“I thought you seemed nervous when you were up on the top floor of the library with me,” he mused, his eyes perusing her. They didn’t often talk about that day in the library, and it excited her to hear him mention it, as if it were the beginning of some story they were still writing together.
“That’s probably why I fell when I was leaving,” she explained. “I was particularly clumsy because I felt so ill and nervous.”
“Well, I think that makes sense,” he said, nodding. “You have spent your whole life sitting quietly in corners, reading, occasionally dancing but never getting up onto a horse, climbing trees, or doing any of the things a young girl who grew up in the country might do.”
“I fear that being up on a horse would terrify me too much,” she observed, lowering her eyes in embarrassment. “Even thinking about getting up onto its back makes my hands shake. Look.”
She held out her hands toward him. They were already beginning to quiver at the thought of being high up on a horse’s back with nothing to stop her from falling to the ground and breaking her neck.
“It will be a challenge,” he said, nodding gravely. “But I believe that it is worth overcoming the fear.”
“You do?” She wasn’t sure if she was hopeful or filled with trepidation. Of course, part of her wanted to conquer this fear. But the other part of her was, well, afraid.
“I do,” he insisted. “Just think of the pirate girl from that novel you’re reading. What’s her name?”
“Lizzie ‘Nobeard’ Seacliff?” Rosalie laughed in astonishment. “How do you know about that?”
“What do you mean? You’ve been carrying the book around with you for the past week. And I know you’ve finished it, but then I saw you rereading it.”
She hadn’t realized that the Duke had been paying attention to what she was reading, and she was flattered to say the least.
It shows such attention and care.
“I’m surprised you know the book,” she said after a moment. “It is for women.”
“Don’t be so limited in your ideas of the sexes,” he lectured with a sly smile. “Anyway, can you imagine Lizzie being afraid of heights? If she were, she would never be able to climb the main mast to check the riggings or go up into the Crow’s Nest to look for land. And then she wouldn’t be able to be a pirate.”
His sly smile widened.
“As you become more of the heroine in your own life, I think it’s important you be able to do anything you want and not be held back by fears.”
“It’s not as if I’m going to become a pirate,” she pointed out, laughing.
What is he on about?
“No, but you should be able to experience the joy of riding horses,” he said. “All heroines can ride horses.”
“I suppose that’s true…”
“What if, for example, Redfield attacked us in the night, and we had to flee on horseback? You would want to be able to ride on your own, I assure you, and not with me, which would slow us down.”
She gave him a sarcastic look. “Redfield isn’t going to attack the Duke of Carramere.”
“No,” he admitted, “but it’s just an example. Heroines have to be competent and physically strong. And riding horses will make you stronger.”
She looked down at her hands. Her fingers and wrists were less thin than they used to be, it was true, when she had been eating next to nothing. But she was still skinnier than she knew was healthy, and she knew it made her weak and fragile. It wasn’t a good feeling.
“I don’t know if I’m strong enough to ride,” she said, glancing up at him.
“You will become so,” he reassured her. When she bit her lip, still unsure, he gave her an encouraging smile. “Believe me, you will love riding. There is no greater rush than to be flying along on top of a horse, feeling the wind in your hair, the sweat on yourback, your heart racing, and your blood singing. You might not be able to sail the seas as part of a pirate crew, but riding a horse may be the closest you can get to being free.”
Goosebumps had gone up Rosalie’s arms as the Duke had described the magic of riding a horse, and now, she nodded. She was mesmerized by the sight of her husband talking about riding: his eyes were sparkling, and he looked more inspired than she had ever seen him.
“You’re right,” she murmured. “I would like to learn. And I would be honored for you to teach me.”
“Good,” he said, and he smiled wickedly before gesturing at the plate in front of her. “You should eat up, then. You’re going to need all the energy you can get if you’re going to learn to ride. It’s a very active sport, and without food, you will tire too quickly.”
Rosalie nodded then stood and returned to the buffet where, after a moment’s hesitation, she piled her plate high with food. She’d already had one helping of everything, but it had tasted so good that she couldn’t help herself from taking a second of everything.
