Ruin Me Please (27 page)

Minnie’s hadn’t seen this
large of a crow
d
for tea in a long time
and the proprietor he
r
self
rushed for
ward
with
h
er hands outstretched and bobbed
a curtsy. 
“Lo
rd Ashford,
how good of you to stop
in.”

Gesturing towards
the group following behind him
,
he warned,
“A
s you can see I brought a crowd.
”
He grinned.
“
Do be good enough to bring
us
plenty of
tea and sandwic
h
es?”

“
Of course,
m
y lord
,
” Minnie
fawned
.

Durham ca
lled, “Minnie, make mine ale.”

“M
ine
too,” Seymour replied.

Shaking his head he spoke up,
“Bring a round
of ale for all of the gentlemen.
”
Parker smiled.

The pub
filled with cheery laughter and loud talking
which stopped abruptly when their long awaited luncheon arrived.

Sitting
directly
in the middle of the long
bench, Poppy held out a
platter of
piled high with
sandwiches to her brother Peyton
before he expired from hunger.

T
he remainder of the
luncheon
was a cacophony of
loud arguments and debates spri
n
kled with moment
s of quiet for bites of
the hearty
food
.

I humbly do beseech you of your pardon.

For too much loving you
.

Othello

*William Shakespeare

W
hen Declan reached the stables the next morning
,
Pop
py
was already there standing
next to her spirited mare, Bluebell
, and he watched a she softly rubbed the horse’s
nose and mu
r
mured sweetly in her ear.
Declan could see the horses eyes half closed in pleasure at the atte
n
tion she was r
e
ceiving
.

Poppy was a vision in her
navy
riding habit
, the
perfect color to enhance her sparkling blue eyes.  Declan no longer had questions about the magnificence of Popp
y’s figure.  All my
s
teries
quickly dispelled
when he
glimpsed her in the tightly fitting confection.  The per
fe
c
tion of
her
blue kid gloves and matching kid
half boots
designed to
complement the
e
p
aulettes and braiding decorating her attire.  A frothing lace cravat
c
over
ed
her linen shirt, l
ace standing co
l
lar and matching lace at her wrist
.  The sun glinted off
her crowning g
lory of blonde ringlets topped
by the tall cap set at a jaunty angle, covere
d with a sheer scarf and
a perfectly die
d blue curled ostrich feather.

Poppy glanced over her shoulder
at the sound of gravel crunching and sighed appreci
a
tively
, her face lighting with pleasure
when she notice
d whom the tall figure was that
a
p
proached
from the rear entrance of the house
.  H
er charming appearance
only distracted for a moment with the
flurry of activity upon her head
, her
feather greet
ing
him with a
happy
wave
, but it was nothing compared to her
brilliant smile
. 
It startled him to realize how much he had come to look forward to her smile
after such a brief
acquaintance
.
“I believed I would be the o
n
ly one awake at this time.”
  Poppy blushed as his flashing green eyes skated down to her hem and back.
  “I’m happy to see that I will not have to ride along.”

“Hardly.”  Poppy’s dimple flashed
, unaware of his admiring gaze as she turned back t
o
wards Bluebell
.  “We enjoy country hours.  Early to bed, early to rise,” she said cheerfully.  “Well, perhaps I shouldn’t lump Peyton in with the rest
.  He seems to take twice as long to a
d
just
.”

“He is young,” he said by way of explanation.

Poppy rolled her eyes. 
“
I trust you slept well
, Your Grace
?”

“
Declan.”  His brow cocked at her slip back into formality.  “
I suppose I slept well
enough
,
” he
said
, the skin around his eyes crinkling with his
lazy
,
masculine smile.

“
Declan,” she repeated.  “
Was the room not to your liking?
”
she
questioned, her brow furrowed with concern
.

He ignored her question and w
ith a lopsided grin
he complimented
,
“
How very b
eco
m
ing
that fetching
riding habit
is on you
.”
He lifted his hand and tweaked the fluttering feather, sending it swaying wildly. 

With the train of
her
navy
blue-velvet riding habit over her arm, she
re
turned with a bri
ght
smile, “Thank you.”

He turned
when
he heard
the wicker of his Arabian, Lucifer.  Sleek and elegant like his rider with the same black as sin coloring. 
Poppy had to admit that h
orse and
rider complimen
t
ed each other
perfectly
.

Declan assisted Poppy, by lifting
her
and placing her on her
saddle
while the groomsman brought
Lucifer
fr
om his stall.  
He
was mounted an
d waiting by the time Poppy
settled fi
rmly in her sti
r
rups.

As they set out
towards the woods, Poppy flicked her
gaze to
Declan.  He cut such a fine figure on horseback
as if he had been born i
n a saddle, perfectly at ease, his black stallion
as elegant as
he was
.
 

They rode silently for a moment
enjoy
ing
the warmth of
the sun
against their backs and the gentle b
reeze that swirled about them
, until the quiet rushed in and made Poppy realize that her mind had wandered so she set out to search for a pleasant topic of conversation
.

Feeling
Declan’s
eyes, Poppy looked up and grinned.  With a slow smile curving his lips, Declan leane
d over and stole a quick kiss.

The firm press of his lips stole her wits for a moment, so she decided to sit in silence for a little while longer.

They set the horses
galloping
.  His eyes met hers. “Where are we headed?” 
He gazed
at the raw beauty of the wooded countryside all around them.  “I can see why you love this place.
  It is spectacular
.
”

Pleased with his reaction to her home, Poppy smiled mysteriously.  Whispering covertly behind her hand, “I believe that I will grant you
access to my secret hide-away.”

“You have a secret hide-away?”  Declan
slowed his mount
,
a
n
easy smile li
ghting
his face. 

Turning in her saddle, Poppy met his gaze
.
“Yes.” 
She searched
his face
, before asking,
“
Would you like to see it?”

“
Indeed.
  You’ve intrigued me.
” 
He stretched
out his arm in surrender
.
“Lead the way, my l
ady.  I can scarcely wait.”  Devilment was dancing in his eyes as he grinned.

“Normally a blindfold is necessary for those who are permitted to view this sacred place
,
but I believe that I can trust you with this most valuable secret
,
”
s
he said in a hushed voice as she slanted him a glance.  “Now I hope you do not make me regret my openness in showing you my hide-away without your eyes covered
.
”
  H
er brow
lightly arched upward
.

“I would never betray your trust
, my l
ady,
”
h
e responded in hushed
tones. 
A
ttempt
ing
to hide his smile
,
he played along with her contrived intrigue. 
Leaning
towards her in order to speak softly, “Well done
, my l
ady
,
”
he whispered.
  A smile that had
surely
charmed many wo
m
en spread across his mouth showing his even white teeth
and a wicked gleam in his eyes
.  “You have me su
f
ficiently in suspense.  I am intrigued beyond all imaginings.”

Their mounts ambled along side by side at a relaxed pace
, n
either
feeling
the need to fill the
easy
silence.

Declan
gazed
across the horizon quietly admiring the beauty of Poppy’s home.  His thoughts turned to his
own home in the Berkshires wondering
what she would think of his
home.

O
ut of practice in the art of light conversation
, the
flirtatious banter that he normally used as armor
in the past
seemed somehow inappropriate at this time.  Declan was not sure what to talk about.  Looking out over the green
park,
reminded
him of his childhood and with
a thoughtful glance towards P
oppy
,
he started speaking softly
,
“When I was a little boy, my brother and I would ride for ho
urs upon hours. 
We would race and jump over any
thing that got in our way.
”  He shot her a quick glance.
 
“
It’
s a wonder that we did not break our necks
.
” 
He chuckled. 
“We would oftentimes
stay out until it was dark skipping all of our le
s
sons for that day
to the horror of our tutor
.”

Poppy smiled
, soothed by the deeply masculine timbre of his voice.

“Our tutor, Mr. Beasley, would rail a
t us for what seemed like hours,” h
e drawled dr
a
matically
roll
ing
his eyes heavenward.   “He was amazed that we did not want to spend our time improving our minds
.
” 
He sighed
wistfully.
“We were such a trial to him. 
I remember once when
Gabriel said,   ‘I will be
the duke
someday, as if he would be the only one in all of England
.
” Declan snorted.
“
If
I say we ride, we ride.
  There
will be time for books tomorrow.
”  D
e
clan’s
eyes crinkl
ed
in amusement
and a hint of sadness
at the memory.