was still holding Thunder’s reins, but he let them go to brush at the dirt and leaves that clung to him and directed a puzzled look at his horse.
‘What happened?’ he asked.
Alyssa refrained from stating the obvious. ‘I didn’t see the fall. I just heard Thunder cry out and then nothing. He may have tripped in a rabbit hole. Were you off the path?’
Adam pulled himself to his feet with a groan and she resisted the urge to help him.
‘Right in the middle,’ he replied, brushing leaves and twigs from his coat. ‘I always stay in the middle between the trees if we’re coming in fast. There are definitely no rabbit holes or anything there.’
Alyssa frowned and moved towards Thunder. He stood calmly, his left foreleg resting on the tip of the hoof. She bent down to glance at his knee and cannon bone, but aside from scratches she could see no damage, so she turned in the direction they had come from and took a few steps down the lane. The ground was damp and she could clearly see where Thunder had stumbled. She went next towards the trees and knelt down again when she found what she was looking for. After a moment she pushed to her feet, ramming into Adam, who had come to stand behind her. He winced.
‘Careful. I’ve had all the damage I can bear for one day. Let me see.’
She tried to stop him, but then realised the absurdity of the gesture and stood back. He didn’t say a word as he took in the thin stretch of dun-coloured rope wrapped very low around the trunk of a poplar tree.
‘That’s one hell of a prank,’ he said slowly. ‘Did you see anyone around here?’
Alyssa shook her head and after a moment’s hesitation she kneeled down again. She extracted a pair of small scissors from her reticule and sawed off the string.
Adam watched.
‘A memento of my near demise?’
She glanced up at him.
‘Don’t be flippant. You might just as easily have broken your neck at that speed. You are lucky Thunder didn’t break his knees.’
‘Thunder!’ Adam exclaimed, as if waking up, and went back to crouch down by his horse, running his hand gently down the stallion’s legs. Thunder whinnied and nudged Adam with his muzzle.
‘It seems we are both luckier than we deserve, old boy,’ Adam said quietly. ‘Just scrapes and bruises, but we will have Jem put something on that, just in case.’
‘You should have someone put something on you, too,’ Alyssa said, holding out a handkerchief. ‘You’re bleeding.’
Adam glanced down at the small white square of linen she extended.
‘Does this white flag mean you’ve accepted my token of penance?’
She blinked. She had forgotten why she had come. She opened her reticule once again and extracted the silk pouch, holding it out as she had the handkerchief.
‘I can’t keep the coin. It’s too valuable. And besides, I shouldn’t have become so angry—’
‘You had every right,’ he interrupted her, but she raised her hand. She was very aware of the muddy rope she was still holding and she had the uncomfortable sensation of being watched.
‘I may have had the right, but it was still foolish. And a waste of energy. But there is no point in discussing this. You should get Thunder back home. And put something on those scratches.’
‘I’m not eight years old, you know.’
‘So you say. Please take the coin.’
‘It’s a gift. I don’t take back gifts.’
‘Oh, for once, would you not argue! And we shouldn’t be standing here like this. Not after what happened!’
His eyes narrowed.
‘You really are worried, aren’t you? It was just a stupid children’s prank. If they had known what they were doing, they would have secured it higher off the ground. They probably didn’t even realise anything serious might happen.’
She opened her mouth, then closed it.
‘Fine. If you won’t take it, I will send it by the post, which will be unnecessarily embarrassing and costly.’
He ignored her comment and glanced around the forest, frowning.
‘Come, walk with me back to the Hall and I will send you home in the gig. I need to see Thunder back to the stables and I don’t want you walking back alone.’
‘It’s not far...’ she began.
‘I know it isn’t, but if there are mischief-makers out there now, I don’t want you alone with them. Come, you can make sure I don’t keel over on the way, weak from blood loss.’
She smiled reluctantly.
‘So now it is serious.’
‘Of course it is serious. How am I supposed to attend the dance with my face looking as if I’ve been tied in a sack with a wild cat?’
She smiled up at him, thinking he looked unfairly handsome, scratches included. She shook her head and started up the lane to the Hall.
‘It will just lend colour to the stories already making their way around the neighbourhood. I had no idea you were responsible for fomenting rebellions in South America.’
‘I was?’
‘Apparently. There is another one I particularly like. That you cleverly escaped the hangman’s noose in Australia after abducting the governor’s wife and daughter.’
‘Both of them? How precocious of me. Especially since I have never been to Australia. By what stratagem did I effect this escape? It might be useful in case I need to do so in future.’
‘They were sketchy on the details, unfortunately. And then there was the tale that you stole the Sultan of Oman’s prize mare.’
‘That has a grain of truth in it, I’m afraid. But it was the Sultan of Brunei and it isn’t precisely stealing when he himself wagered I couldn’t do it, is it?’
‘Not precisely,’ she admitted. ‘One out of three is not bad. I am sure more tales will surface. It is quite wonderful how you have unleashed the creative forces latent in Mowbray.’
‘I am always glad to be of service.’ He bowed slightly and winced. Her hand went out involuntarily, as if to support him, and he grinned down at her.
‘I repeat. I am not eight years old.’
‘I forget,’ she said tartly and kept walking.
‘No, you’re just used to managing everyone.’
His amused tone took the sting out of his words and she relaxed slightly. He might have changed a great deal in ten years, but his essence was still there. She had remembered him as serious and scholarly, but there’d always been this warm undercurrent of humour and even irreverence, which was probably why her siblings had liked him so much.
‘I’ve offended you again,’ he said suddenly, his voice more serious, and she came out of her reverie.
‘Sorry? I wasn’t listening...’
His frown faded.
‘Well, that puts me in my place.’
They came out of the woods heading towards the stables which stood at the back of Delacort Hall. She barely registered where they were going; her mind kept replaying that moment she had come over the rise and seen him lying there, unmoving. And the image of the rope twined about the tree. They had almost reached the stable when she realised she was still clasping the rope and the pouch with the coin. She thrust them at him.
‘Here, take these.’
He took