Ameerah, Dev, Jenna, and Pippa left for Robinwood Hotel within the hour. Nory waved them off from the gravel drive. Jenna was still spitting feathers about Guy’s behavior, but already he’d been downgraded from Beelzebub to typical bloody Guy.

As much as Nory would have liked an afternoon at the spa, she equally wanted to check on Isaac and the horse, and make sure that Isaac wasn’t in any trouble with the marquis for punching a guest in the face. Guy was sleeping off his liquid brunch, while Charles and Jeremy had retired to the drawing room with the day’s papers.

The afternoon was colder even than the morning had been, the sun clearly having decided to stay home that day. The mist was hanging low over the land like a strip of gauze, smudging the lines of the trees and the fields as they dropped away down the hill, the village completely hidden from view.

Jimmy reassured her that the cob mare had calmed down quickly after a couple of apples and some fresh hay; Nory had a feeling Isaac would be less easy to placate. She went into the stables, which were soothingly warm and earthy smelling, and gave the horse a good brush, apologizing for the behavior of the stupid drunk man that morning.

As she left, a sheen of sparkling frost was beginning to form over the wet cobbles in the courtyard, and Nory was pleased she’d kept her warm clothes and boots on from this morning and not been tempted to change into something that a certain head gardener might find more enticing. Sexy came second to sensible every time. She’d had to swap her bloodstained coat for an old, padded hiking jacket she’d brought as a spare, but it was better suited to this weather so she didn’t mind too much.

“Do you happen to know where Isaac went?” she called across to Jimmy, with as much nonchalance as she could muster.

Jimmy grinned at her as he cleaned the mud out of a pony’s iron shoe. Who was she trying to kid? All her friends and half the stable hands had watched Isaac sweep her into a Hollywood-style embrace.

She’d never been kissed quite like that before. Certainly not in public. All her most favorite body parts had instantly stood to attention. Even Jenna’s high-pitched wailing through the castle hadn’t fully cooled her ardor.

“I think he said he had work to do on the cold frames, over near the potting sheds through the gate.”

Jimmy winked at her, and Nory attempted a cool stare.

“Hey, you’re not related to Thomas Noel, are you?” he asked suddenly.

Nory laughed. “He’s my brother, why?”

“You looked just like him when you scowled.”