Page 60 of A Single Obsession

Jem grinned, his eyes alight with laughter, and strolled off to another part of the stables.

Beau turned again to Romeo, running his fingers through his mane and feeling the warmth of his face against his own, both horse and man lost in the joyful reunion.

When he finally pulled away, he was surprised to see Eliza standing there, watching him share those precious moments with his colt. With a twinge of guilt, he realised he’d forgotten all about her.

Beau drew her forward. “Meet Romeo,” he said, with a father’s proud smile.

“He’s beautiful,” she whispered, apparently seeing nothing amiss with his behaviour. They stood together, side by side, as she reached up her hand and ran it through his mane. Romeo nuzzled his head toward her, recognising a friend, and she put up her face next to his in much the same way he’d done a few moments before.

Quincey interrupted their private reverie. He untethered the colt and led him out into the yard so they could have a proper look at him.

“All well?” Beau asked.

Lord Harting’s head groom nodded. “Aye. I’ve given him a once over. Your people have taken good care of him, and Jem’s made sure not to fatigue him on the journey here. Best bit of horseflesh I’ve seen in a long while, if your bays will pardon me.”

Beau was not offended, his heart swelling with pride to hear such praise of his darling. He enthused for some time about Romeo’s finer points to a ready audience. He did not miss the fact that he had rattled on about his colt for over ten minutes without the slightest complaint from Eliza. She stood there in silence, lapping it all up, her eyes shining, as proud of Romeo as if he were hers.

He smiled to himself. It was rare to encounter someone who loved horses as much as he did and—in his experience—rarer still to find a lady who could keep her mouth shut for so long when standing next to an eligible bachelor.

“Very good, Quincey. I won’t take him out today. Give him time to rest.”

The man gave a brief nod and led Romeo back inside. A few moments later, the stable door opened again, and Jem came out, leading his master’s black stallion.

Beau sighed and shot Eliza a wistful glance. “I suppose we should go, unless we want to be raked down by the ladies—present company excepted.”

Finch had already saddled her horse, and Beau stepped forward to help her mount, but then paused, embarrassed, feeling conspicuous under Jem’s watchful eyes.

While he hesitated, her man assisted her into the saddle, and after arranging her skirts, Eliza rode out of the yard.

Beau mounted Jet and trotted after her, followed at a modest distance by both grooms.

“Seems a pity to waste such a beautiful morning dawdling after a carriage,” he said as he drew alongside. “If I know my mother, they’ll be going at a snail’s pace.”

She darted him a wicked look. “Much too great a waste.”

He watched in surprise as she touched her horse’s flank with her whip and cantered off in the opposite direction from that which the carriage had taken.

He urged Jet forward and sped after her. “You’ve gone the wrong way.”

She neither slowed her pace nor changed course. Hadn’t she heard him?

It was some quarter of an hour later that Eliza finally drew rein.

“You’re headed in the wrong direction, and I bet you know it.”

“The wrong direction?” Eliza asked, a picture of innocence.

“The landau went the other way.”

Her eyes danced with amusement. “Sounds to me, then, that this is the right way to go. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Beau grinned. “Most definitely.”

“It was the least I could do to thank you for saving me. The thought of a dull morning’s drive was more than I could stomach.”

“Why didn’t you just say no?”

The light went out of her eyes in an instant. “I…didn’t know how. I struggle to find the words when everyone’s staring at me.”