The Arrangement by Joan Wolf Read Free Book Online Page A

could sell her for a nice sum and buy myself something else at a quarter of the price I realize.
    But I knew I wouldn’t sell Maria. She had been Tommy’s wedding present to me, a beautiful bay Thoroughbred with nearly perfect conformation.
    “She reminds me of you, Gail,” my husband had said when first he had taken me to see her. “She looks so delicate, with that exquisite head and neck, and those elegant long legs, but her heart is full of courage.” He had given me his endearing, mischievous grin. “Not to mention the fact that she has such a fiery temper that I got her at a steal from Rogers’s, who didn’t know what to do with her!”
    I knew she would have magnificent babies, and every year I had hoped to find enough money to pay the stud fee to breed her to a Thoroughbred stallion.
    Every year I had failed to do so.
    Maria was twelve now—growing old to have a first foal.
    I chewed on the end of my pen and stared at the sums listed before me.
    If I used George’s money to pay for Nicky’s education, I would have those savings available to put toward operating costs.
    The idea popped into my mind before I could block it out.
    No. My lips moved to form the word, although I did not speak it aloud. I did not want to take anything from George. I would not take anything from George.
    I would manage.
    I always had.
    Savile’s voice came from behind me. “I was talking to Nicky in the kitchen a while ago, Mrs. Saunders, and I received the distinct impression that he does not yet know that you plan to accompany me to Kent.”
    I turned in my chair to face him. “I haven’t told him yet,” I confessed. “I have been trying to invent a reason for my making such a trip, and so far I have not been able to come up with anything satisfactory.”
    “Telling him the truth is out of the question, I gather.” The ironic note in Savile’s voice was unmistakable.
    “I do not want Nicky to know anything about Lord Devane.” I scowled in sudden alarm. “You didn’t say anything to him, did you, my lord?”
    He was sitting in one of the fireside chairs, a book that looked like my well-read copy of Lady Greystone’s On Equitation in his hands. He said, “No, I held my tongue. I do not agree with your decision, Mrs. Saunders, but I will respect it. Nicky is, after all, your son.”
    “Thank you,” I said in an ironic tone that matched his.
    He changed the subject. “Was that your mare I saw out in the paddock earlier? The bay Thoroughbred?”
    I smiled. “Yes, that is Maria.”
    “She is beautiful.”
    “Thank you. I agree, she is beautiful.”
    His long fingers smoothed the red leather cover of the book. “She looks as if she would be fast.”
    “She has never raced, so I don’t know how fast she is,” I replied. “I got her when she was three.” I heard my voice soften. “She was a wedding gift from my husband.”
    A little silence fell, then he said, “Have you bred her?”
    I carefully placed my pen back into its holder. “No.”
    “Does she have any vices?”
    “No,” I repeated. “She is a trifle hot at hand, but that is only because she is full of courage.”
    His golden eyes looked puzzled. “Then why haven’t you bred her, Mrs. Saunders? The foal of a mare like that would go for a very handsome price.”
    “I can’t afford the stud fee,” I said baldly.
    He raised his brows. A little silence fell.
    I was about to turn back to my account book when he said thoughtfully, “Do you know, I rather think I might just have discovered an acceptable reason for you to accompany me to Savile Castle.”
    I stared at him blankly.
    “You are going to look at my stallion to see if he will be an acceptable mate for Maria,” he explained.
    “Do you have a stallion?” I asked in surprise.
    A log fell and he got up to poke it deeper into the embers. “Not at Savile Castle,” he replied, “but Nicky does not need to know that.”
    I turned his suggestion over in my mind and could find only one