Free What the Duke Doesn't Know by Jane Ashford Page A

“I’m no expert. I never rode much, growing up.”
    Kawena’s gaze followed the gray as she pranced across the turf. A little kick of the animal’s heels looked like pure joy in movement. “It must be like flying over the ground!”
    â€œParticularly when you’re thrown off,” Ariel joked.
    Kawena acknowledged it with a smile. “It’s a wonder that such noble creatures allow themselves to be ridden.” Her eyes turned back to the horse.
    â€œYou should try it. Alan could… Or James. I’m sure he’d be glad to take you riding.”
    Kawena found this idea quite attractive. Then she realized that it would involve hiring mounts, another call on her hosts’ purse. “I’m content just to watch,” she assured her.
    But Ariel wasn’t listening. “We’d have to find you a habit. I don’t have one.”
    â€œHabit?”
    â€œA riding habit.”
    â€œI don’t understand. Do you mean, to make a habit of riding?”
    â€œNo. The dress one wears to ride is called a habit,” Ariel told her.
    â€œWhy?” Kawena frowned. “Isn’t ‘habit’ a thing one does often?”
    â€œYes.” Ariel looked perplexed. “That is odd, isn’t it? I never thought of it before.” Her frown deepened as they reached the house and went inside. “And nuns wear ‘habits,’ don’t they? Monks, too. But they’re not at all the same. Very odd. I shall ask Alan how that came to be.”
    Kawena had noticed that this was Ariel’s solution to all intractable puzzles. “Does he know everything?” she asked, daring to tease a little.
    After a moment’s surprise, Ariel laughed. “He used to think so. Now that he knows better, I allow him to inform me.” She set down her basket and untied the strings of her bonnet.
    â€œThat’s very kind of you,” Kawena said, following suit.
    â€œWell, he does enjoy it so. I like to indulge him.”
    They laughed together, and Kawena felt more at ease than she had in a long, long time.
    * * *
    Two days later, James walked down the lane toward his brother’s house. His dip into the world of Royal Navy paper pushers made it seem as if he’d been away much longer. Men such as the official he’d been sent to see hated to part with any crumb of information, just on principle, and it next to killed them when matters didn’t line up with their forms and procedures. And so the meeting had taken far longer than it needed to, except that apparently a ridiculous amount of time was required. He should have learned that over years of haggling for stores and new weaponry for his ship, James thought. The fellow had finally given in, as they most often did, and come across with the information James wanted. He felt that his naval career hadn’t benefited from the exchange, but it hadn’t been ruined either. He’d no doubt been marked down as mildly annoying, but also as someone who could get admirals to plead his case. Neither was uncommon enough to sink him.
    Told that Ariel and Kawena were sitting in the parlor off the garden, James left his hat with the maid and walked down the corridor, anticipation rising. His thoughts, and even a glorious dream, had been full of Kawena as he pursued her interests in town. He was eager to see her again, share his success, see that regal turn of her head that made his breath catch.
    He paused silently in the doorway to take in the lovely picture the two women made, side by side on the sofa. A man would be hard put to find a prettier pair of females—Ariel in warm hues of cream and peach, and Kawena wearing a white dress that accentuated her honey-toned skin, her hair like a raven’s wing. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. Even more than beauty, she seemed to crackle with vitality.
    Though he made no sound, after a moment Kawena turned and saw him. She smiled,