“We will make certain they do,” the Duke smiled. “Now, as you know this part of the world so well, have you any idea where we can stay the night?”
“If we walk quickly,” Alysia said, “I know that there is a village about five miles from here where there is a very pretty inn. I have never been inside it, but once they had a Meet of the foxhounds there, which I attended with my mother.”
“I imagine you are a good rider,” the Duke remarked.
“I love riding,” Alysia said, “and it was fun when we rode together, but then when Mama married my stepfather it was – different.”
She paused for a moment before she added,
“I think he always suspected that I did not believe the flattering compliments he said to Mama. I sensed even at the very beginning that there was something wrong about them.”
“Do y
