Chapter 15

"Lady Felicity!" His Grace greeted her with a verbose smile, one that reached his eyes. There was excitement behind them, a knowing look that she didn't have to work too hard to read. "As always, you look ravishing."

"As do you, Your Grace," she responded with a coy smile.

"Oh, you know me." He waved her down. "I like to look my best around those whom I adore."

"As do I."

She met His Grace outside her manor, as had been prearranged. Following on from their trip to the theatre two nights earlier, he asked if he might call on her again, and she had readily agreed. He hadn't looked surprised when she had done so but intrigued as if she was issuing him a challenge.

What he had planned for her today, she had no idea. Simply that they would spend it together, that he would organize something special, and that for the first time, it would be them alone.

"Is that for me?" she asked, indicating one of the two horses that stood saddled beside him.

"Would it be for any other..." He took a step back and gestured to the mount. "I selected it especially for you. My most beautiful mare for the most beautiful lady in all of England."

She rolled her eyes but could not hide her smile. "Very apt."

"We have a short ride in store for us today." He swept toward her, holding out his hand for her to take. She took it willingly, allowing him to guide her to the horse. "I hope that is all right?"

"I rather enjoy riding," she said as he helped her onto the horse's saddle. She was wearing a typical day dress, a long skirt, which she folded under her legs as she lifted herself up and sat side-saddle.

"I suspected you would." He made sure that she was properly seated before he climbed atop his own horse.

"And where is it that we are riding to?"

"Ah, that, Lady Felicity, is a surprise." He pumped his eyebrows at her, his grin wicked and a little mischievous. "But I promise that you will appreciate it."

"I have no doubt that I will."

He pulled his horse in beside her and then, together, they rode out from the manor and started down the road. A steady pace was set, the Duke seeming rather pleased with himself as if he was in on a secret that she was yet to understand.

And as they rode, she eyed him curiously, cautiously, wondering the whole while what they would be doing today, why he was so excited, and if this wasn't as terrible an idea as she very much suspected it to be.

The smart thing to do, Felicity knew, would have been to end this courtship now before it got out of hand. What had started as a way out of her father forcing her to marry someone whom she did not wish to was becoming far more dangerous and confusing than she might have ever imagined.

Yet, whenever she considered doing the smart thing, the memory of His Grace's lips against her own, of his chest pressed in tightly, of his hand gripping her waist, would flood through her mind and body and soul and she would convince herself that it was nowhere near as bad as she thought.

He was just testing her, she said to herself. He was just seeing what he could get away with. He did not have feelings for her. He was a rake and a scoundrel, and this was all part of his game. If she turned him away now, that was as good as admitting that she wanted him and she would not give him the satisfaction because she did not want him. Not one little bit...

All Felicity could do was make herself a promise. She would not give in to the Duke. She would prove to him that she did not desire him as he desired her, that she could finish this courtship and go through with this marriage as originally intended. And if he was the one who broke and made a move... well, she would cross that bridge when and if it came.

"Are you going to tell me where we are going?" she asked eventually, refusing to submit to the silence that His Grace had set.

"I told you, it was a surprise."

"And what if I told you that I hate surprises?"

"I would tell you that I was not in the least surprised by that," he chuckled and winked. "Which makes it all the more fun."

She groaned. "You really do enjoy frustrating me, don't you?"

"Frustrating?" He cocked an eyebrow at her. "An interesting choice of words."

She forced herself not to blush. "How so?"

"No reason," he chuckled further. "But do not worry. We will be there soon."

The ride lasted a little under an hour and, despite the awkward tension that hung between the two riders, it was a rather pleasant start to what was a lovely day. The sun shone brightly in the sky. There were clouds, but not enough to be a bother. Although it was warm, a cool wind whipped across the open meadows, keeping Felicity from sweating and becoming uncomfortable.

Eventually, she spied what she guessed to be their destination. At first, she thought it a farm; vast tracks of green fields, multiple stables and barns, several erected pens, and not a house in sight.

"This is very ominous," she pointed out as they trotted down the dirt road toward the main body of the farm.

"Nothing nefarious, I promise," he laughed. "It is just a stable."

"Not a farm?" she frowned and looked closer.

"Do you see any farm animals?"

"To be fair, I do not see any horses either."

He laughed at that. "Good point. But what you should have said is that you do not see any horses yet." He winked at her and then kicked his heels into the side of his horse and took off at pace.

She sighed but kept her pace steady, refusing to try and match his speed as he may have wanted. This saw her reach the center of the stables several minutes after His Grace, by which time he had tied his horse to a post as he stood waiting for her.

"Welcome, Lady Felicity." He spread his arms wide, his smile just as much. "To my future."

She frowned as she pulled her horse into where he stood. "I always knew you were a little touched in the head, Your Grace. But I believe you have lost your mind."

He chuckled as he took the reins of her horse. "I was considering what we should do today," he explained as he led her horse beside his own and tied it to another post. "Where I should take you. And do you know what I realized?" He walked in front of her and held his hands up to help her down from the saddle.

"Please, do tell me." She reached down and he lifted her under the arms, effortlessly raising her in the air as if she weighed nothing. Then he dropped her on her feet, still holding her close, pausing a moment as he looked down at her with that same smile.

A beat passed between them. A cool breath of wind whipped at them. Nothing was said as Lady Felicity felt her heart begin to race...

"You seem to think I am using you." He let her go and took a step back. "And in a way, I am. You know that I wish for my reputation to be restored but you do not know why..." He spun around and swept his arm to indicate the empty stables.

"You wish to start a farm?" she said dryly.

"Close! I wish to start a stud farm. Several of them! This here is the first of what I hope to be many. Alas, for now, this is all I am able to procure. I have my eye on several more but in order to buy them, I will need investors willing to give me large amounts of cash with few questions asked."

"Ah," she said, nodding along as she slowly understood. "As in, lords who want nothing to do with you?"

"Yet," he grinned. "Who want nothing to do with me yet."

She could not help but smile at his excitement; that glimmer in his eyes as he spoke about something he was truly passionate about. "And how will you ever convince these stuffy lords to treat with you?"

"That, Lady Felicity, is where you come into it." He stepped into her and cocked his elbow for her to link. She rolled her eyes at the gesture but reciprocated the gesture. "I was not lying when I told you why I wished to marry you. I know you think I was --"

"I never said that you were lying," she cut him off.

"Is that right?" he chuckled.

"I always knew that you wished to improve your reputation." She raised an eyebrow at him. "I simply suspected that it was more of a general desire – that you were sick of everyone speaking ill of you and figured that at your age, it was time you made a few changes."

"How old do you think I am?"

"Old enough that it is about time you stopped chasing after every woman who looks your way."

"Ha!" He shook his head to himself, eyed her curiously, looked as if he was going to respond with his usual scathing comment, but then decided against it. "The point is, I thought you might like to see firsthand. I know how little you trust me..." He trailed off, waiting for her to pick up on the opportunity. But she simply indicated for him to continue. "So why take me at my word?"

Felicity couldn't help but be impressed while also feeling a tad guilty. His Grace was right in his assumption of her that she did not truly believe his motives behind their marriage. Oh sure, she believed it on a surface level, but she always suspected there to be more to it... or rather, a whole lot less.

It seemed that she was mistaken. And the way the Duke was acting, the excitement that poured from him as he led her through the various stables that surrounded the farmland, it was clear that of all things in his life, this was most important to him.

She had been wrong about His Grace. Perhaps, wrong about many things...

"As said," he began as he led her, waving his arm about as he pointed to this and that. "This is only the beginning. I imagine fifteen horses at this stable alone. Maybe as many as twenty."

"How many do you intend to purchase?"

"The sky is the limit – here." He led her to the right, toward a large barn. "This will be the center of operations. And it's not just the horses I have to buy, but the men to run the place. Feed, also, of course. Horses are not cheap to keep."

She frowned as she studied His Grace. This was not the man who she had heard so much about. All this time, she had known that he was a rake and was proud of the fact. All this time, she had known he could not be trusted because he would try to seduce her. All this time, she had known... well, not much, it seemed.

"May I ask you a question?" she asked.

"Of course."

"How are you?"

"A strange question," he chuckled.

She laughed also. "What I meant is, this venture of yours..." She indicated vaguely. "It is not at all what I would have pictured. Everything that I know of you -- running a business, being darn responsible as it is, is about as far from what I have been told about you as can be."

"Ah, my reputation." He nodded his understanding.

"Why the sudden change?"

"Who said that I have changed?"

She raised a dismissive eyebrow at him. "Just a feeling I have."

He laughed softly as he led her toward the man fence which surrounded the vast stables. Once there, he removed his arm and leaned on the wooden framing, looking out and over the green pastures as if lost in a memory he could not pull back from. Felicity watched him curiously, wanting to ask what was wrong but sensing that she did not need to.

"Do you really want to know?" he said finally, almost reluctantly. "It is not a story that I take any pleasure in. As I am sure you will not take any pleasure in hearing."

"I would," she said softly, touching his arm in support because she sensed he needed it. "Only if you wish to."

"It was my father," he started, his tone soft. "A horrible man. As awful as you are likely to meet. From as early as I can remember, he used to abuse my mother. Never physically, thank God, but he had a temper on him and did not mind showing it. Strangely, he never turned that temper on me, all but ignoring me, save the few times I tried to stop him."

"That's horrible," she gasped.

"Yes, well, worse was when my sister became older. I knew that when she reached a certain age, he would not hold back on her either. He was a cruel, petty man. Big too. Too big for me to stop physically." He took a deep breath, his body withdrawing on itself.

Sensing the moment, Felicity reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder, standing closer, comforting him. "What happened?"

He chuckled bitterly. "The short story? I knew I had to turn his attention to me somehow. I had to make him so mad that he forgot about my mother and sister and took all his rage and anger out on me and my hide. So, I started going out. Started drinking and gambling and whoring. Really, I just did anything I could to annoy him, knowing that he'd have no choice but to beat it out of me." Another bitter chuckle. "And it worked too. Oh... how it worked."

"He... he beat you?"

"As if he was being paid to," he said matter-of-factly. "But better me than my mother and sister."

"So... so all the rumors of your..." She sucked through her teeth. "Of your ways. They are false?"

"Oh, they are real enough." He turned and looked at her and she saw shame in his eyes that stabbed right through her heart. "I did the things they say. Only, not for the reasons you might imagine. And by the time my father died and I was able to stop, well..." A shrug. "You know how this town is. The rumors were out there and there was no stopping them."

Felicity didn't know what to say. What she could say! If what the Duke said was real, then he was nowhere near the scoundrel and rake that she thought he was. And even if he was that, he had an excuse – a darn good one.

The guilt she had felt earlier compounded as all the things she had said of him, often to his face, came roaring back to her.

"But do not feel bad for me," he laughed, seeming to sense her thoughts. "That was a long time ago and now..." He slid in closer to her and nudged her with his elbow. "If all goes well here, those rumors will be nothing more than a distant memory. Right?"

She could not help but smile. Even in the face of how terrible his story was, what had happened, the childlike glee that he wore on his face made it impossible not to. As if a candle had been lit in the dark, Felicity was beginning to see a new side to the Duke, one that she had to admit that she rather liked.

Did this change anything? Did it force her to reconsider the way she was behaving and what she wished from this agreement of theirs? For now, she wasn't so sure. But she knew one thing to be true. She might approach the rest of this courtship from a slightly different perspective. At the very least, she might not be so quick to judge. She felt she owed him that much.

"Is there more to show me?" she asked. "Of the stables, I mean."

"Is there!" He took her arm again, the sadness gone, the excitement returned. "We have a big day ahead of us, Lady Felicity. I hope you are up for it."

"I hope you are," she responded with a wink.

"I suppose we will find out."

The two walked arm in arm and, as they did, Felicity felt her guard drop in a way she hadn't allowed for earlier. She believed the Duke now when he told her what he intended. And she no longer thought that he was using her. As to what that might mean for the two of them and this little agreement of theirs? She was excited to find out.