They Dared the Maid to Ride the Duke’s Wildest Stallion—She Shocked Everyone by Riding It Bareback
Chapter 6
That evening, the manor was unusually quiet.
The rain returned.
Eleanor was carrying a tray of tea through the west corridor when she heard voices behind a closed door.
She stopped.
One voice belonged to Lord Edmund.
The other was unfamiliar.
“…the duke must not discover the ledger.”
Eleanor froze.
The stranger answered:
“He will if the maid talks.”
“She knows nothing.”
“She rode the horse.”
“And?”
“She saw the wound.”
Silence.
Then Edmund said:
“Make sure she remains a maid.”
Eleanor’s hand tightened around the tray.
Footsteps approached.
She hurried away.
But one thought stayed with her.
Why was a horse connected to a ledger?
The next morning, she returned to the stable.
Thunder greeted her with a low whicker.
She brought him apples.
As she brushed his coat, she found another scar.
Then another.
Not from fighting.
From restraint.
She searched beneath the straw.
Her fingers found something hard.
A small brass button.
It bore a crest.
Eleanor recognized it.
Blackwood.
But the button was not from a servant’s coat.
It belonged to the duke’s private riding uniform.
She stared at it.
Someone who had access to the duke’s stable had been using his horses secretly.
Later that day, Alexander found Eleanor in the stable.
“You asked to see me?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
She handed him the button.
His expression became serious.
“Where did you find this?”
“In Thunder’s stall.”
Alexander turned it over.
His thumb brushed the engraved crest.
“I lost one of these last winter.”
Eleanor looked up.
“Where?”
“During a hunting trip.”
“Who was with you?”
“My cousin. Two servants. And Captain Harrow.”
Eleanor remembered the name.
Captain Harrow had been gone from Blackwood Manor for months.
Alexander studied her.
“You suspect something.”
“I suspect Thunder was being used for something.”
“Why?”
“Because someone was hiding the injuries.”
The duke said nothing.
Then he asked:
“Will you help me find out?”
Eleanor looked surprised.
“I am only a maid.”
Alexander’s voice was quiet.
“Sometimes the person everyone ignores is the person who sees everything.”
It was the first time anyone had said something like that to her.
And it frightened her more than Lord Edmund’s wager had.
