Read Online The Trouble With Princesses by Tracy Anne Warren - Free Book Online

great stallion in their direction. The thoroughbred’s hooves ate up the distance between them as if it were nothing.
    Soon, Rupert was drawing to an easy halt, while she and Selkirk did the same.
    “Hello, Princess,” he said. “I trust you are well this morning.” He paused, his gaze flicking quickly over to the other man. “Snelbert.”
    Ariadne caught the tiny gasp that rose in her throat, somehow managing to stay silent.
    “ Selkirk , Your Royal Highness,” Selkirk corrected with calm politeness. “And good morning.”
    Rupert paused for a scant second, making no effort to acknowledge his mistake—assuming it had been a mistake—before returning his attention to her. “They said at the house you’d gone riding. I wondered if you might head this way.”
    So he wasn’t even going to pretend that he hadn’t come looking for her. Well, at least he wasn’t adding liar to his list of infractions.
    “Yes. Lord Selkirk kindly invited me to enjoy the park with him. It is usually quite pleasant at this hour of the morning. So few unanticipated interruptions from passing acquaintances, you see.”
    Rupert’s lips twitched, clearly registering the hit. But he in no other way acknowledged any understanding of her remark.
    “So true,” he replied. “I take pains to avoid the place in the afternoons. Morning is the only time one can enjoy a decent ride here. I confess that I greatly miss the forest trails in Rosewald. They are so peaceful.”
    She could almost see them in her imagination. Emma had told her so much about her home country over the years that she felt as if she knew the place too, with its deep pine forests, flower-strewn valleys, and snow-covered mountaintops.
    But this was not the time to lose sight of Rupert’s infraction; she wasn’t about to let him escape so easily.
    “Hmm,” she mused aloud, returning the conversation to its original topic. “And here I should have thought you would revel in the Ton ’s afternoon promenade, given all the opportunities it presents to see and be seen.”
    She waited to find out if he would take offense. Instead, his eyes twinkled with amusement. “Ah, but I can do that anytime I like. I have merely to set foot onto any London street and let the circus begin.”
    And for him, she supposed, it was a circus. She’d seen the kind of response he elicited through no conceit of his own. Much as she might be loath to admit, Rupert never invited people’s fawning. It came quite naturally to those who sought his attention and patronage.
    Her brows drew tight. How had he managed to turn the conversation to his own advantage when he was the one at fault?
    He shifted his gaze to Selkirk. “So, you’re a horseman, are you?”
    “I do my best,” Selkirk stated, “though clearly I am not as adept as yourself, Prince.”
    She might have thought Selkirk was trying to be falsely ingratiating if it weren’t for the fact that Rupert was indeed an exceptional equestrian. One had only to see him ride to know that.
    “May I take the opportunity to remark upon your horse?” Selkirk continued. “He’s a real beauty.”
    “Yes, he’s my pride,” Rupert said with a smile, as he reached down to pat the animal’s neck. “I raised Odin from a newborn foal. I suppose I ought to have left him back home in Rosewald, but he grows fractious if I’m away too long. In other words, he starts biting the grooms.”
    Clearly aware that he was the center of attention, Odin huffed out a quivering breath through his nostrils and tossed his head, his equine muscles rippling with barely harnessed strength beneath his glossy coat. Rupert controlled the spirited steed with an easy hand on the reins, not the least bit intimidated.
    Odin, she realized for the first time, was rather like his master—strong-willed, powerful, and dangerous when he chose to be—although to her knowledge, Rupert had never tried to bite anyone.
    The stallion sauntered a few inches closer to Selkirk’s gelding