Free Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale Page B

way. Under the carriage arch, past the dim stall rows smelling of sweet
    hay and horses, then a goodly distance out along the walled lane with glimpses of a big
    kitchen garden through portholes in the brick. He was dressed for a drawing room, not a
    visit to the home farm, but he sidestepped the mud hole at the gate and evaded the
    importunities of a donkey. A pig watched him hopefully through the slats of its pen. Trev
    stooped to retrieve the remains of an apple that had rolled out and tossed it over the fence,
    receiving a grateful grunt in return.
    A farm lad was shoveling at the manure pile, sending animal pungency into the air. He
    tipped his cap to Trev. "Afternoon, sir."
    "Would I find Lady Callista here?" Trev asked.
    "Aye, sir." The boy nodded toward the bigger cow barn. "M'lady's feedin' the orphan."
    Trev had guessed something of the sort. He took off his hat as he ducked under a
    dangling rope and walked into the shadows of the barn.
    He saw her bonnet over a stall partition, the brim bobbing energetically. He paused,
    looking round the wooden barrier. Callie stood bracing herself against the enthusiastic
    assault of a large calf on the bottle she held. Under a copious canvas apron, she was
    dressed in a pink silk gown with a pair of muck boots poking out from beneath the ruff
    led hem.
    "Have you deserted the drawing room, my lady?" he asked.
    "Oh!" She started but only glanced aside without showing her face from under the wide
    brim of the bonnet.
    "You had a caller," he said. "I even had my boots polished."
    "I'm sorry," she said in a voice he could barely discern. "I didn't expect—I shouldn't
    have gone away from the party, but—"
    Her muff led words trailed off. She kept her face hidden. As he watched, she turned up
    the bottle to let the calf suck down the last of the milk. Trev took a step nearer. He tilted
    his head, bending a little, and saw that her chin was wet with tears.
    "Callie," he said in dismay. "What is it?"

    She set the milk bottle in the straw. The calf nosed it and licked at the nipple. There
    was a long silence, and then she wiped her cheek.
    "My cousin has lost Hubert," she said in a small voice.
    "Hubert?" For a moment he was bewildered, and then recollection struck him. "Hubert
    the bull? The one you're taking to the Hereford show?"
    "Yes. Rupert's finest grandson."
    "What do you mean, lost him? He's got loose?"
    She shook her head. "No. Cousin Jasper lost him in a game of whist at the assembly last
    night. Colonel Davenport is coming tomorrow to lead him away."
    "A game of—but Hubert doesn't belong to him! He's yours, is he not?"
    "My father didn't specify it," she said. She gave a wan shrug. "I don't suppose it was
    something he thought of, to change his will over a bull calf."
    "And your cousin put him up for stakes?" Trev said incredulously. "A bullock?"
    She lifted her face. He saw for the first time that her eyes were red and swollen.
    "Colonel Davenport has tried to buy him for a year now. He's offered a great deal of
    money, but we never accepted. Cousin Jasper feels very badly about it. I think he was not
    himself."
    "Was he drunk, the stupid devil?"
    "I don't know. I shouldn't think so. He said was trying to be affable with the other
    gentlemen. Lady Shelford won't allow him to gamble for coin."
    Trev scowled. "He sounds a very fool."
    "He is not quite—" She pulled her apron from the calf's searching mouth. "He finds it
    difficult to be comfortable with people. I can understand it."
    "I don't!" Trev said with exasperation. "What sort of man is this, to gamble away an
    animal when he knows he has no right?"
    "He's the earl," she said simply.
    "He should buy him back for you."
    She drew a deep breath. "Yes, he did try. And Colonel Davenport said he wouldn't part
    with Hubert for any price now. He's going to show him at Hereford for the cup and then
    take him about the country to all the exhibitions."
    Trev made a skeptical sound. "There's a price that would change his