“We had other horses.” Horses he had denied he would ride. She had been positive he would choose Zeus, a horse that would form part of her dowry when she wed Lord Ellicott. She would not mind hearing his thoughts on the great beast. Most men coveted the animal. However, Felix had hardly paid him any attention. Every other visitor had drooled over the gelding, but not Felix. He had been more interested in teasing Horace, her wildest cat, when he had crept out of a dark stall. “Are you afraid of them? Horses.”
“I am not afraid.” He scowled and slapped the reins on Long Peg’s rump until she moved at a quicker pace. “I simply do not care to sit upon a mode of transportation that possesses a mind of its own.”
“You do realize you have the most stubborn pony at Newberry Park pulling you about, do you not?”
He sighed. “You are not going to let this go, are you?”
“No.” She moved her mount closer to his carriage. She refused to shout at him on such a beautiful day. He was well and they were at peace with each other for the first time since meeting again. “I want to understand why one of the finest captains in the Royal Navy chose to follow me about in such inferior transportation.”
“Finest captain? High praise, but you had better not let Maitland hear you say that. He claimed the distinction as his birthright years ago.” He grinned and then shrugged. “I never learned how to ride, and at my age I am sure there is no reason I need to start.”
She laughed at discovering something new about him. “Oh, so there is something you do not do well. That must be rare.”
“Aside from the obvious, yes.” He glanced toward her servants, frowning at the great distance between them.
Sally was glad they had ridden ahead. It gave her more time to be herself around the captain. “What else don’t you do well?”
He tipped his head to the side, his expression serious. “Forget you.”
Sally turned her horse away and urged it on, uncomfortable with his answer. His words proclaimed he had missed her, but his actions proved otherwise. If he had truly missed her, he would have found a way to see her long before this. And he had not even come to Newberry because he wanted her back in his life. He was here because he had been ordered to come. She rode on in silence.
The rumble of the cart increased on the downward slope, and she circled back as Felix whooped out loud. A wide grin split his face as the gig bounced along in the wake of the pony’s enthusiastic canter. She had not seen him so happy since they had renewed their acquaintance. Before, during their engagement, he had always possessed high spirits.
He drew on the reins eventually, stopping near her side. “Your brother and I raced donkeys in Port Royal. He beat me by a nose.” Felix chuckled, snapping his fingers. The pony started and lunged forward, and he was thrown backward, legs thrown up in the air. He scrambled for the reins and halted the carriage, laughing all the while. He pointed ahead to a nearby house. “Is that where you are going?”
She frowned as she took in the closest building about two hundred yards away. “Yes. Mr. and Mrs. Frazer have lived there over a year, but I have not laid eyes on her in the past three weeks. I want to make sure she is all right. Her husband is a very big fellow.”
“You think he harmed her.” His eyes widened. “Is he violent?”
“I do not know, but I used to see her all the time talking with their neighbors. The last time I spoke to Mr. Frazer, I felt a chill from being around him.”
Felix checked his pockets where the pistols rested and then urged Long Peg toward the hitching post. He jumped from the gig, lashed Long Peg to the post, and then helped Sally dismount. As his hands slipped from her waist, Sally glanced up into his eyes and leaned into him. Desire flared briefly in his gaze before he stepped back to increase the distance between them.
She swallowed back a protest of disappointment. What good was desire if she was always drawn to the wrong man?
She hurried toward her maid, whose horse had carried a basket of produce from Newberry’s kitchen garden and the orchard. This offering was her way inside the cottage to see how Mrs. Frazer fared with her own eyes. She would deal with desire and Felix when they were done.
Mr. Frazer met them at the gate, his body blocking her path to the building beyond. “What do you want?”
“I have a gift for Mrs. Frazer.” She displayed the overflowing basket in a manner that she hoped would appeal to him. “Something for your supper.”
Frazer’s gaze slipped to Felix and grew tense. “Who is this?”
“Mr. Frazer, this is Captain Felix Hastings of the Selfridge.” Sally introduced the two men. “He is lately come to Newberry Park as the duke’s special guest.”
A little embellishment never hurt in a potentially difficult situation. Father was not well liked around the estate thanks to his continued absence, but the duke was adored. She had long ago learned to phrase her requests as if they came from her grandfather even when they did not.
“Mr. Frazer, a pleasure.” Felix stretched out his hand immediately, and the tenant appeared surprised he would do so.
They shook briefly. “Captain.”
Felix took the basket from Sally. “Here, let me carry that for you, my lady.”
The ease in Felix’s tone seemed to soothe Frazer enough that he opened the gate and invited them inside the small yard. Sally thanked him and made a beeline for the closed front door.
Felix stalked beside her, glancing left and right as if looking for an enemy to fight. “Gently, Sal.”
They waited a moment before Frazer, cap in hand, scrubbed his feet and opened the front door. Her servants remained outside and out of the way.