Goodness! Tabitha never thought she’d ever be so close to a horse again. Solomon had been as docile as a newborn mare. Docile as Guinevere had been at one time.
The memories flooded back, but she shook them away. Though she’d always mourn the mare, Tabitha refused to let incidents of the past control her future. With those thoughts she glanced out of the drawing room window. A gentle snow continued to fall, unaccompanied by wind. Simply watching the little white puffs fall from the sky and blanket the ground brought an unexpected peace.
“Goodness, I’d not been aware that Danby had invited Mr. Lymington,” her mother exclaimed with delight. Tabitha turned to note the pale, gaunt gentleman entering just as her sisters groaned.
Lymington was a gentleman farmer who owned land not more than an hour from their family estate. Mother would give nearly anything for one of her daughters to marry him. However, none of her daughters wished to be married to Mr. Lymington, Tabitha included.
“Come along.” Mother latched onto Tabitha’s wrist. “We must greet him.”
“I have no wish to do so,” Tabitha hissed under her breath, irritated that her serenity brought by the snow had been shattered.
“You’ve barely given yourself the opportunity to know him, Tabitha.”
“I’ve known him since you began inviting him to dinner on a regular basis.”
“Mr. Lymington would make an excellent husband,” her mother said, ignoring Tabitha’s objections. “He’s landed and wealthy. What more could you want?” her mother whispered as she practically dragged Tabitha across the drawing room.
“I’d want a husband who is pleasant and kind. Someone I could love, and love me in return,” she argued. And one whose breath didn’t make her nearly gag, and whose high opinion of himself didn’t make others wonder if they’d ever measure up. The last person Tabitha wished to wed was someone who believed she should be honored to have been chosen.
“Love,” her mother scoffed. “That grows in a marriage, not before. Now behave,” she hissed right before they came to a stop before the abhorrent gentleman.
“Mr. Lymington, how pleasant of you to have joined the family for Christmas,” her mother gushed.
“Yes, well, it was kind of His Grace to include me.” He then turned to Tabitha and stared down his long beak of a nose at her. “Lady Tabitha, you look well.”
“Thank you,” she murmured and held her breath as he leaned closer.
“Would you care to take a turn about the room?”
“I believe they will be calling us into dinner shortly,” Tabitha offered as an excuse.
“Do go on,” her mother gave Tabitha a slight shove in the middle of her back, pushing her closer to the offensive gentleman.
“Yes, of course.” Tabitha turned her face away from his.
“I’m very pleased to find you here,” Lymington began. “I’d hoped to call on you following Christmas.”
“You did?” she asked cautiously, dreading to know the reason why.
“As Lady Hannah is away visiting her brother, I thought to call on you instead.”
Did that mean if Tabitha wasn’t here, he’d turn his sights on Deborah as if any Storm would do?
“I am certain that my sister will return by March at the latest, so you might wish to call then.” Hannah would be quite irritated at Tabitha for encouraging the man.
“I cannot wait so long.” Lymington stopped and turned to Tabitha. “I hope to marry before the spring as I’ll have little time for courtship once the planting season begins. In fact, I’ll have very little time for my bride quest until the final harvest, so you see, it is imperative that I not waste valuable time in finding my wife.”
All Tabitha could do was blink at him.
“I know that your mother would have no objection to my suit.”
True, however…“It is my brother, the Earl of Kinley you must speak with if you wish to court one of my sisters.”
“Though I would have preferred Lady Hannah, I would be quite happy marrying you instead.”
Her mouth popped open. She couldn’t even utter the words of being flattered since she was clearly his second choice. “You must speak with my brother,” she insisted again, though Tabitha had every intention of writing Benjamin to warn him and threaten never to forgive him if he even gave a moment of consideration to Lymington’s suit.
Lymington smiled at her. “I have your mother’s permission and she is the one who suggested that I speak with the Duke of Danby, as he has the final say in these matters. At her suggestion, I did write to His Grace and received an invitation to join the family for the holiday.”
Tabitha’s heart began to pound, a panic much stronger than the one she’d ever suffered when near any horse. She’d run away and become a spinster before she married Lymington. She’d run all the way to Barbados and insist her brother, Samuel provide refuge until the man married someone else.
At that moment, supper was announced and Lymington offered his arm. Tabitha frantically glanced around for rescue but everyone already had a partner for dinner. Then she saw Straffan lead her distant cousin, Lily, into the dining room. The two had sat beside each other the evening before as well. Was that who Danby decided to match Lily with? As much as she adored her cousin, and Tabitha would happily give her nearly anything, she was not about to relinquish Viscount Straffan.
Tabitha paused at her chair once they reached the dining room, irritated that they were too far away to overhear any conversation Lily and Straffan might enjoy. Worse, once she was settled, Lymington turned and leaned in close. “I’m happy we will have these days to come to know each other.”
As his breath hit her face, any appetite Tabitha may have had earlier quickly disappeared, and she sought the location of her great-uncle. On any given day and at any given time, Tabitha would do just about anything to avoid the Duke of Danby, but at this very moment, he might be her only savior.
Though Andrew tried to be attentive to Lady Lily, he often looked the length of the table to Lady Tabitha and Mr. Albion Lymington, who was quite focused on his dinner partner. However, Lady Tabitha appeared to be watching His Grace as if she wished to gain his attention. He’d been under the impression that Danby’s relatives would do just about anything to hide from His Grace and not bring attention to themselves. Unless Danby had decided to match Lady Tabitha with Lymington…
Not possible. Those two would never suit.
Andrew had met Lymington only a handful of times and tried to avoid him whenever possible. Pompous ass!
Lady Tabitha couldn’t be interested in the bloke, could she?
As the ladies departed, Andrew welcomed the port though he declined a cheroot. What he wanted was for this part of the evening to be over so that he might determine if Lady Tabitha would be lost to him to the likes of Lymington.
Andrew straightened and paused just as the glass reached his lips. Lost to him?
He really must stop thinking of Lady Tabitha in terms of courtship, kissing and belonging. He barely knew her and further, Danby would never approve. Yet, that didn’t stop the draw deep from within that pulled him in her direction.
What was it about her, besides her obvious beauty?
Were the poets correct?
Andrew had always scoffed at the idea of instant emotions as souls connected, and other nonsense, preferring to believe that it was instant attraction that led to passion and was merely confused as love. Now he wasn’t so certain.
He mentally shook his thoughts away. It served no purpose to dwell on whatever it was that made him search for Lady Tabitha in whichever room he found himself, as he knew any match was impossible. However, Andrew could barely stomach the idea of Lymington taking his place
“How did you manage it?” Peter Storm asked as he slid into a chair near Andrew.
“Manage what?”
“To get Tabitha to actually walk a horse? We’ve tried for years, but she’d have none of it.”
“I believe it was Kemp, not myself.”
“Kemp was nowhere in sight when I rode up this afternoon. Only you, my sister and the gelding.”
“I just happened to be present,” Andrew answered, not letting on that he had offered to meet Lady Tabitha in the stables. “Kemp told me of the accident, how the horse bolted and she’d been knocked to the ground. She’s lucky she wasn’t injured.”
Peter Storm pulled back. “But she was.”
Alarm shot through Andrew. Neither Kemp nor Lady Tabitha had mentioned an injury. “I thought it was guilt that kept Lady Tabitha from riding, though she is hardly to blame.”
“When my sister fell from the horse, she fractured her arm and suffered a head injury when she struck the stable,” Peter explained. “Her guilt is because at any other time, she would have been able to control the mare.”
Andrew studied him. “What made that day any different?”
“You need to understand that before—” Mr. Storm started before he paused to take a sip of his cognac “—Tabitha practically lived in the stables and rode every day, much to our mother’s chagrin. Where my other sisters wanted a kitten or a puppy, Tabitha wanted a pony for herself, and Danby was going to see that she got one as soon as she learned to ride like a proper lady.” A smile pulled at Peter’s lips. “She’d read about flat and jumping races sometimes held for women and Tabitha vowed that she’d one day race and she would win.”
Lady Tabitha rode astride? Then again, many girls did, if they lived out in the country and when few would see. It wasn’t until they were older that most transitioned to the side saddle.
“As my sister wanted a horse from Danby more than anything else, she set her mind to learn to ride side-saddle. We were in the second day but she still struggled with holding her balance and getting used to one leg being bent and the other over the side.”
“You were with her?” Andrew asked in surprise. Then why hadn’t Storm stepped in and assisted?
“Yes, as well as my brother, Kinley.” Peter took another sip as if the topic was uncomfortable, or a nightmare he really didn’t wish to relive. “It was as we were nearing a training paddock that the thoroughbred broke loose. In her rush to grab onto the pummel to balance when the horse reared, Tabitha lost the reins and had no control over the mare. We took off after Guinevere, calling her to halt but she was much faster than our steeds. I knew that if I could have just caught up, I could have pulled Tabitha from Guinevere and nobody would have been injured.” Storm shook his head. “When Tabitha woke from her fall and learned what had happened to Guinevere, she cried for days and then the longer she was forced to remain in bed to recover, the stronger her fear built until Tabitha vowed she’d never go near a horse or ride again.”
It was because she’d been left too long with her fear.
“We tried everything we could to get her to step inside the stables again. Danby even ordered her, and she refused.”
Andrew drew back. Someone refused an order issued by the Duke of Danby? She had more bullocks than any gentleman of Andrew’s acquaintance.
Storm tossed back the remains of his drink. “When you arrived, I had assumed that Danby had decided to match you with one of his female relations, but I don’t think that’s it.”
No, it was so Andrew could purchase the neighboring estate, but nobody knew that was his purpose for being here.
“If anyone can convince Tabitha to ride again, it’s you.”
With that Storm pushed from his seat, leaving Andrew to ponder Storm’s words. Was that why he was really here? Would Danby continue to dangle the estate until Lady Tabitha learned to ride again?