They Dared the Maid to Ride the Duke’s Wildest Stallion—She Shocked Everyone by Riding It Bareback
Chapter 12
The answer was hidden in an old portrait.
Eleanor found it accidentally.
The portrait showed Alexander’s father standing beside a young woman.
The woman was not his wife.
Eleanor recognized her face.
It was her own mother.
She stepped backward.
“No.”
Alexander came running.
“What is it?”
Eleanor pointed.
“My mother.”
Alexander stared at the painting.
He had never seen her before.
But something about the woman’s expression was familiar.
“My father knew your mother?”
“My mother worked here before I was born.”
Alexander looked at the painting again.
Then he noticed a small inscription.
On the back was a date.
And a single sentence:
“For the child, when the truth can no longer be hidden.”
They searched the library.
Behind a loose stone, they found a packet of letters.
The first was written by Alexander’s father.
It revealed that Eleanor’s mother had been the daughter of a respected landowner whose property had been stolen through forged documents.
Alexander’s father had tried to restore it.
But before he could, he discovered that the same men involved in the theft were connected to Edmund.
Eleanor’s mother had been forced to leave the estate.
She had taken her daughter with her.
The last letter contained a shocking truth.
Eleanor was the rightful heir to a small but valuable parcel of land adjoining Blackwood property.
The land had been stolen from her grandfather.
Her mother had spent years trying to reclaim it.
Then she died.
Eleanor sat silently.
“I never knew.”
Alexander knelt beside her.
“You should have.”
“I was only a servant.”
“You were never only that.”
She looked at him.
“Your Grace…”
“Alexander.”
She hesitated.
“Alexander.”
He took her hand.
“I am sorry.”
Tears gathered in Eleanor’s eyes.
Not because of the land.
Because for the first time in her life, someone had looked at her history and believed it mattered.
Alexander gently kissed her hand.
Then he said:
“I intend to return the property.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“You cannot.”
“I am the duke.”
“That is precisely why you must not.”
He smiled.
“You are impossible.”
“So I have been told.”
