Despite what Aaranhad said to Duncan about the necessity of avoiding Lady Freya, the next morning, he found himself riding in the direction of Rayland’s estate. “I could always say I meant to call on Boyde and learn more of Lady Rayland’s plans to marry my brother off to Lady Rhonda. I am not hoping to encounter Lady Freya,” he murmured under his breath, “and assure myself she is well.”
However, neither his heart nor his curiosity were prepared for the sight he encountered when he entered the open gate marking Rayland’s land. Lady Freya was pulling hard upon the reins of an obviously stubborn donkey. Though he should have controlled it, Aaran’s smile widened. Every day with this particular woman would be an adventure in living, something Aaran had always wanted for his children. Love. Adventure. He could imagine a batch of them in the cart and a woman attempting to coax such an animal. Chaos. But what a beautiful life. He hoped he would live long enough to view a similar scene outside his manor house.
“Botheration!” the lady declared as she stormed away from the animal, throwing her hands in the air in frustration. “You are as cantankerous as some earls I know,” she declared at the top of her lungs before she turned to where Aaran sat atop his horse and realized he had been watching her. “Present company not excluded,” she added as her hands fisted at her waist.
“Do you require assistance, my lady?” he asked while swallowing his smile.
“Though your offer is much appreciated, my lord, you will understand why I must refuse. When the animal is hungry, he will return to my uncle’s barn. I would not wish to inconvenience Your Lordship with such trivial matters.”
Aaran both admired and objected to her response, for he knew waiting for the animal was illogical. It truly would eventually return to its home. However, he disapproved of hertotal rejection of his assistance, for he knew her refusal was based more in the explanations he shared yesterday than in her ability to handle the animal.
She gave the bridle another mighty yank: The result was the donkey did not even flick an ear while she stumbled backwards, nearly losing her balance.
“Do not jerk on the bridle. It will only annoy him,” he instructed.
“He needs to be as annoyed as I am,” she retorted.
“Steady hand,” he explained. “And no yelling! Speak to him in calm, everyday tones.”
“If you speak the animal’s language, I would gladly present you permission to do so,” she hissed. She gestured wildly for him to dismount.
However, a gig could be heard before it appeared on the lane. Aaran knew he frowned, but he could not control his reaction. His brother drove one of Rayland’s smaller open carriages. Beside Boyde sat Lady Rhonda, her hand laced around Boyde’s elbow. Aaran no longer wanted the woman, even questioned why he had thought to propose to the chit, but he did not like how she was holding onto Boyde’s arm, telling the world that they were a couple. Boyde was too young to recognize the manipulation. He required another couple of years to learn his responsibilities and accept his limitations.
“Trouble?” Boyde asked Lady Freya as he stopped the gig.
“No trouble,” Lady Freya said testily. “I simply thought this would be a good place to encounter my aunt’s neighbors.
“Then you do not require our assistance?” Boyde asked with a frown.
“None whatsoever,” Lady Freya said and turned back to the donkey, stroking its nose.
“Then would you mind moving the cart to the side so we might pass?” Boyde asked politely.
“I fear the donkey is enjoying himself just as he is,” Lady Freya said smartly.
“I have it,” Aaran announced as he stepped down from his horse, dropped the reins and crossed to where the donkey waited. He wished his limp was not so pronounced today, but the long walk yesterday had played the devil with his endurance. “Come, my lady,” he said to Lady Freya as he offered her his hand to support her on the cart’s step. Like it or not, even through their gloves, there was a zing of recognition.
“Should you not tie off your horse?” she asked softly.
“It is trained to stay until I return,” he explained. “All of us in my family have the horses in our stables trained thusly.” He took up the lines for the donkey. “Hold tight, my lady,” he said with a grin as flicked the small whip he had found on the seat over the donkey’s back. It bolted forward, and Lady Freya caught his arm in the same manner as Lady Rhonda held onto his brother. The animal trotted off with more verve than Aaran had expected. The fact the road held more than a few ruts and dips only made the ride more exhilarating, almost as exhilarating as the way Lady Freya clung to him.
“We’re only on one wheel!” she screeched as they rounded a curve, and she caught the reins in front of his hold and tugged with more strength than Aaran had expected for a woman of such a small stature, in an effort to stop the donkey’s mad race.
Fortunately for him, Lady Freya did not realize she was nearly lying across his lap. Unfortunately, the donkey slowed and soon stood as before—perfectly still and unconcerned with the world. Before he could drop the reins and she realized her position, Aaran gathered her into his embrace. “What do we do now, my lady?” he asked as he placed a small kiss on the tip of her nose.
Unfortunately, she was having none of it. She shoved against his shoulder. “You drive the cart back to where you left yourhorse. I shall return to the vicarage and send a servant for the stubborn animal and my uncle’s small cart, and you shall return to… to wherever you planned to make your call today.”
“What if I said I planned to call upon you today, my lady?” Aaran asked, as he lifted his gloved hand to place a strand of red hair back behind her ear.
“Please do not tell me lies, my lord,” she said softly.
There were things Aaran wanted to say to her—promises he wanted to make, but he swallowed them, for he had no right. Instead, he said as he set her from him, “My travel today held two purposes. I intended to learn more of Lady Rayland’s plans to marry my brother off to Lady Rhonda.”
Lady Freya pulled away to sit properly on the cart’s bench. “Surely if you wished to renew…”
“I do not wish Lady Rhonda for my own!” Aaran said purposely. “But neither do I think Boyde is prepared for marriage. He has no sense of the responsibilities of running an estate nor of securing the future for his wife and children, as well as for his tenant farmers and the community surrounding his estate. Lady Rayland and the assigned overseers of Boyde’s fortune never took the time to teach him anything of his duties. I suspect Boyde’s estate, the one he has at my insistence, is sadly being permitted to crumble to dust. He requires a boost of income to sustain his mother’s lifestyle; such will come from Lady Rhonda’s dowry.”
“Is that what you deduced?” she asked as he used the small whip to start the donkey on its way once more.
