When the cat lit, it raked its claws deep into the stallion’s nose as it struggled for a hold, drawing forth a terrified shriek from the steed. Like some wild, maddened beast the animal had leapt and thrashed about to dislodge his tormentor, while the equally terrified cat clung with perseverance to the steed. Not so the rider! Unprepared for this abrupt turn of events, Reland had soared through the air with limbs flailing helplessly until he crashed to earth flat on his back. His breath had left him with an audible “whoof,” and he had suffered through a panic-filled moment as he fought to regain it. An enraged, bellowing curse had given loud evidence of his success, and he had sprung to his feet like a geyser of erupting fury.
Faced with this new threat, Elise recalled her decision to beat a hasty retreat into the house, but Reland had seen her move and determined otherwise.
Incensed that a mere girl could unhorse him, he had charged her back, hardly considering that her far smaller frame was actually more agile than his own rather hulkish one. Elise had both sensed and heard his ponderous approach and, when the moment was ripe, had whirled aside from his path, ducking beneath his outstretched arm. A low moan had issued through Reland’s gritted teeth and increased in volume and intensity as he stumbled past.
Even before Elise had finished turning, she heard a loud splash and an even louder commotion. When she looked around, she had found Reland thrashing facedown in a nearby pond. Spewing forth a flume of water, he had gotten clumsily to his knees, then to his feet, presenting the servants with such an hilarious spectacle that their giggles and guffaws could not be contained. The wet plumes of his toque had drooped downward beneath his hooked nose, causing him to spit between gasps as he tried to expell the limp ends from his mouth. His leather-cuffed riding gloves had spilled torrents of water when he lifted his hands to rake hair and feathers from his face, while the fur-lined chamarre had dripped steady runnels all around him. His soft hide boots, the pride of his costume, had each held a jug or two of water, making his legs and feet appear swollen and misshapen as he stomped out of the pond.
Reland’s ensuing bellow of rage had made the skittish stallion snort and dance away, then, as if wondering what new threat might be forthcoming, the steed had glanced about in some apprehension until he spied the cat safely ensconced on top of a stone wall a short distance away. The clear victor of the fray, the feline had licked a paw and smoothed its ruffled fur in languid repose.
Reland had slowly glared the onlookers into silence before he faced the insolent twit who had so recklessly challenged his authority. Elise had met his glowering gaze calmly and smiled with soft, enigmatic humor, aware that he was purposefully maneuvering to entrap her in a corner of the courtyard wall as he stalked forward.
Elise retreated until she felt the stone at her back, then braced herself to give him full measure before his strength and bulk could overwhelm her. Growling a profanity, Reland seized her by the collar and, lifting her from her feet, began to shake her violently. The girl reacted, and the previous furor of the cat was diminished by the outraged vixen she became as she fought off her assailant. Scratching, biting, poking, and eye-jabbing, she was like a little wild thing until a pained yowl issued forth from the ungallant Earl.
“You little bitch!” Reland bellowed and swept a hand back to cuff her.
“Great Caesar’s blood!” Edward exclaimed from the gallery. “What be ye about?” Shocked by what he was witnessing, Edward stumbled down the stairs and, with the help of servants, dragged the pair apart, but not before his niece delivered a sharp kick to Reland’s shin.
“You foulsome son of a flap-eared knave!” she railed in unladylike vehemence. “What hole did you slither from?”
“Elise! Calm yerself, girl!” Edward was aghast at the insults his niece laid upon the Earl Anxiously he explained, “This be Arabella’s betrothed . . .”
“Pity Arabella!” Elise sneered. “She’ll likely expire from this clumsy oaf’s abuse!”
“Shush, girl, shush!” Edward wrung his hands in great distress as he tried to placate his future son-in-law. He had never been in a situation that warranted such control on his own temper. He could not turn on his niece for fear of losing a fortune. Nor could he question the Earl for fear of setting off his temper. “Please, Reland, ye must forgive the girl. She’s beside herself. She’s a kinswoman o’ mine, barely arrived. Ye can see she has much ta learn. I beg ye, ease yer fervor, an’ let us settle this in a genteel manner.”
“She has maimed me steed!” Reland flung a sodden glove to indicate his mount, scattering an arc of shiny bright droplets as he once again startled the steed who threw up his head in fear. Fine trickles of blood marred the tender nose and, where the rich bridle crossed it, small droplets gleamed in the sun like tiny rubies on a strand. “He’ll bear the marks ‘til his death!” Almost as an afterthought Reland clutched his aching head, moaning his discomfort. “And she nearly spilled me skull upon the cobbles!”
“You need have no fear, milord,” Elise snidely countered. “ ‘Twas empty before the fall.”
In a high-flying rage Reland shook his fist at her. “Ye simpleminded twit! Ye must’ve come from the low bogs not to know Eddy could’ve killed ye. Next time I’ll let him trample ye in the mire!”
She responded with derisive sarcasm. “Having now met your acquaintance, my lord, next time I’ll be more wary of what you might command of the steed.”
“Reland, forgive the girl,” Edward hastened to interject. “She just doesn’t know . . .”
“Remember the names, girl,” the Earl growled, ignoring the pleas of the elder. “Hide yerself when ye hear that Reland Huxford, Earl of Chadwick, and his big Eddy are here. I give ye fair warning.”
“Eddy . . . Big Eddy . . . Eddy Reland . . . Reland Big Eddy . . .” Elise tossed her head like a child chanting a verse as she deliberately jumbled the names to convey the fact that she could disregard the man, his title, and his threat more readily than she could the stallion. “ ‘Tis a fine steed you have been given. Obviously too good for you. I shall endeavor to remember him.”
Reland’s face darkened to a mottled red as she lifted a challenging gaze and dared him to attack her again. Edward rushed to stave off the threatening eruption, seeing the lowering brow of the man, and quickly took the younger man’s elbow. “Come, my son-to-be,” he chortled worriedly. “Let us seek a cup o’ bitters an’ rest ourselves ‘fore the fire.”
Edward gestured urgently for a servant to attend the dripping Earl, and when the man was led away, the squire turned a glare upon the errant Elise in dire promise of further reproof. It came when Reland was well out of earshot.
“Have ye lost yer wits?” he demanded. “Do ye want ta sour the bonds Arabella seeks with this one?” Edward thrust his hands aloft in mute supplication, then bore down upon his niece again. “Or would ye rather set me affairs awry by shamin’ this good fellow in me home?”
“Twas his buffoonery that caused the fray!” Elise flared in her own defense. “He nearly ran me down with that animal!” She flung a hand toward the stallion as it was being led away by a groom. The stable boy was patting his neck affectionately, as if the animal were some long-lost friend. The steed nuzzled him in return and did not seem so threatening now. “Does it matter aught to you that Reland is an overbearing lunatic?”