he held. “You’ll be kind to the duchess now, won’t you, girl?”
The horse’s nostrils flared and she snorted as if disgusted to be told how to behave.
“May I?” Dalinda took the reins and scratched the horse between her ears. “You’re my good girl, aren’t you, Stormy love? We’re going to get along famously.”
She continued stroking the horse and murmuring endearments to it. Rhys wished she touched and cooed to him instead.
Dez and Anna arrived and they set off, Anna taking the lead. Dez rode beside his wife, leaving Rhys and Dalinda to be next to one another. Once they cleared the grounds and reached open land, Anna called out for them to keep up and took off on Daisy.
Before Rhys could react, Dalinda sailed past him, racing to catch up to her friend. He and Dez took off after them, each rider giving their horse its head as they galloped across a meadow. The two women approached and then jumped a fence in tandem. He and Dez followed in close pursuit. As they rode, he couldn’t help but admire Dalinda’s form and skill in managing the difficult horse. He knew many a man who would have trouble controlling such a temperamental beast.
The pair finally slowed and then reined in their horses, turning and facing the men as they approached. Dalinda’s cheeks were flushed with color, making her even more attractive.
“I want her, Dez,” she declared to her twin. “I don’t care what I have to pay you to have her.” She leaned down, stroking the horse’s neck and kissed it. “Stormy and I are meant for one another.”
Dez laughed. “You can have her. I should pay you for taking her off my hands. No one—not even Wilson—has been able to tame her completely. I might have known you would come in and weave your spell upon her.”
“Let’s walk our horses through the woods,” Anna said. “We’re near the lake,” she added, looking at Dalinda.
“Near the cottage?” Dalinda asked.
“Yes.”
Rhys knew from letters he had received from Dez that the cottage had been a place the three had played at as children. Dez had brought Anna there when he liberated her from Gollingham Asylum and they had remained alone together at the cottage as he slowly brought Anna back to reality.
The four went single file, entering the woods and weaving through the dense forest until they came out at a grove. A cottage stood facing a wide lake.
“The water separates Torrington lands from those at Shelton Park,” Dez told him. “Anna grew up there.”
“My cousin is the current viscount,” Anna added. “He is married and has one child. My sister, Jessa, lives with them.”
“Jessa?” Dalinda asked. “Oh, I would love to see her.” She looked to Rhys. “Jessa was a good dozen years younger than we were. We would bring her to the lake to swim and picnic. Has she made her come-out yet?”
“She will this upcoming Season,” Anna said. “She wants Dez and me to come to town to help chaperone her to events.”
“If we don’t see her before we leave for Sheffield Park, then we must make sure to visit with her before I return to Gillingham,” Dalinda said.
“You’ll have to come to town to do so. Jessa left last week with Lord and Lady Shelton. My cousin’s wife was going to help see to Jessa’s wardrobe.”
Dalinda frowned, unease spreading across her face. “I am not sure I am quite ready to return to the social events of the Season,” she said quietly. “Though Gilford encouraged me to do so.”
Rhys heard the emotion in her voice as she mentioned her husband. Selfishly, he hoped she did stay home though it shouldn’t matter to him. As it was, he should be preparing to go to London himself and participate in the whirl of activities in order to find himself a bride.
The men dismounted and helped the two women do the same. As he guided Dalinda to the ground, Rhys inhaled the subtle whiff of roses, which always seemed to cling to her. He dropped his hands from her waist, wishing he could relive last night again