The marchioness stared at her through narrowed eyes but did not comment right away. After a moment she said, “Indeed. I see you have given this some thought.”
Victoria nodded then looked down the path. Two gentlemen on horseback cantered along about two hundred yards in front of them, heading their way. Her eyes grew round as she recognized the rider on the black horse.
“Bloody hell!” she muttered to herself, but then silently asked forgiveness for her choice of words.
Daisy unexpectedly reared up with a loud whinny and set off at a full gallop, tearing first down the Rotten Row path and then suddenly veering off toward the Serpentine. Victoria gave a feeble cry of “whoa” and tried to tug on the reins, to no effect. Deciding instead to concentrate on saving her life, she leaned forward and threw her arms around Daisy’s neck as the “gentle” mare ran hell for leather through Hyde Park.
TAVISTON RODE ALONGSIDE Northfield at a moderate clip when two female riders in front of them caught his eye. His friend continued to chatter on about some horse he was interested in buying, but Taviston ignored him. His attention stayed focused on the only other riders in the vicinity. If he wasn’t mistaken, that was Northfield’s wife Jane, accompanied by Victoria Forster. What an odd coincidence. And how strange Northfield did not seem to realize his wife was riding in this very park as well. Taviston muttered a few choice curses under his breath.
Before he could tell Northfield what he thought of his scheming ways, the chestnut Miss Forster rode suddenly reared up and shot off across the park at full speed. Taviston pulled his horse up and turned to watch in astonishment as the horse showed no signs of slowing down. The rider clung desperately to the beast’s neck as it recklessly crashed through bushes and around trees, heading for the west end of the park.
Northfield brought his horse to a halt while Jane moved not at all. Taviston shook his head in disbelief then wheeled Excalibur around and sent his horse after the mare.
“Come on, Ex,” he said to the gelding as he leaned low. “We need to catch them before they both end up with broken necks.”
Excalibur had no trouble closing the gap between the two horses. The mare wasn’t particularly swift, but something had certainly spooked her. As they drew closer Taviston could see the wild, frightened look in the animal’s eyes. He couldn’t see Miss Forster’s face at all, as she had it buried to the left side of the horse’s neck.
His first, and only, plan had been to draw alongside the mare and grab the reins. He didn’t have any doubt he could easily stop the horse. Unfortunately, the reins were all tangled up and hung down the left side of the mare. He and Excalibur were to the right.
He looked up just in time to duck his head under a tree branch. This was beyond ridiculous; it was downright dangerous.
“Miss Forster!” he shouted over the thunder of the hooves.
Her head jerked but she did not look at him. What on God’s green earth was such an inexperienced rider doing on such a volatile horse?
Taviston glanced ahead again and saw they were now in a wide open section of the park. Good.
“Victoria! Sit upright and loosen your boot in the stirrup. I will lift you off that blasted beast.”
For a moment she gave no indication she had heard him. But then she slowly raised her head. Terror filled her eyes. Taviston decided then and there that Jane, and possibly Northfield, were not going to hear the end of this anytime soon.
“All right, Ex, let’s move closer.” He nudged the black as close to the mare as he felt was safe, then leaned over and hooked an arm around Victoria’s waist, dragging her off the chestnut and into his lap. He felt a slight pull and heard the tearing of fabric, but nothing else hindered the transfer.
He kept his arm tightly around her as the frightened woman threw her arms around his back and buried her face in his chest. With his free hand he pulled on the reins and slowed Excalibur to a trot then drew the gelding to a complete stop. At that moment Northfield flew by them on his own mount, apparently in an attempt to stop the still out-of-control mare.
Miss Forster trembled in his arms and suddenly Taviston’s anger flared to life again. It was bad enough she had been terrified beyond anything, but if she were physically hurt...
“Are you injured?” He dropped the reins, confident Excalibur wouldn’t go anywhere. Then he loosened his hold and eased her back away from him slightly.
He was surprised to see she wasn’t crying. Her eyes were somewhat dilated, and she was taking in deep breaths, but otherwise she appeared unharmed. His hand unconsciously came up and began rubbing her back in circles.
She gave him a tremulous smile and at long last replied, “I’m all right. I shall probably never ride a horse again, but I am unhurt.”
“Thank God. Do you know what precipitated that wild bolt? I assume the mare is Jane’s.”
“Yes, she is. Jane claimed she was the ‘gentlest creature’ and up until then we were doing fine. I was enjoying riding again after so many years,” she said, without ever taking her eyes from his face.
Some of his fear was shoved aside by the forceful return of his desire for the woman sitting in front of him. He had done his damnedest to avoid her for the better part of a week and had succeeded—until Northfield had invited him for a ride in the park. Taviston suspected the Northfields of maneuvering this morning’s encounter, though he doubted they had anticipated such a dangerous turn of events. How unfortunate he could not blame them for his unrelenting ardor.
What a nasty, wicked joke fate was playing on him. If Miss Forster had been anything else but the unmarried, innocent daughter of a gentleman he would have had no reservations about beginning an assignation with her. He wasn’t the rake his brother was, but he also wasn’t some timid schoolboy afraid to pursue a woman he wanted. But discretion was essential in his choice of female companionship and so he avoided any female with the potential for causing scandal.
However, he had never felt such an overwhelming urge to be with one particular person. A person whose blue eyes did troubling things to his soul, whose lips were so velvety—
“Victoria! Oh my goodness. Are you all right? Please say you are not hurt.”
Jane and Northfield pulled up in front of them, Northfield leading the now disturbingly calm Daisy.
Taviston, now completely back in the present, turned a glacial stare on Jane and said, “Is she all right? What kind of crack-brained idea was this, Jane? What possessed you to put an inexpert rider on such an unpredictable mount?”