Page 16 of An Unlikely Debutante

‘Enough of this,’ she declared. ‘Wouldn’t it be much more fun if we went to see your horses?’

‘And how exactly will that help me win this wager?’

‘I’ll practise addressing the horses as if they were lords and ladies.’

What would the stable boys think? Yet Alex felt the irresistible pull of the stables. All morning he had been eager to dash out to the yard and throw himself back into his work. Spending the time teaching Lina how to address the different ranks of nobility hadn’t been as bad as he had first feared—Lina was quick and clever and had a sly humour that made the time pass much quicker. Nothing, however, could keep his mind from wandering to his new Arabian and how he would approach the next stage of its training.

‘Half an hour,’ Alex agreed sternly. ‘Then it’s back to your studies.’

Lina was up and out through the door before Alex was even on his feet and as he quickened his pace to keep up his mind was calculating training timetables and regimes.

‘What is it that you do with the horses?’ Lina asked as they approached the stables.

‘I raise them, train them and then race them. Well, I get them ready to be raced,’ he corrected himself. ‘Someone else does the actual riding during the race.’

‘How many horses do you have?’

‘At the moment, fifteen. The number varies as I buy and sell them on. And they’re not all racehorses. I have two mares that I’m hoping to start breeding soon, four Cleveland Bays for the carriage and two old thoroughbreds for general riding.’

He saw the excitement in her eyes as he spoke and knew it wouldn’t be long before she had persuaded him to take her out riding. Not that Alex minded. As much as he enjoyed breaking in a new stallion or training a thoroughbred for a race, nothing could beat the feel of galloping over the fields purely for pleasure.

‘And the horse I saw yesterday?’

‘My latest project,’ Alex said. ‘An Arabian that had been giving its previous owners all sorts of problems. They haven’t been able to harness or ride him, so I took him off their hands for a very reasonable price.’

‘Will you race him?’

Alex shrugged. He hadn’t planned to initially. A large majority of the winning horses in the big races were thoroughbreds, but Arabians certainly took some of the titles. His initial plan had been to keep the new stallion for breeding, so good were his bloodlines, but after seeing his strength and spirit Alex thought he might well have a winning racehorse on his hands.

‘Can I race him?’

Laughing, Alex shook his head. ‘Most certainly not.’

‘You’d let me if I were a man,’ Lina grumbled.

‘I have no idea how good you are with horses or if you can even ride.’

‘I can ride. Give me ten minutes with your Arabian and I will have him eating from my hand and racing like a winner.’

‘Slow down.’ Alex laughed, although he had to admire her enthusiasm. ‘I’ll make you a deal. You show me you can care for a horse, and if you impress me, I’ll let you ride.’

‘The Arabian?’ Lina asked, her eyes shining.

‘Not the Arabian,’ he said firmly.

They entered the stables and Alex led her down to the very end where a gentle-natured horse was munching on a mouthful of hay.

‘This is Stormborn,’ he said, raising a hand to stroke the old thoroughbred’s nose. ‘My very first racehorse. He’s retired now, but still a joy to ride.’

He watched as Lina approached the horse slowly, lifting her fingers to rub his nose and murmuring reassuring sounds. Maybe she was good with horses, but Alex couldn’t risk letting her loose on any of his prize-winning racehorses.

‘Clean out his stall, rub him down, tend to the saddle and harness, and then I might let you ride him.’ He was certain Lina would argue; she argued about everything.

Watching in amazement as she hitched up her skirts, revealing two slender legs without any hint of embarrassment and vaulting over the stable door, Alex wondered what sort of deal he had just made. Still, Stormborn would keep Lina busy for a while and give him a chance to work with his new Arabian for an hour or two.

With a backwards glance Alex moved away to the other end of the stables, listening with half a smile as Lina introduced herself to the horse much more politely than he had ever heard her speak to another human.

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