Tessa's Touch Read Online Free

idea
of their capabilities. Now, what did you have in mind? A hunter or a covert
hack?" His eyes, rather listless when Anthony had first entered,
brightened as he spoke.
    Miss Seaton retreated, though with obvious
reluctance.
    "A hunter. I already have an excellent
hack. I have a fine hunter, as well, but thought that I might attend more meets
if I had another, so that I could alternate them." That was the
justification he'd given Ballard for buying that nervous chestnut, to avoid
wounding the young man's pride.
    Sir George nodded. "A wise plan. I've seen
too many horses ridden to ruin in the hunt."
    "You—" Anthony stopped himself before
he could ask the obvious question, but Sir George seemed to sense it anyway.
    "Yes, I used to ride the hunt every season
—was as mad for it as any of you young bloods, I assure you. In fact, that's
what put me in this chair. It's not a safe sport, you know." There was
more resignation than bitterness in his tone.
    Anthony was impressed by his apparent lack of
resentment. "Yes, I know. But many would say that the risk only adds to
the thrill." He regretted the words as soon as he said them, but his host
did not take offense.
    "I thought the same once. Still do, I
suppose. Believe me, I'd be riding the hunt still, if I could. But I forget my
manners. Will you have some refreshment?"
    "I, er, thank you, sir." Apparently,
he was not going to be given the opportunity to see the stables. He hoped his
friends had managed a look before the trainer could intervene.
    Sir George tugged the bell-pull by the
fireplace, hung low enough for him to reach from his chair, and a moment later
a maidservant appeared, bearing a tea tray.
    "You will pour out for us, will you not,
my dear?" Sir George prompted as the maid set down the tray.
    Tessa moved forward obediently, wishing she
could think of a way to send this Lord Anthony on his way without upsetting her
father. What was he really doing here? Had he come looking for her? But how,
when she had never given him her name?
    "Have you discussed any particular horses
with him?" her father asked her then.
    "Not yet," she said, striving for a
normal tone when her every sense was focused on their visitor. Grasping at the
one subject that gave her confidence, she asked him, "What qualities are
you looking for in a hunter, Lord Anthony? Speed? Endurance? Or beauty?"
    One of his eyebrows rose and she instantly
regretted that last word. She had been thinking that Lord Anthony was the
epitome of male beauty—a fine animal, in the physical sense —and it had just
popped out.
    "I hope I'm not so superficial as to buy a
horse for mere beauty, Miss Seaton, though I'll admit it's a nice bonus in an
otherwise exceptional . . . creature."
    She felt her cheeks warming, but she refused to
drop her gaze. "Speed and endurance, then?"
    "I've always been partial to endurance
over speed," he replied with a smile she could only call intimate.
"It makes for more satisfaction in the long run, wouldn't you say?"
    Innocent she might be, but it was clear he was
talking about more than horses. Confused, she averted her eyes so that they
could not reveal her unsettled feelings at this turn in the conversation.
    "I suppose that might be true, for a long
day's hunting," she said primly. "There is a certain cachet in being
among the first in the field, however, is there not?"
    There was a hint of laughter in his voice as he
replied, "Oh, I always contrive to be among the first in any field, I
assure you, Miss Seaton."
    Shocked by such shameless flirting in front of
her father, she retreated to business. "We have hunters with excellent
stamina as well as speed. All are at least three-quarters bred, but with good
depth behind the knees, which makes for excellent jumpers."
    "Now, now, my dear," her father interrupted.
"You know I don't care to have you discussing such things in company.
We'll leave that sort of talk to Mercer, shall we?"
    "Of course, Papa." She well knew that
Sir George sought