Selina blew out a breath and then started to dress. “What do I tell him if he sees me and stops?”
“Tell him you are going to check on Mrs. Wells.”
Something she had to do today anyway. He wouldn’t question her motive. “Very well.”
Once dressed, she headed for the stables where a stableboy waited with a horse for her. “We’ll ride for thirty minutes and then I’ll take yer horse back through the woods so His Grace don’t see me.”
“Thank you, James.”
They rode out quickly, heading toward the Earl of Hartsfield’s lands. Selina wished she could ride like this all the time. It would make getting to the tenants’ homes so much quicker, but she couldn’t afford a horse. Once they reached the earl’s property, she stopped her mare and jumped down.
“Here you go, James,” she said, handing him the reins. “Be safe and don’t let the duke see you.”
“I will, miss.”
As she walked back toward Northrop Park, her heart filled with warmth at all the tenants and servants were doing for her. They were putting their own lives at stake to help her. She owed them everything and could only pay them back by healing them when sick.
She pulled the pins out of her hair and rubbed her head. There was nothing worse than having her hair up in a chignon. It gave her headaches.
After walking for a few minutes, she heard the sound of a horse galloping closer. She looked up to see the duke gaining on her. His coattails flew out behind him as he rode. She paused for a moment and stared at the handsome man approaching her. A spark of excitement coursed through her.
He slowed his pace when he caught sight of her. “What are you about this morning, Miss White?”
The horse stopped close enough that she could pat his head. The friendly beast nuzzled her cheek. “I am walking to Mrs. Wells’s home.”
“At this hour?”
“By the time I arrive on foot, it will be close to nine. I’m quite certain she will be awake.” If the poor woman had slept at all last night. Selina dreaded going back to the house. She had lain awake for hours last night, attempting to determine what had happened during the pregnancy. No answer had ever come to her. And when she wasn’t thinking about Susan Wells, their kiss occupied her thoughts for hours. Even now, she couldn’t help but stare at his molded lips and wonder how it would feel if he kissed her again. Enough of that nonsense, she scolded herself. He was betrothed.
“You have no horse?” he asked softly.
Selina rolled her eyes. “How would I afford one, Your Grace? The tenants pay me with what they have . . . a chicken, a bottle of wine or gin; they don’t have much.”
He climbed down from the large chestnut horse and stood next to her. “I have never thought about it. Of course, I tried to find you last night so you might have stayed at my home. It wouldn’t be so long of a walk from there.”
“It would be highly improper to stay overnight at the home of an unmarried man,” she retorted.
“Hmm.” He sounded terribly unconvinced.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I jus
t don’t envision you as the type of woman who cares so much about propriety.”
She stopped walking and stared at him. “I cannot believe you said that about me!”
“Indeed. Most women your age would never be seen in public wearing their hair down. Only a woman’s husband should see her hair unbound and flowing down her back.”
Heat instantly burned across her cheeks. “I have no maid to assist me with my hair.”
“Ahh,” he said, looking up at the blue sky. “Lack of funds. Still, I cannot believe it’s all that difficult to put your hair up into a chignon. A few twists and pins should do it.”
Her jaw tightened in frustration. But there was nothing she could say in her defense. There was no reason for not putting up her hair, except that she liked it down. “The pull of my hair gives me headaches. Something a man would never understand.”
He nodded. “I see.”
She did wonder why he hadn’t mentioned their kiss last night. If nothing else, he should offer her an apology. A proper gentleman would do that, she reasoned.