Read Online Behind the Mask (House of Lords) by Meg Brooke - Free Book Online

into the village later,” Lord Pierce finally said.
    “Excellent. Would you like me to introduce you around?”
    “That would be...helpful,” he said thoughtfully. He was looking through the open door, listening as footsteps rang in the passage.
    Eleanor’s mother swept into the room. “Good morning,” she said, smiling charmingly at the two gentlemen as she crossed to the sideboard and poured herself a cup of coffee. “Darling, whatever are you wearing?” she asked.
    “I’m going riding, mother,” Eleanor said evenly.
    “In those things?”
    “It’s what I usually wear.” She tried not to blush.
    Lady Sidney laughed pleasantly. “You must excuse Eleanor, gentlemen,” she said, completely unflustered.
    “I think it makes perfect sense,” Lord Pierce said. Eleanor shot him a look that begged him not to come to her aid. He would only make it worse. “If Miss Chesney wishes to ride in the valley, she should be attired properly.”
    Lady Sidney stared at him. “Proper attire is not one of Eleanor’s interests,” she said calmly.
    Eleanor stifled a groan.
    Her mother seemed to finally notice that Lord Pierce and Mr. Strathmore were dressed for riding as well. “Are you taking our guests out, Eleanor?”
    “Yes, Mama.”
    “You must show them the waterfall, dear. It is by far the most beautiful spot in the valley,” she added, smiling at the gentlemen. “We used to picnic up there when the girls were young.”
    “I will look forward to it,” Lord Pierce said, finishing his coffee. He looked expectantly at Eleanor.
    “We must be going, I think,” she said gratefully, almost leaping out of her chair. “It will only get warmer later in the day.”
    “Of course,” her mother smiled up at them. Almost sighing with relief, Eleanor led the gentlemen out into the corridor.
    “The stables are through here,” she said, leading them through the front hall and out into the courtyard behind the house. John Mowbray, a tall, well-built man whose long hair was tied in an old-fashioned queue down his neck, stood waiting for them.
    “Miss Chesney!” he cried, breaking into a wide grin.
    She went right up to him and put her hand on his arm as he bowed her head. “How many times do I have to tell you to call me Eleanor? We used to race each other to the village.” John was the son of the previous head groom, and he and Eleanor were of an age. Once the two of them had been friends, but now it felt as though a great chasm had opened between them.
    “When we were children, Miss Chesney,” the head groom said.
    She smiled despite her disappointment. “Oh, very well. This is Lord Pierce, and Mr. Strathmore,” she said.
    John bowed his head to each of them. “Are you ready for your horses?”
    She nodded. “How has Mabon fared in my absence?”
    “Well enough. He missed you, I think.”
    Just then one of the grooms led her bay, an impressive stallion called Mabon, out of the stable. With a cry of joy she rushed to him. His eyes lit up as she neared, and he leaned his muzzle eagerly into her hand as she caressed him. “How are you, my darling man?” she asked.
    Mabon had been hers since the moment he was born. Her brother rode his sire, Gwydion, and when she had proved that she could handle a stallion as well as any man, he had promised her the first foal out of Thistle, who they expected to be the mother of champions. Mabon had not disappointed. Eleanor had insisted on going to the stable the night Thistle foaled. She knew she would never forget standing there in the cold darkness, watching as John’s father Alan and John himself brought the foal out. From that moment on, Eleanor had loved Mabon, and she knew that no matter what her mother said about an animal being unable to love, the horse’s heart was hers as well.
    For a brief, blissful moment she leaned her head against Mabon’s neck, breathing in the scent of him. Then she remembered that she was not alone, that the others were watching, and she