After an awkward moment of Barbara and Sarah figuring out how to spread their skirts to maintain decorum, something she hadn’t thought much of when a child, they set out, each horse carrying a sack of grain to be ground slung over its withers.
They rode alongside the wagon carrying the cousins to their dance lesson at first, but to Barbara’s relief, the paths split, taking the wagon off to the manor while the riders sought the mill.
The warm late morning sun made for a pleasant ramble if not the canter she’d been hoping for.
Uncle Ferrier pointed out different landmarks, and though she knew some of the earlier ones from her work in the fields with her cousins, soon they passed beyond where she had been.
“That hill yonder is said to have been claimed by the fey in olden times,” he said. “Some think forest nymphs, called dryads, still linger there.”
Barbara gave the space a close look, reminded of how Aubrey had claimed them nymphs when he came across them. Perhaps he knew more of the country than she’d thought.
A spike of nerves thrust through her as she considered whether that meant an interest in the mill, but she laughed aloud at her foolishness. Had she not heard the many mentions of the fey in poetry and play alike? More likely he had picked up the phrase from the theater than the country folks, especially considering his quick dismissal of the cousins’ offer of a basket. Gathering berries and grinding flour would be as far from his interests as they’d been from her London life.
She thrust her worries aside, determined to enjoy what the day had to offer without the specter of Aubrey hanging over it. “So tell me about this mill then,” she told her uncle, maneuvering up to his side on a path meant for farm wagons.
Though all attempts to draw her uncle into conversation regarding politics or economics had failed, it seemed mechanisms had become as much of a focus as his horses. He entertained them for the rest of the ride with descriptions of the gearing at every stage, having been a frequent visitor since he’d heard the lord thought to bring up the mill in a different fashion than it had been.
His enthusiasm proved so compelling, Barbara was startled to see the tall stone structure appear before them as though by magic, her attention firmly fixed on him rather than the land about her.
“It looks like we’re not the only ones who wish to see its first working.” Uncle Ferrier kneed his horse faster in his eagerness.
Barbara followed the path of his gaze to see two men standing beside a third who wore a thick canvas apron. It took only a moment to recognize the nearer of the two, but the delay was long enough for Aubrey to glance their way.
His gaze unerringly sought out hers as though he’d somehow known she would appear.
Her heart pounded faster as he stared much too boldly to be proper, and her hands grew slick against the reins.
The horse, a steady if unimpressive ride up to this point, gave a small buck and half-reared in response to the sudden tightening of her knees against its sides, sending the grain sack hard against her chest.
Barbara fought for control, not wanting to chance being thrown and injured, but just when she lay on the brink of achieving it, she realized success meant continuing down the path toward Aubrey. She was not ready to meet with him, not with Sarah’s plan lingering in her mind with all its temptations, nor with her own responses suspect as they had been since Marian suggested she take advantage of his ignorance for an unladylike exploration.
She let the horse rear a second time as though a snake lay in her path, nudging the beast with one knee so it twisted to land with its head toward the fields rather than the mill.
Her palfrey needed no further encouragement, especially with the sack slamming down on its shoulders. It broke into a run, soon taking her out of sight.
Even knowing the scolding she’d receive, Barbara let the horse settle into a canter from its panicked flight, giving the horse its head. She’d paid good enough attention to the landmarks her uncle described in the beginning of their journey. She would not get lost, though she doubted her knowledge compared to that of her horse who would be eager to return to the stable and a measure of feed.
The wind rushing through her hair and the muscles moving beneath her gave Barbara such joy she threw back her head to laugh only to find she couldn’t stop, an edge of hysteria having captured her. She imagined the look on Aubrey’s face as she turned from him and ran for the second time though he remained unaware of that fact. She’d always seen herself as a grounded, serious sort. Adding Aubrey to the mix seemed to strip away those qualities in favor of yet another flighty girl.
The thought finally calmed her enough to hear the pounding hooves coming up on her. She twisted in her saddle, a feat only possible because she sat astride, to see Sarah charging up.
“Glad you can find reason to laugh,” her friend said when she reached speaking distance. “Your uncle is not pleased.”
That drove the last of the humor from Barbara, hysterical or not. She lowered her gaze to avoid Sarah’s reproving look and slowed her horse even more than when she’d heard Sarah coming, chastened.
They completed the journey in a solemn walk, the absence of a grain sack on Sarah’s palfrey a further strike against Barbara.
Her friend had clearly taken the time to deliver the grain before coming after her, the reason for the delay and further sign neither Sarah nor Uncle Ferrier had been taken in by the illusion of a snake. They had not feared for her well-being, only her behavior.
Aubrey St. Vincent brought out the worst in her no matter what she intended.
At that very moment, Barbara decided to put Sarah’s plan into effect. Today had shown her folly in thinking she could avoid the man and proved how little control she had when trying to do so. Instead, she would act on her feelings to draw him in. She would not be the one to suffer from his presence any longer.
That honor would fall on his silky head as he unwittingly revealed his true nature to one who had both the position and the connections to expose him to the ton and to all those eager girls he sought to beguile for his own mockery. When she finished with him, he, not those still in white dresses, would be the one subjected to scorn, and she would be the instrument of his downfall.
“PITY YOUR ENGINEER COULDN’T come down again now the work is complete,” the miller said before shooting Ferrier a grin. “You have another sack of grain?”
Ferrier and Jasper mirrored the miller’s expression, but Aubrey couldn’t share their enthusiasm, distracted as he was by the near accident he’d witnessed.
“Sarah’s a good girl. She left hers before taking after Barbara.”
“Are you sure Barbara has the skill to get a wild horse under control?” Aubrey could no longer hold back the question, unsatisfied by the farmer’s even demeanor.
Ferrier gave Aubrey a tight look and clapped him on the shoulder. “Why don’t you come with me to fetch it? Those two will just have to make do discussing the previous grinds.” Though his words implied disinterest, he’d been the first to exclaim at the finely ground flour the new machinery achieved.
Aubrey followed the man out, unsurprised when he paused next to the grain sack and showed no interest in picking it up. Instead, Ferrier stared along the path Barbara had taken, a direction that claimed Aubrey’s attention as easily.
“You needn’t worry about the girl,” Ferrier said after a moment. “She’s got as good a seat as the best of them. Been riding since she was able to walk, and on a proper saddle too.”
Aubrey didn’t glance at the other man, but nodded. “I could see as much myself when the horse reared, but it still took her off too fast to get my horse to follow.”
Ferrier shook his head, his frown making Aubrey nervous. “Your care for the well-being of those around you is fine, Lord Aubrey, but she is not your concern. You wouldn’t have reached her had you been on horse, if I know my Barbara. She and I will exchange a word or two when I return.”
The underlying message came through clearly.
The man suspected her of pretending trouble to get out of her duties. Aubrey hadn’t seen any sign of the snake that could have startled her horse, and if she were as good a seat as Ferrier believed, she should have been able to stop any bolt before they’d gone out of sight, no matter how perturbed her palfrey.
He said nothing further, not wanting the farmer to grow even more irate at the poor girl than he was already. She hadn’t seemed the type to run from simple labor, whether she found interest in the mill improvements or not, but without a half-crushed snake for proof, he had no way to show her innocence, and with the careful use of his title, Ferrier made it clear what he thought of Aubrey’s interference. Barbara would be the one to suffer for it as well should he persist.
Saying nothing more, Aubrey swept up half of the sack and let Ferrier lift the other end.
The awkward burden bridged the silence, and by the time they laid it on the shelf so the miller could load more grain onto the edged grinding surface, the farmer seemed caught up in the innovation once again.
Aubrey could not contest the efficiency or elegance of the gears as they maneuvered a heavy stone over the grains and crushed them to powder. On any other day, he’d have been the first to need a warning not to lean too close. Today, though, the vision of dark curls streaming free as his country girl beat a swift retreat kept pushing to the forefront until he barely noticed the events before him.
“So you have the time to put your horse through its paces on the morrow?”
Jasper’s voice brought Aubrey from yet another daydream, the contents of his speech too important to miss.
“In the morning will do fine. He’ll be rested and eager for the exercise.”
As they’d worked the mill, Aubrey learned Ferrier was none other than the breeder with the remarkable stock, a better explanation for the quality of the horses both he and the two girls had ridden than that he had the funds to purchase same. No wonder his servant knew her way around a horse. She’d likely grown up beside a stable many a nobleman could not boast and had a hand at exercising the beasts when necessary. Aubrey smiled to hear Ferrier’s agreement, though not at the prospect of admiring even prime horseflesh.
He’d wondered just how he would put Daphne’s plan into effect, having no idea where Barbara came from or how to cross paths another time. Now he had the hope of seeing her the very next day, though she’d be busy about her chores and he’d been committed to the viewing.