Read [Samuel Barbara] Lucien's Fall(Book4You) for Free Online Page B

heartily.

    She met him in the stables. His round kind face, below the pate of thinning hair, was dewy, and a line of sweatbeads decorated his upper lip. Madeline tried not to notice, and he greeted her so cheerily it would have been churlish not to respond in kind. "It is a fine, fine day for riding, wouldn’t you say?"

    Madeline smiled. "Indeed." She took the reins of her gray mare from the groom and accepted the help of the marquess to mount. "Rare to enjoy such fine weather in an English spring."

    "Yes."

    As they rode out, making small talk, Madeline breathed deeply. Clouds danced across a vivid, blue sky, hinting that there might later be a very welcome rain. The air was light and dry, but the grass drooped on its stalks and a dullness in the colors of the leaves betrayed the lack of moisture these past weeks. A trio of birds played tag across the meadow, and the freshly mown grass gave the day an earthy scent.

    In the rose garden, nearly every bush was in bud or blooming. The colors were astonishing. Planted in concentric circles, the flowers were arranged by color, going from palest, clearest white at the center to an almost burgundy red at the outside row. A tall, graceful willow tree grew in the center.

    Madeline sighed. Like every other corner of the garden, the roses needed immediate attention.

    "That sounds weary," the marquess commented.

    "Perhaps a little," she admitted and lifted a hand to point. "In a few weeks, those gardens will be quite beautiful. I hope I’ll have a chance to show them to you when they’re in full bloom."

    "I expect you shall," he said calmly. "Would it help for me to send for my head gardener? He can’t be spared at the moment, of course, but I reckon it won’t be much longer."

    "Oh, that’s very kind of you," Madeline returned, "but no, thank you." The exchange made her feel as if she’d been dropping some untoward hint. And yet, who could fail to notice the neglect so evident here? The willow tree, nearly eighty feet tall, provided lovely pale green contrast to the darker green leaves of the roses. The sturdy mums grew with abandon in their sunny beds.

    But it was impossible to avoid noticing last year’s rose hips uncut on the bushes, the dried brown stalks that needed pruning out, the clumps of grass ruining the lines of the carefully planned beds. With a determined tilt of her head, she commented, "Juliette hires three gardeners. Unfortunately, she is appallingly ignorant in how to direct them."
    She smiled to lighten her words. "By next spring, I’ll have everything in order once more."

    The marquess gave her a smile. "No doubt you will."

    They rode down the road, past the maze—where Madeline found her thoughts turning to Lord Harrow, and she determinedly turned them away— along the clipped meadows, into the wilder forested land on the outskirts of the estate. "Do tell me of your travels, my lord."

    "Oh, do call me Charles," he said with a pained smile. "My lord makes me think of my gouty father."

    Who would no doubt have a gouty son, she thought unkindly, eyeing his plump fingers. Then, ashamed of herself, she nodded. "Charles."

    He smiled.

    "The countess tells me you’ve made several fascinating trips to the Continent for your excavations," she said.

    "Oh, I wouldn’t think of boring you with all that." He waved his hand. "All those dusty sites are hardly to the taste of a young woman."

    "What dusty sites?" Madeline persisted. "Have you visited Pompeii?"

    "Oh, yes." His mild voice took on a resonant timbre. "I spent nearly a year with Sir William Hamilton, the English ambassador to the court of Naples, helping to uncover some of the walls."

    "It’s a fascinating place."

    "Do you think so?"

    His earnest expression gave her a pang and caused her to tell a polite lie. "Yes."

    But the small lie reminded her suddenly of the conversation in the maze. They were just alike, she and Lord Esher, only now it was Madeline prompting the marquess to talk