The Lady and the Earl (17 page)

A cold thump on her back cut through her thoughts.

“What
was
—
”

Splat! 
A second thump cut her words short.  She was being splattered from behind by globs of mud.  “Cherry!  You b
lasted
horse!  You wal
ked right into a lake of mud!”
Allana exclaimed as the cold, wet muck continued to splash up and hit her from behind.

“Why?”
Allana asked in irritation.  “Of all the paths you could have chosen, you picked this one?” Allana tightened her hold on the reins and pulled Cherry to a halt.  “Ugh!  Now
I have to
get us out of this mess.  Lilly
won’t
appreciate me bringing you home covered in this muck, and I
do not
appreciate being covered in it either.”  She sighed irritably as she eyed her surroundings.  If she headed a bit east, she would be out of this in no time.  So she tugged the reigns to the left and gave Cherry a little kick to move.  The horse didn’t budge. 

Allana sighed heavily, “Oh,
you
are so
obstinate
.”  Again she tugged the reigns left and gave Cherry a little kick. 
Still nothing.
  “Yaw,” Allana tried this time as she tugged and kicked.  Cherry didn’t budge.  Allana kicked her a bit harder.  Cherry snickered slightly, but still
didn’t move.  “I a
m not getting down
to guide
you, so you had better move,” Allana said crossly.  She tugged harder and kicked harder.  Cherry sidestepped slightly, but not in the right direction.

“You infernal beast, move!”
Allana exclaimed.  This time Allana gave the animal a good tug to the left with the reigns and a rash, very hard kick to the sides.  Cherry moved all right.  She reared suddenly, throwing a surprised Allana into the air before galloping away. 

Allana twisted
mid-air
,
trying to find a better landing spot than her back. 
But the ground was coming at her fast
.  She
was going to land
mostly on her left side
. 
S
he tried to brace herself for the impact by reaching out with her left
arm
.
 
Her elbow was not locked
.  Had it
been
,
it
probably would have hyper-extended and broken with the
force of the
impact.  Instead, her left wrist took the
brunt of the fall before painfully giving way
.   Her body
then
rolled the rest of the
way to her stomach as it slammed into the lake of mud. 
C
old, wet mud splashed up into her face and hair and seeped through her clothes.   

“Oh!” s
he exclaimed as
she lay there, trying to gather her senses.  Slowly, she
picked herself up out of the mud.  She looked down at her clothes as she shook her arms to try to fling some of the mud from her
.  Her left wrist
throbbed slightly from the movement,
but
it
didn’t
feel
as badly as she thought it might
.
  Her mud-
covered clothes clung to her slender frame.  She stood as though trying to keep the cold from touching her body, but not succeeding.  Anger filled her being as she looked up to see
Cherry
dancing near the edge of the lake of mud. 

“Cherry, you…
,
” a stream of
foul
curses followed, curses sailors used
,
not the curses of a well bred lady
…
if there even were
such curses.  “Get back here!”
Allana
shouted
.  The horse stared, amusement seemingly upon her face.  “
Damn you,
Cherry
,
come!”
Allana
was furious.  She was covered in mud.  It was dripping from her clothes, her hair, and her arms.   She could even feel it drying on her face.
  And she
injured
her wrist to add to it.
 
That good for nothing
—

“
My Lady, a
re you injured? 
Do you need
h
elp?”
a
male voice asked from behind. 

Allana froze.  She recognized the voice.  It may h
ave been four years since she’
d last heard it, but she recognized that voice.  Unwillingly, she turned to find the Earl of
Westbrook
staring at her, looking as dashing as she remembered.  She flushed crimson, but luckily the mud covering her face hid it.  Or was that so lucky
?
 

“Of course you need help.”  He jumped from his
horse
down into the mud and trudged over to her. 

Allana watched in awe as his tall, strong form made its way over to her.  He was clean-shaven this time
and still sporting
the long sideburns she remembered from her first encounter with him.  His hair was slightly long, with dark wav
es
through it.  And his beautiful blue eyes
were looking at her with concern this time instead of anger as he came toward her.  He was stunning!  She wanted to turn and run, but the tall hunting boots he wore made it too easy for him to make his way through the mud and to her side.

This cannot be happening!
  Allana thought
in horror
. 
I
a
m officially meeting
my Earl, and I’
m covered in mud
. 
She wanted to laugh at the irony of it.  It
wouldn’t
have been a normal laugh, but a laugh of a woman near hysterics.

“Here, take my arm,” he ordered her.

“No, I am able
,” Allana blurted out.  She tried to take a step away from him and toward the edge of the mud and slipped.  She felt strong arms catch her, preventing her from
going down
. 

“Hold on.  I ha
ve you,” he said as he steadied her. 

His touch was warm on her cold, muddied body.  Butterflies filled her stomach and her heart gave a leap. 
How can I be feeling this during such a humiliating moment?
s
he
wondered. 
 

H
e guided her to the edge of the mud and to a laughing Cherry
.  Allana
glared sourly at
the horse
.
 
Blasted beast.
  This was her fault.

“There you are
,” the Earl said as he helped Allana out of the mud.

“Thank you,” Allana said awkwardly as she tried to clean mud from her face, hands, hair, and dress all at the same time.  She was a mess, and once again standing in front of the Earl looking like
she’d
just crawled out of a pig
sty
.  At least this time he hadn’t called her a boy.

“Here,” he
said
as he pulled a white handkerchief from his
pocket
and began cleaning her face. 

“Please do
n’t
.  You wi
ll
soil
your
handkerchief,” Allana protested as she brushed his hand aside.

“Stop fu
ssing, and
allow
me help you.  It i
s the least I can do,” he said as he wiped her face clean. 

She felt like a fool and a child w
ith the way he was cleaning her
, but she
didn’t
resist further
. 

“Now let me look at you
to
make
sure
you are unharmed.” 

“I a
m
well
,
truly
,” Allana said,
ignoring the throbbing in her wrist.  Again she brushed
aside his welcoming touch.  She took a step backward toward Cherry.

“Are you certain
?” he
asked with concern.  “That was quite the tumble you took.”

“You…you saw it?”
Allana croaked, feelings of embarrassment surfacing all over again. 

He
nodded,
the concern still on his face.

Oh no!
s
he
groaned within.
  If he’
d seen the fall, he
would
have heard all the
nasty
things
she’
d called Cherry.  He
most likely thought
she was some ill
-
bred bar maid.  She pushed aside her
embarrassment
, determined now to get as far from him as possible to prevent any further humiliation
.
  “Well, I
a
m fine.  I’m not hurt.  I
’
m fine,” she said curtly.

He studied her uncertainly.  “I do
n’
t
know.  If you were injured, it would
be very poor of me
to
allow
you
to
go home without help.  Perhaps I should escort you.” 

“No!” s
he
yelped
.  “I mean, no.  I’
m perfectly capable…
I…you needn’t worry…I…
,
” she sighed. 
He looked as if he was trying to hide a smile.  She must sound like a fool.
  “Thank you for your concern, but I really am injured—I mean, uninjured,” she finally finished, the heat in her cheeks flaring yet again.

His eyebrows rose, and he shrugged his shoulders. 
“Very well, it was a pleasure to assist you,” he said politely.

“Thank you for your assistance,” she replied
, blushing yet again. 
Could she not think of
something cleverer to say?
  This was turning into a terrible day.  The best thing for her to do was to stop gawking at the man and simply leave.  So without saying anything
further
, she curtsied to him and reached for Cherry.
  It was awkward because she should have reached with her left hand.  Instead, she turned a half circle just so she could grasp the reigns with her right.
 
Th
e horse backed away from her, turned, and sprinted away into the distance toward home.  Allana watched in despair as her ride disappeared from sight.  Now what?

“It looks
as if
you are out a mount,” said an amused voice from behind her. 

Allana looked up at the sky desperately.  Why was this happening to her?  She would never be able to face the Earl again after this day.  Not that
she’d
ever been able to in the past, but now things were worse. 

“Can I offer you a ride?” 

“No, I
can walk.  I mean
…
I enjoy walking.  I prefer it in fact,” she said stubbornly with her back still to him.  She couldn’t let him take her home.  Then he would find out who she was…and…and…Oh, what did it matter
anymore
?  All dignity was already lost. 
Who cares if he learns who I am
?
 
Perhaps it
would be
better
if
he knew
,
she thought. 

“You’
re going to walk home
?” he
asked her skeptically.

“Yes,” she stated
,
still not looking at him.
  If he knew
who she was
, then she could put him behind her once and for all! 

H
e laughed in disbelief.  “If I’
m not mistaken, that was Lilly
Tananguard’s
horse.  Correct
?” he
asked casually. 

Allana turned sharply and stared at him in surprise.  He knew that much?  That would mean he…he…wait. 
Hadn’t she just decided
it
didn’t
matter if he found out who she was?  “Yes, it was,” she replied.
 

“That i
s quite a di
stance to walk from here.  Do
you
not
agree?” 

“It
i
s
n’
t that far,” Allana argued.