“We’ll keep an extra sharp eye out, sir,” the second man said, looking alarmed and apparently taking the situation seriously.
“Has anyone tried to sneak into the stable in the last few minutes?” Joseph asked.
“Other than us,” Ellen added in a quiet voice.
The two guards glanced to her for a moment and the second one’s mouth twitched into a grin, but the first one answered, “No, sir, and no one will be sneaking anywhere, I can assure you.”
“Good man,” Joseph said, nodding to him. “Thank you.”
He turned and offered his arm to Ellen, and as nonsensical as it was, considering where they were and the fact that they were still dusted with straw and dirt from the other stable, he walked off with her as though they were on their way to a ball at Buckingham Palace instead of slinking around the back areas of a racetrack.
“Do you think those men will actually be able to stop Westminster’s horse from being injured?” Ellen asked once they’d walked past the first stable and back around to the path that would take them to the seating area.
“I would imagine they will consider it their duty to keep all of the horses safe,” Joseph said.
Ellen made a sound of agreement that turned into an angry grunt. “That’s it. I disliked Montrose before, but I think he’s the very devil now. Any man who would plot to harm innocent horses should be taken out and horsewhipped himself. Why, not even those bloody fools waging range wars against each other back home are cruel enough to hurt horses, or any other innocent animal, for that matter.”
“Montrose has no scruples whatsoever,” Joseph said with a dark frown. “Which is why he must be defeated once and for all.”
“And we’ll do it,” Ellen said with a firm nod. “Whatever it takes, we’ll do it.”
Joseph turned to smile at her as they drew nearer the seating area. “Truly, Miss Garrett, this is not your battle to fight. This concerns me and my family alone.”
Ellen laughed. “Firstly, you need to start calling me Ellen, not Miss Garrett. Specifically because, secondly, I am your family, silly. We are to be married, or do you not remember?” She grinned teasingly at him with her question.
Joseph flushed, but instead of the usual terrified look he wore whenever she said those things, he looked to be struggling not to smile. “You cannot make that claim when I have yet to propose to you,” he said in a sheepish voice.
Ellen’s heart turned somersaults in her chest. He hadn’t outright contradicted her. In fact, his words seemed to hint that he would, in fact, propose to her if she gave him the chance. It was the most wonderful feeling she’d felt in a long time. It had her soaring on the wings of hope.
And moments later, she came crashing back to earth as she and Joseph nearly ran headlong into Lady Margaret and her ninnies.
“Good Lord, Miss Garrett,” Lady Margaret said with a gape, sweeping Ellen with a look. “Have you been mucking out the stables?”
Lady Margaret followed her question with a laugh, and Lady Millicent and Lady Prudence laughed with her, sinking Ellen’s spirits all the way into the dirt.
Chapter Five
Joseph was so deeply mired in the thoughts and emotions that had been swirling through him from the moment he pulled Ellen into the stall to hide her from Montrose that he almost didn’t catch the barb in Lady Margaret’s words.
“I…Mr. Rathborne-Paxton and I took a stroll through the stables to assess the strengths and weaknesses of today’s competitors,” Ellen said, standing tall and proud, the way he’d instructed her, and speaking with smooth confidence. “I suppose we have brought a bit of the stables back with us.”
Joseph found her answer to be both smart and beautifully delivered, and he smiled at her.
Lady Margaret, on the other hand, sniffed and made a face. “Yes, I can smell that you brought the stable along with you.”
Joseph scowled. Ellen did not smell of a stable, no matter what their activity in the stall had brought them into proximity with. She smelled of flowers and honesty, which was much more than Lady Margaret could say.
Ellen’s face slowly flushed pink, but she maintained her composure and an almost paradoxical smile of good will as she said, “I have always found that racetracks carry the scents of their activities, but seeing as horses are such magnificent beasts, I have always forgiven them for it. Do you enjoy horses as much as your father, Lady Margaret?”
Joseph’s smile deepened at the swift way Ellen had turned the conversation to Lady Margaret and deflected further insults from herself. She truly was clever. Joseph was beginning to think that not enough people gave her credit for her wit and courage.
Lady Margaret was clearly caught unprepared by the question. “Papa has attempted to interest me in his thoroughbreds, but I have more refined tastes.”
It was clear to Joseph that the woman was fighting to find a way to turn the conversation back to casting aspersions on Ellen. “I believe your father’s entry into today’s stakes has a real chance of winning,” he said as a way to be a shield for Ellen, even though he knew nothing about Westminster’s horse or its chances.
Lady Margaret’s mouth worked into strange shapes for a moment as she reversed whatever new barb she was going to throw at Ellen and came up with an answer to his question instead. “I am quite certain that you know more than I do, Mr. Rathborne-Paxton,” she said, putting on what she probably believed was a dazzling smile for him. “I have always believed in leaving matters of racing and horses to gentlemen such as yourself. They should be of no concern to a lady of delicate sensibilities.” She sent a pointed look Ellen’s way.
Joseph kept a polite smile in place, but he wanted to sigh with the tedium of it all. If he didn’t know better, he would think that Lady Margaret was flirting with him. But that was absurd. Even though they were close to the same age, the daughter of a duke and one of the wealthiest men in England would not set her sights on the youngest son of a marquess. It was more likely than not that Lady Margaret would marry another duke or even a prince.