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“Even so, going up a hill covered in ice, riding side-saddle? Nothing about that is safe. Is it, Simon?”
Simon stared into the distance, still as a statue except for the furrowing of his brow. “If she wants to try, let her try. I think we both ought to go. Then if harm befalls one of us, the other can seek help.”
Shocked at that answer, Isleen grinned triumphantly at Sir Andrew.
The baronet spluttered. “Then we two should go. Two men have a better chance—”
“Not really,” Simon said, interrupting his friend. “Miss Frost is lighter than you are. On a horse or off, she may navigate hazards better. You shouldn’t leave Josephine. My sister would never forgive me if something happened to you. Not in her condition.”
Sir Andrew’s eyes widened. “She told you?”
“I guessed.” Simon grinned. “You gave the secret away with your constant worrying. I have never seen you act like a mother hen before.”
That explains things. Josephine is with child. Isleen bit her lip and lowered her gaze to hide her smile. Simon must know his friend quite well to determine such a thing when she, a woman, had not picked up on the hints and tells.
“Miss Frost?” Simon’s gentle voice brought her gaze upward again, meeting his dark blue eyes and finding them solely focused on her. “Do you truly wish to attempt it? The climb up the hill?”
“I do,” she admitted. “I promise I can take the ride safely. I have a good head in an emergency, too. Should anything happen to either of us.”
“That is enough for me.” Simon looked up at his friend. “And we can send a sleigh or carriage back for Josephine, if we make it to the castle.”
Sir Andrew sighed deeply, looking between the two of them, then westward, at the rise in the land leading up and up and up to the castle. “We could all wait here for a rescue party. I am certain the duke will send one.”
Isleen did not miss the way Simon’s expression changed. He had been all calm focus before, but now his eyes flashed, and his features hardened. Andrew’s words had the opposite effect of what he’d intended. “I will get there safely, and I will come back for you and for Josephine.”
The earl’s best friend knew him well enough to cease his arguing. In due course, Isleen and Simon’s mounts were brought to the front of the inn. Simon handed Josephine up into her saddle, which made her feel somewhat silly. How could she claim independence when she needed assistance at the beginning of their journey?
They started along the road in silence, retracing their route from the day before. Up the slow incline, into the trees surrounding the duke’s estate. A ride that might take less than a quarter of an hour on an eager mount but would likely take them more than twice as long with the snow and possible dangers ahead.
As soon as Isleen no longer saw the village behind them, she called for a halt.
“Giving up already, Miss Frost?” Simon grinned at her, but the lightness of that expression did not quite reach his eyes. Those merely appeared tired. Had he slept at all the night before? Slumped across a table or in some hardbacked chair?
“Not at all. I am merely adjusting the equipment.” She pointed up the hill. “Look away, if you please. This will not be graceful.”
He obliged her, facing forward with his mount. “What are you up to?”
The awkward thing about lifting her leg and moving it from one side of the horse to the other was merely that the side-saddle’s pommel for this particular saddle held her leg in place on both sides, in a cuff of padded leather. But once she had lifted her leg over and to the other side, she relaxed. Having only one stirrup was an inconvenience, to be sure, but gripping her horse with both legs seemed more desirable than the alternative.
The riding habits of women’s wardrobes were voluminous pieces, thank goodness. There was more than enough fabric to ensure her legs were covered nearly to her ankles. She was no more scandalously clad thusly than she would be in a walking-out dress with a shortened hem.
“There. Much better.” She gave the horse a nudge with both heels, and forward they went. Simon looked back at her, then down as her horse came alongside his. His lips immediately turned upward.
“Clever.”
“The situation merited some alterations, I should think.”
“Absolutely.” They rode slowly enough that their horses could be sure of each step they took before taking another. The animals didn’t seem to mind the snow at all. In fact, Simon’s horse seemed delighted when he kicked up powder behind him, and it knickered playfully.
Isleen laughed, and her horse flicked its ears back toward the sound. She caught Simon’s smile from the corner of her eye and quickly focused her gaze on the trees ahead of them.
Aside from the sounds of their horses moving through the snow, the world around them remained silent and still, allowing her thoughts to remain at the forefront of her mind. Thoughts about the man who rode beside her, and how much she wished her heart would accept that likely nothing would come of her growing attraction.
* * *
Simon glancedat Isleen for what felt like the dozenth time in less than two minutes. She remained silent, her gaze focused ahead of them, her thoughts her own. When she asked to accompany him, he’d given consent in part with the hope that they could talk. Just the two of them. Without worry of anyone interrupting or overhearing.
Now that the chance had come, all he wanted to say jumbled together in his mind. He didn’t know where to begin, or how, or what would be best.
