They Dared the Maid to Ride the Duke’s Wildest Stallion—She Shocked Everyone by Riding It Bareback
Chapter 11
They returned to Blackwood Manor three days later.
Alexander brought the surviving conspirators with him.
Captain Harrow confessed.
The missing deeds had been hidden beneath the floorboards of the old carriage house.
The forged documents were found there too.
But Edmund was gone.
For several weeks, the duke searched for him.
Eleanor returned to her work.
The manor slowly became peaceful again.
Yet something had changed.
Alexander visited the stable almost every morning.
Sometimes he rode Thunder.
But never with a saddle.
He had learned.
Eleanor often watched from the doorway.
One morning, Alexander said:
“You were right.”
“About what?”
“Thunder.”
Eleanor smiled.
“He trusts you now.”
The duke stroked the horse’s neck.
“Because you taught me not to force him.”
Eleanor looked away.
Alexander noticed.
“Why do you avoid looking at me?”
She flushed.
“I do not.”
“You do.”
“I am a maid.”
“And?”
“And you are the duke.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“That answer explains nothing.”
“It explains everything.”
He was silent.
Then he said:
“Does it?”
Eleanor looked up.
His eyes were fixed on hers.
She felt the dangerous pull of something neither of them had spoken aloud.
Before either could say more, the stable doors opened.
A messenger entered.
“Your Grace.”
Alexander turned.
“What is it?”
“A letter from London.”
He broke the seal.
His expression darkened.
Eleanor waited.
“What happened?”
Alexander handed her the letter.
Edmund had been seen near the coast.
But there was another message.
A magistrate had discovered that several of the forged land documents had been prepared months before the duke’s father’s death.
Which meant someone inside Blackwood Manor had planned the scheme long before Alexander inherited the title.
Alexander looked at Eleanor.
“My father may have known.”
“Known what?”
“That Edmund was betraying him.”
Eleanor’s heart sank.
“If he knew, why did he do nothing?”
Alexander stared at the fire.
“Perhaps he was protecting someone.”
