They Dared the Maid to Ride the Duke’s Wildest Stallion—She Shocked Everyone by Riding It Bareback
Chapter 7
For the next week, Eleanor and the duke quietly investigated.
They did not tell the household.
Alexander inspected the stable accounts.
Eleanor watched the servants.
Together, they discovered strange things.
Saddles had been removed from storage without permission.
Horses had been taken from the estate after midnight.
Several payments had been made to merchants in neighboring counties.
None were recorded in the duke’s official books.
Then Eleanor noticed something else.
A groom named Peter had been receiving letters.
Every letter was burned after reading.
One evening, she followed him.
He left the stable carrying a lantern.
He crossed the orchard.
Then entered an old carriage house.
Eleanor hid behind a stone wall.
Inside, Peter met Lord Edmund.
A third man stood with them.
Captain Harrow.
Eleanor recognized him immediately from an old portrait in the manor hall.
Edmund handed him a folded document.
“The duke suspects the accounts.”
Harrow laughed.
“He suspects everyone.”
“Not everyone.”
Edmund’s voice lowered.
“The maid.”
Eleanor’s heart raced.
Harrow looked toward the door.
“She knows about Thunder.”
“She knows too much.”
“What do you intend to do?”
Edmund smiled.
“Nothing yet.”
“Why?”
“Because tomorrow night, my cousin will leave for the northern estate.”
Harrow frowned.
“And?”
“I will have the papers removed before he returns.”
“What papers?”
“The land deeds.”
Eleanor nearly gasped.
The Blackwood estate was enormous.
Thousands of acres.
Mills.
Forests.
Fields.
Several villages.
If someone forged or stole the deeds, they could claim pieces of the duke’s property.
Eleanor backed away silently.
But a twig snapped beneath her shoe.
The men inside stopped speaking.
“Someone is there.”
Eleanor ran.
Behind her came footsteps.
She reached the stable.
Thunder began kicking his stall.
Eleanor opened it.
“Please.”
The stallion lowered his head.
She climbed onto his bare back.
Thunder surged forward.
They raced into the darkness.
Behind them, Captain Harrow shouted.
“She knows!”
Eleanor did not stop.
She rode directly toward the manor.
But she did not know that someone was already waiting there.
