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‘I’d like that, once the school is fully settled. Which is where I’d like to ride first, to see Charles and check on the children, if you’re agreeable.’
‘I’m agreeable to anything that pleases my wife.’
She gave him a naughty grin. ‘Careful, now! I shall recall that phrase and use it against you.’
They rode in companionable silence, Dom taking the opportunity to admire Theo on horseback. He loved watching her, the smooth line of her figure leaning over her mount, the soft tones as she crooned to her mare, her hands stroking its neck. The horse obviously liked it—and Dom couldn’t blame her; he loved that soft voice and those hands touching him, too.
He caught himself before he could drift into reliving their latest love-play—an exercise that would tempt him to abandon plans to meet farmers and look instead for a secluded dell. A sudden memory recurred, and he grinned.
There might be occasion today to fit in both.
Theo looked up then, saw him staring, and coloured. ‘What?’ she asked, patting at her hat. ‘Have I a curl coming loose? A leaf on my skirt?’
‘No, your habit is perfection. I just like looking at you.’
Her eyes softened. ‘Not half so much as I enjoy looking at you.’
He raised his eyebrow. ‘All of me?’
Her look turned wicked. ‘Oh, especially all of you.’
‘I shall keep that in mind for later. You mentioned you wanted to explore the possibility of setting up other apprenticeships? We could ride to see the masters together.’
Her face brightened. ‘I’d like that! You provide excellent counsel and advice.’
For the rest of the ride, they discussed which craftsman’s skills might enhance the learning experience for the children. Arriving at the school, mindful of the disruption their arrival caused yesterday, they waited quietly until they heard Miss Andrews dismiss the children for a break.
They came running out, exclaiming as they saw their mentor.
While Theo chatted with the girls, Jemmie came up to Dom.
‘Mr Jeffers talked with me when he come to school the other day. He told me you might be lookin’ into breeding some draught horses. If’n you do, could you let me help you?’
‘You’d rather do that than apprentice at a racing stud?’ Dom asked curiously.
Jemmie shrugged. ‘What do the likes of me have to do with them fast horses and the toffs that own ’em? Some fancy gentlemen winnin’ or losin’ more blunt than I’ll see my whole life on which one comes across a line first! Naw, I’d rather know the horses I bred ploughed Jamison’s field faster, or let the neighbours finish their ploughin’ with the horses still havin’ stamina enough left to do Widow Blackthorn’s fields, too.’
‘I haven’t completed purchasing all the stock yet, but when I do, yes, I’ll let you help.’
‘Thank you, Mr Ransleigh.’ Jemmie grinned. ‘I knew I done the right thing when I sent you after Miss Theo.’
* * *
After Theo finished her conversation and gave Charles a hug, they remounted and headed through the Home Wood to the northern boundary of Bildenstone estate, where Jamison’s fields were located.
They received a warm welcome from the farmer’s wife, who invited them to sit and have some cool cider while she sent one of her daughters to tell her husband, out ploughing in the furthest field, that visitors had arrived. The farmer himself hurried up a few minutes later.
‘First, may I offer my congratulations to you and your lady,’ Jamison said.
‘Thank you. We were wed in town, at the home of my wife’s aunt, but we plan a grand party soon so that all of Bildenstone’s tenants can celebrate with us.’ Dom kissed Theo’s hand, making her blush. ‘I’m a very lucky gentleman.’
‘Aye, so folks say! They admire what you’ve done fixing up the old barn as a school, Mrs Ransleigh, and offering jobs to the many that need them. Now me, I’ve the opposite problem—fields to work, and all daughters but for my newborn. So I’d be right pleased to hire young Georgie to help me. Doesn’t know a turnip seed from a carrot yet, but he’s eager, and he’ll learn.’
‘He’ll continue lessons at the school in the afternoons,’ Theo said, ‘but I’d see he was driven out to help you in the mornings first. Shall we have him begin next week? Good!’ she said as the farmer nodded. ‘Thank you, Mr Jamison, for giving him a chance.’
‘Be my pleasure, Mrs Ransleigh.’
‘Our thanks to your wife for the cider. It was delicious!’ Theo said.
‘Honoured to have you stop by, ma’am.’
They walked back to collect their horses, grazing in the nearby meadow, and a few minutes later, waved goodbye and set off towards Bildenstone Hall.
‘Pleased to have the business with Georgie settled?’ Dom asked.
‘Yes. If I can find places for the others at positions that interest them, doing useful things, I’ll be even more pleased. As Papa would be, too.’ She gave him a mischievous look. ‘Even if establishing a school for the orphans wasn’t exactly his dying wish.’
‘He’d be proud of you, Theo. I’m proud of you.’
She flushed at his praise. ‘As I am proud of you. I heard you mention to Jemmie that you might start breeding farm horses. Do you think that would hold your interest?’
‘The fascination of breeding is in studying characteristics, seeing which will transfer, which will not. If I ended up with an animal that would help more farmers feed themselves and their neighbours, that would be not so bad a result.
‘I think it would be a wonderful one!’
‘It is good to be well thought of by one’s wife.’ Even better to be loved, he thought. But with admiration, gratitude, and trust, love should soon follow...shouldn’t it?
‘You said you’ll have to go to Newmarket?’
‘Yes. On my last trip, I arranged the details of the sale with the stable manager; he’ll begin setting it up as soon as the horses arrive from Upton Park. I’ll need to go supervise it—and purchase the sorrels and trotters to start the breeding project.’
‘Will you be away long?’
‘Perhaps a week or so. Will you miss me?’
‘Very much.’
‘Maybe we should get ahead while we can, then.’ And maybe it was time for another try at seduction...
* * *
Halfway through the Home Woods, Dom pulled up his mount near a small stream that ambled along the east side of the road. ‘Shall we let the horses have a drink? We could sit there under one of those trees you so admire.’
She chuckled. ‘I’d like that.’
Dismounting under a large oak, they let the horses go to the water. Dom leaned back against the tree trunk, pulling Theo to him for a long, slow kiss.
‘Maybe it’s time to fetch the horses and get back to Bildenstone,’ she suggested, heat in her eyes as she trailed fingers down his chest to his breeches. He groaned when she touched him, already hard and ready. ‘It appears you’re definitely eager to return.’
‘Or we could stay. Isn’t there something erotic about the sibilant trickle of water over stone?’ he asked, reaching under the jacket of her habit to caress her breasts as he kissed her again.
For a moment, Theo responded, opening her mouth to him. But as he started on the buttons of her jacket, she pulled away.
‘No, Dom, not here.’ She pushed away from him and crossed her arms over her breasts, creating a distance between them that was like a sudden slap after the intimacy of the previous moment.
‘Loving under the stars was what started all the misery. That and Tremaine spying on us,’ she whispered.
Dom put out a hand to steady her. ‘You’re safe here, Theo. Not on foreign soil with threats all around. We’re on my land. It’s private. No army of reprobates to spy on us.
‘There might be a gamekeeper. If he saw me naked, he’d be so shocked, he might shoot himself.’
‘No, he’d think he’d seen a vision. A forest nymph. My forest nymph. I’ll not try to persuade you into this, if it makes you uncomfortable. But it’s not just that. These last few weeks, since our wedding, I’ve seen you smiling, as if almost brimming with happiness, and then you...stop yourself. The smile fades and you...turn inward. As if you think you don’t deserve to be happy. Life, love, is a gift, Theo. It’s too rare and precious to turn away from.’
‘I’m...frightened to trust it, Dom,’ she whispered. ‘If I let myself go and lost again, I’d be desolated. I can’t go through that.’
‘We can’t keep ourselves safe from whatever lies ahead,’ he argued. ‘Ponsonby was standing right next to Wellington at Waterloo when that cannonball took off his leg—and not a hair on Old Hookey’s head was even ruffled. Life is random, unpredictable—and never safe. Isn’t it preferable to embrace every joy while you have it, than to shut yourself off for fear of losing it? You’re the bravest girl I know. Don’t hold yourself back!’
