Free The Viscount's Sweet Temptation by Aileen Fish Page B

Patriot would do well in the future, but her main concern was whether Robert would continue to let her attend race meetings, or if she must wait to hear reports of his activities . She would simply expire from worry if she couldn’t watch Patriot compete. She glanced at the clock on the wall, then sighed. She still had hours to wait for the racing to begin.
    Joanna contemplated her mother again. The dark circles beneath her eyes were not as prominent today. “I’m very pleased you came with me to the race meeting.”
    “I always enjoyed the races with your father. I’m happy to chaperone you here.”
    Her words sounded earnest enough, and her face didn’t contradict them, but given the weeks where Mother would not even join them for meals, Joanna wondered what had brought about this gay mood. She would not press the issue, however. She would simply enjoy her mother’s company for as long as she had it.

Chapter Two

    From the grandstand at the end of the Rowley Mile course, David waited to hear the roar of the crowd telling him the horses drew near . He tried to think of anything but Northcotte, to quell the acid burning in his stomach . Lass was entered in this event, and though she’d appeared small and slight when she’d warmed up next to the other horses, David could see she was ready to compete.
    He fidgeted in his seat, straining to see down the course, watching for the flash of yellow and orange. He heard the increasing sound of thunder as they grew close.
    Knightwick sat silently beside him, but his arms unfolded and he leaned forward in his seat when the noise grew louder . The runners appeared at the rise of the hill two furlongs out, and David spotted orange. Lass was gaining on Whiskey, passing his flank. “Atta girl , ” David called out.
    She surged the next furlong on the downhill side into the Dip, getting a nose out beyond Whiskey and catching up to Fair Star. As they climbed the final furlong uphill, Lass closed in on Robin in second place. Canopus held the lead, right up to the finish.
    The judge called out the winning colors for the first three places, with Lass’s orange and yellow coming in third.
    Knightwick grinned and clapped David on the back. “Fine run. She did us proud in her first race.”
    David sat back in his seat, the tension of the day finally breaking. Now he could enjoy the rest of the races, knowing the meeting was not going to be a total loss. “She did do well, didn’t she? Peter promised me she would. She and Triton both. We’ll see how the colt does.”
    “I wish Father were here to see this.” Knightwick’s voice barely reached David’s ears under the crowd’s excited chatter.
    “I do, too. Maybe if Triton wins, it will bring Father around.”
    For the past five years, David and Knightwick had been attending the race meetings without their father, the Earl of Bridgethorpe. The year before that, their prize stud horse, a tall, well-muscled black called Zephyr, had been stolen from the Southampton Race Meeting, and found dead in a nearby field two weeks later . The three of them had attended the remaining races that year while waiting to hear the culprit had been caught . No one had seen anything out of the norm, or if they had, the man in question held such power and position that no one would speak up.
    Over the following winter, Bridgethorpe lost the determination to continue the search. “It’s no good, boys. My heart’s just not strong enough.”
    The last time he’d seen his father, David feared he would not live to see summer. The old man sat at his desk each day, staring out the window at whatever held his gaze. It was most likely something in Father’s mind, not the bleak gray weather and leafless trees beyond the glass. He’d grown thin, his pallor more pronounced, and he often had a tremor in his right hand.
    Knightwick nudged David’s arm, pulling his thoughts back to the racecourse. “Are you going to meet Peter at the weigh-in? Collect your