Page 62 of The Raven’s Lady

“You mean because you are an engaged woman? Wouldn’t it be ungentlemanly for other men to think of you as … unattached?”

“Of course. I belong to you now, don’t I?” She smiled up at him from under her frothy hat.

Raven found them seats near the rail inside the enclosure marked for the highest-ranking guests. He procured lemonade for the ladies and went in search of his brother-in-law to be. There was no sign of Hugh at the betting stands.

*

Cassie parted from Grandmama and Honoria at the entrance to the large stable compound, more of a palace for horses, she thought, but Verwood, on a smaller scale, could measure up. Jay was with Lester Oakley seeing the jockey weighed and ready and would return to meet Cassie at the stall for Hermes’s walk to the paddock where the jockeys would mount. Trainers passed Cassie on their way out of the stable compound with their horses, and she admired the glossy coats and easy walks of horses who had probably raced before. She tried to notice which of them looked especially fit and prepared to run and at ease in spite of the hum of excitement in the air. It would all be new to Hermes, and she understood the importance of helping him keep his composure.

As she approached Hermes’s stall, she heard sounds of a scuffle, grunts and thuds, and Hermes snorting and squealing in distress. She dashed forward and flung open the stall door. Hugh Haydon and Dick Crockett lurched about in a tangled clinch. Hermes reared and came down hard, blowing, his ears back.

Cassie rushed forward to calm the horse. “Hugh, stop,” she cried. “Stop!”

Her cry had no effect. The two men reeled, and banged into the wall. Dick tried to free his arms from Hugh’s hold. Abruptly, Hugh pushed back, shoving Dick off of him. Dick’s head hit the wood with a crack. The youth slid down the wall, and slumped against it.

Hugh panted and pointed at Dick. “He was interfering with the horse.”

Cassie shook her head. “That’s not possible, and you know it.”

“Look in his hand. You’ll find a nail. He was going to drive it into your horse’s hoof.” Hugh nudged Dick’s hand with his boot. The boy’s palm opened, and a nail, a short, sharp bit of iron, just long enough to penetrate the hoof through the shoe, rolled out of his slack hand.

Cassie knelt at Dick’s side. The youth groaned and opened his eyes. He tried to stand, but Cassie held him down. His throat made agonized sounds. His eyes pleaded with her.

From behind her, a sharp, cold voice demanded, “What’s going on?”

Cassie spun round. Raven stood in the doorway, outlined by the light. She blinked as if his very solid presence were a mere illusion. In her mind he was miles away with Amabel at Ramsbury Park, lost to Cassie forever. Now the distance between them had shrunk to the narrow width of a horse stall. With a little leap her heart broke free of the hold she’d kept on it for weeks.

Then Hugh turned to Raven. “Mind your business, Cole. This man was interfering with the horse.”

“Let me summon one of the stewards.” Raven looked as composed as ever, with that arrogant assurance Cassie had seen in him at their first meeting.

“No,” Cassie protested. “Dick would never harm Hermes.”

Raven flashed her a warning glance. She could not read his expression. He would not look directly at her. She thought he was on Dick’s side as he had been that first day, but Hugh was to be his brother-in-law.

Footsteps pounded outside. Jay and three stable hands showed up at the stall door.

“You,” Jay shouted at Hugh. He lunged for him, but Raven held him back.

“Get a steward, Jay.” Jay wrenched himself out of Raven’s grip, his mouth open to protest, but when he met Raven’s gaze, he nodded. He stepped outside the stall. More running footsteps sounded.

Hugh brushed straw off of his jacket. “My work is done, here. I’ll return to my friends.”

“I think not.” Raven’s voice was cool and unyielding. “You’ll want to repeat your accusation for the steward.”

Hugh glanced at the stall door, as if he would try to push his way past Raven. Behind Raven stood the three stable hands. “Very well, but my sister will be wondering where her escorts are.”

Jay returned with a steward, a stout, ginger-haired fellow, with a bristling beard in the top hat and coat of his position. “Mr. Jennings,” Jay announced.

“What’s amiss here?” Jennings asked.

Raven pointed to Hugh. “Lord Farnley here accuses this man, Dick Crockett of interfering with Lady Cassandra’s horse.”

Cassie wanted to protest that nothing of the kind could possibly have happened, but she caught a look from Jay.

Jennings looked at Hugh. “What did you see, my lord?” he asked.

“I found this fellow trying to drive a nail into the horse’s hoof. You can see it in his hand.”