Duchess Beware (Secrets & Scandals Book 2) by Tiffany Green Read Free Book Online Page A

for knowledge.  Yes, that had to be it.  There couldn’t possibly be more to it than that.
    He fell into step beside her.  “For the last five generations, my family has trained the Huntington horses.  Daniel and I are the same age and have been good friends for as long as I can remember, and he never liked me addressing him by his title.”
    “In fact,” Garrett continued with a chuckle, “when we were eleven years old, he gave me a black eye when I refused to call him anything other than ‘my lord’ the entire day.  Daniel was a marquess back then since his father was still alive.”
    Silver shook her head, smothering a laugh.  “A black eye?  How horrid of him.”
    “Yes, though he paid for it the very next day.”  Garrett’s grin hinted at mischief. 
    “What happened?” she asked, eager to know more.  Learning these tiny details of the duke’s life made her giddy.  Like a child stealing forbidden sweets.
    “Well, Lord and Lady Crandall, whose estate neighbors Huntington, came for a visit.  They happened to have a daughter two years older than us, Arabella.  Anyhow, I managed to slip a harmless old snake into her reticule without getting caught.”
    Silver stopped and turned to Garrett.  “You didn’t!”
    He nodded, his lips twitching.  “Of course, Arabella didn’t actually find the snake until a couple of hours later.  And since I had been hiding in the hayloft the entire time, she was convinced Daniel had done the deed.”  He paused, his smile breaking free.  “She gave him two black eyes because of it.”
    Unable to resist, Silver threw her head back and laughed.
     
    Her laughter woke him.  The husky-sweet sound poured over his senses like honey.  Daniel opened his eyes, noticing the fair-size room he’d been assigned awash with sunshine.  He turned his head toward the open window, seeing the dust motes flutter in the golden light like snowflakes, and frowned.  The window had been closed before he retired.  It was likely that scrawny old housemaid who must constantly suck on lemons to keep such a pinched face all the time.
    When he heard Silver laugh again, he slid from the bed, shivering slightly from the cool morning air, and glanced out the window.  Garrett spouted something Silver found amusing as they sauntered toward the stables.  They were alone, he noted darkly, and walking much too close to his liking.  Where the deuce where those monstrous brothers of hers?  Or her aunt?  And, recalling her strange behavior the prior evening, just how in the hell had his friend managed to lift her spirits?
    Spinning away from the window, Daniel threw on his clothes.  Curse the woman for stirring feelings within him he had no right to feel.  He certainly shouldn’t be jealous of Garrett.  The man had been through hell these last few years with losing Marie and now deserved some happiness. 
    But, damn it, not with Silver! 
    He pushed his feet into his boots and headed downstairs.  The sooner he purchased that horse and left, the better, he thought and opened the back door.  Stepping outside, he tried tying his ruddy cravat.  Damn nuisance .  He sighed and knotted it, knowing his valet Mills would have a seizure, then glanced around, squinting against the sun’s blinding glare.  He cursed all the port he’d guzzled last night as a sudden ache pounded in his temples. 
    A full minute passed before his eyes adjusted to the brightness.  From the stables, he found Silver and Garrett leading an Arabian mare out.  He jerked to a halt.  The horse’s silvery-white coat glistened in the sunlight as it pranced about, obviously delighted about being freed from her stall.  The mare descended from Eclipse, the only horse with a flawless win record.  And, by all that was holy, he would have her.  His gaze shifted over to Silver as he finished the thought, taking notice of how the morning light glimmered over her hair.  How her cheeks were rosy with excitement and how