The Heart of a Duke (5 page)

After coming full circle, Daniel bent over the stallion’s neck and suddenly the pair were trotting straight toward her.

Stunned, she stood rooted in place, watching Daniel dismount before her.

He jumped clear of the horse, tossed the reins to Robbie as he landed, dark hair tousled, eyes alight, and a rakish smile splitting his face. He strode over to where she stood. From the buttonhole of his jacket, he withdrew a perfect bloodred rose.

Bowing low, he presented his offering. “My lady, this humble English rose is but a pale tribute to your dazzling beauty.”

The pounding in her heart matched the thunderous applause, while Daniel’s gallant action confirmed her worst fear.

He
had
returned to torment her.

Worse, he was succeeding.

D
ANIEL
watched the play of emotions cross Julia’s expressive features. She looked as if she yearned to toss his tribute back in his face, but with an audience of so many, she refrained. The bold, reckless, kiss-me-if-you-dare Julia of yesterday would have, but not this poised and collected lady. Dressed in a tidy sapphire blue jacket and light blue day gown, she was miss prim and proper.

He preferred the Julia of yesterday. He would like to strip away the layers she wore like a protective shield and find the unconventional Julia, particularly if it involved more kisses.

Julia snatched the rose from his hand. She hadn’t doused all of yesterday’s fire. Some of it still simmered. Good, he liked a woman with spirit.

“Well said,” someone hooted.

Daniel lifted an arm to acknowledge their audience, who brandished their hats in approval. When he turned back to Julia, he caught sight of Emily, and his smile broadened. “I see I have need of a second gift.” He bowed again. “My apologies.”

“You remember my younger sister, Lady Emily.” Julia edged closer to her sister.

He noted the protective move. His gaze shifted between them, marveling at the differences. Both had the deep blue Chandler eyes, but while Julia had a riotous mass of curling hair, Emily was fair, her hair a tidy, sun-kissed yellow. Julia’s countenance was coolly assessing, Emily’s open and warm. Emily was reed thin, a strong gust of wind capable of toppling her. Daniel usually preferred his women willow slim, but as of yesterday, his preference had changed. Curves on a fuller figure were definitely an asset he had overlooked. He would not do so again.

“Charm
and
a splendid seat, my lord,” Emily said. “Pray tell, what spells have you woven to turn Robbie’s horse from devil to angel?”

“No magic. I simply had a chat with him, and we came to an understanding. Angel?” He tested the name out on his tongue, looking over to study Black Devil, whom Robbie was leading in an encore circle of the paddock. “Black Angel.” Yes, it would do beautifully. He smiled at Emily. “I was wondering what to rename him. I could not have chosen better myself. Forget the single rose, I owe you a dozen.”

“And what does Robbie have to say about your renaming his prized stallion?” Julia said, regarding him with suspicion.

“Robbie has no say in the matter. The horse is mine. Black Angel will do.”

“You bought Black Devil?” She looked surprised.

“I did, along with another stallion trained to saddle, a handsome chestnut named Chase. I have need of a horse during my visit.”

“And how long will you be staying?” Emily asked.

“I do not intend on leaving too soon. I have a lot of catching up to do. Ten years’ worth.” His eyes locked with Julia’s, and when a high-pitched bellow of Emily’s name distracted her, he could not resist leaning toward Julia. Lowering his voice, his eyes dipped to her mouth. “And I am enjoying catching up very much.”

Spots of pink colored her cheeks, and the rose she held took a precarious dive as her fist strangled around its stem.

“If you will excuse me, that bellow is for me,” Emily said dryly. “Welcome home, Lord Bryant. I do hope you enjoy your visit and Black Angel.”

“Oh, I already am.” He smiled, holding Julia’s gaze.

Once Emily had departed, Julia arched a delicate brow. “Have you had a chance to catch up with your brother yet? Or have you quite forgotten about him?”

Like her slap of yesterday, her words found their mark, and he straightened. “No, I have not forgotten Edmund. I will deal with him. But I will do so in my own time.”

“What do you mean? Deal with him?” Confusion crossed her features. “How exactly do you intend to
deal with
Edmund?”

He shrugged. “As I always have, very carefully.” Unable to resist, he let his eyes again lower to her mouth. “Particularly after yesterday.”

She drew in a sharp breath and cast a furtive glance around. The crowds were beginning to disperse, so she edged closer to the fence separating them and dropped her voice to a desperate hiss. “You must understand that was a mistake. I thought you were Edmund!”

He braced his arms over the top rail, grinning when she stumbled back. “There was no mistake on my part. I knew who you were at all times.”

“You took advantage of the situation. You—”

“My dear Julia, it would have taken a far stronger man than I to deny your plea. I am willing to concede to being weak, but not stupid, for I gave you fair warning that what you requested of me was dangerous.”

“Dangerous? By God, you could have been killed!”

Daniel spun at the comment, stepping back from the fence upon recognizing Julia’s father, Lord Taunton. A decade older, the earl’s dark hair was peppered with streaks of silver and gray, but his eyes—Julia’s eyes—were a lively blue. Robbie had opened the nearest paddock gate and released Black Devil into another enclosure, so Lord Taunton advanced without threat.

“Lord Bryant, I must say, you do know how to make an entrance.” He grasped Daniel’s hand in his, pumping it up and down. “That was quite a show. I had bets laid that Robbie would have to put the horse down. Pray tell, how did you tame the beast? And when did you return? You must come and dine with us this very evening. I will not take no for an answer. You have some long overdue explanations to make, young man.”

Daniel shook his head with a laugh. Another voice piped up to forestall his reply.

“Cor blimey, it were brilliant! Smashing good.”

A young boy, no more than five, scrambled through the fence rails and dashed to his side, craning his head back to beam a smile up at him.

“My son, Lord Jonathan.” Pride laced Lord Taunton’s words.

The introduction was superfluous, for the boy’s vibrant blue eyes mirrored his father’s and sisters’. Daniel dipped into a bow. “It is a pleasure.”

Emily joined their group, looking apologetic. “I held him back as long as I could.”

“Are you a horseman?” he addressed the boy.

“I ride Mindy, my pony, but I want to ride Black Devil. Can I? Please?”

“Absolutely,” he said. He was quick to add, “As soon as you pile on a bit more height and weight, we will have you on his back in no time.”

Jonathan looked crestfallen. “I know,” he declared, brightening, “I’ll eat that green stuff that Cook says will make me grow. I’ll stop stuffing it in my napkin, and I’ll be big in no time.”

“Sounds like a good plan.” Daniel nodded solemnly, his lips twitching.

“Speaking of plans, we must be keeping you from yours,” Julia said, circling around the fence rail and through the open gate to rest her hand on her brother’s shoulder.

“We have taken up enough of your time,” Julia continued. “We—”

He did not let her finish. “On the contrary.” She was seeking an escape, and he had no intention of providing her with one. “My time is yours, for I have no plans but to enjoy the pleasure of your company.”

Julia made no comment, but he noted her hand tightened on Jonathan’s shoulder, who with a grunt of protest, dodged free.

“And, my lord, I accept your kind offer to dine.”

“Wonderful, we look forward to it.” Her father beamed.

Daniel’s eyes met Julia’s, unable to hide his triumph. He swallowed his laugh when she looked discomfited and quickly dropped her gaze to her brother, speaking to him.

“Jonathan, you mentioned wanting to see Punch and Judy? I spied their red and white tent over by the blacksmith shop, and that distant squawk is unmistakably Punch.”

“Why don’t we head over there?” Emily looped her arm through her father’s.

Jonathan frowned. “I can’t see them.”

“You need a better vantage point. How is this?” Daniel bent, scooped up the little boy, and settled him on his shoulders. “Now, Captain, steer me to their tent.” He walked to the open gate, Jonathan’s squeal of delight ringing out.

“Well done.” Emily laughed.

He thought so, but from Julia’s expression, he surmised she was of a different opinion. He wondered if she wished Black Angel had flipped him onto his arse.

T
HE
C
HANDLERS WERE
a close family. As the afternoon wore on, Daniel witnessed firsthand the tight-knit bond they shared and had a better understanding of why Julia would postpone her wedding to care for her family. After leaving the antics of Punch and Judy, they perused various games, savored a vendor’s mouthwatering pastries, and lightened their pockets on various trinkets.

Julia tilted her head back to laugh at a comment from Emily, affectionately looping her arm through her sister’s. Earlier, Jonathan’s triumphant shout during a game of ring toss had elicited Taunton’s praise, and his hand had brushed over his son’s hair in a casual caress. Interactions had flowed between them in a smooth, calm current. No darkness simmered beneath the surface, no undercurrent disrupted their relations.

No Edmund
.

Daniel scowled. There was freedom in not being shackled with family ties, and he coveted his freedom. After all, independence was all that his family had ever given him.

His father’s time had been divided between his estate responsibilities and grooming Edmund for the title, carving out those sporadic bites of time for the spare heir. As for his brother, well, their fraternal bond was but a tenuous thread Edmund had severed early. Unfettered by family ties, Daniel came and went as he pleased. He answered to no one, and he liked it that way. Shrugging off the recollection, he returned his attention to Julia.

She bent over, her expression a picture of grave concern as a village girl prattled on about her bandaged finger, which she thrust in Julia’s face for closer inspection.

He had observed Julia mingle with the villagers, engage with vendors, and skillfully evade zealous peddlers seeking her patronage. She was kind and personal, yet not overly familiar. She had inquired after the welfare of someone’s prized pig and award-winning roses and had listened with the same attention she paid to this tyke’s account of her tussle with Robbie’s tomcat.

The knee-scraped animal rescuer he recollected from his childhood was long gone. As was the vulnerable young girl he had once comforted in his arms when Edmund had tricked her into hiding in a root cellar, not bothering to tell Daniel he was to search for her. She was like a familiar childhood book but with new, unexplored chapters. He wanted to revisit her story and devour every word.

Julia touched her lips to the girl’s wound, kissing it better and earning a smile from the apple-cheeked child. Daniel frowned. He blamed another kiss, the one that never should have happened, for his fascination. It created an inexorable pull toward Julia.

With no other woman had he felt this relentless tug, like an anchor tied to her prow. Over the years, he had discovered there were benefits to the fairer sex that he had overlooked, having his nose buried in business ledgers as he struggled to launch a company. Like most lusty young men, he had found that he liked those benefits . . . very much.

Julia straightened and joined her family at an adjacent tent. A gust of wind molded her skirts to her slim hips, and he bit back a curse. In the midst of a crowded thoroughfare, beside his brother’s beautiful fiancée, was not the time nor place to recall those benefits. She was not his and never could be.

“You don’t enjoy the performance?”

Daniel jerked at the amused voice and found Emily beside him, regarding him with a
caught you
look. Heat itched up his neck as he studied the exhibit he had been neglecting. Jugglers threw spinning balls into the air, adding wooden stakes into the spiraling mix. Gasps rose from the audience when knives were tossed into the frantically whirling objects.

“If I appear too interested, they might ask for volunteers. I have need of my limbs, find I prefer them attached to my body.”

“I don’t know if staring at my sister is any safer. You do recall that she is betrothed to Edmund? Your
twin
brother? Has been for years?”

Definitely caught.
His smile faded. “So you both keep reminding me.”

“Mmh. I saw Julia when she returned home yesterday.” He stilled, but Emily’s attention remained on the performance. “She looked flustered and incredibly distracted, which is not like my sister at all.”