Charming the Vicar's Daughter by Aileen Fish Page B

missing along with her horse. “Robert,” she spat out as if it were a curse. She tossed aside the trousers she’d stolen from her brother’s room at the inn. Robert had followed through on his words and found someone to ride Patriot.
    What an inopportune time for him to begin following through on anything! All her work training Patriot would be for naught if Robert prevented her from riding him in the race. She was certain she could pass herself off to the officials as a young lad. Her own mother had mistaken her for a stable boy often enough when she wore trousers to work with the horses.
    Mama had barred her from entering the stables for a week after the first time she found her thus, but as Mama rarely ventured down there, she didn’t see Joanna return to work the next day. To train a horse properly, one must sit astride. There was no way around it. And wearing trousers was the only way to sit correctly.
    None of that mattered at the moment, however. Patriot must win today. Her horse would do anything she asked of it, except be ridden by a groom he didn’t know. She searched her mind for something she could do to help her horse through the change in rider at this late hour, but came up empty.
    Grateful the mud from recent rains had dried, Joanna rushed off as quickly as her boot heels would allow in the rough dirt. It was too late to convince Robert to let her ride, but perhaps talking to Patriot would calm him. Patriot always listened to her.
    Unlike her brother, the horse had some sense.
    As luck would have it, Robert was talking to a pair of men near the paddock. She bit back an indelicate curse she’d learned from the grooms. She had to keep her temper controlled. Schooling her features into a smile suitable for the most fashionable drawing room, she strolled up and slipped her hand around her brother’s arm. She spoke in a voice rich with treacle. “There you are, brother. I’ve been searching for you.”
    The look he slanted warned her against causing a disruption. She batted her lashes in response. “I’m so excited to watch our horse compete. I couldn’t sit any longer. I had to come look for him.”
    The other two gentlemen nodded. “The thrill of the race is undeniable,” one agreed.
    She didn’t recognize them. They appeared to be a few years beyond her brother’s thirty years. The second man, a thin, dark-haired scarecrow with white side-whiskers, peered down his hawkish nose at her and lifted an imperial brow, but said nothing.
    Robert patted her fingers with enough force to ring out like a slap. “A lady doesn’t belong here by the paddock. You might damage those lovely kidskin boots I bought you. Mother must be wondering where you are.”
    He looked across the paddock toward the grandstands. Suddenly his features went slack and he cursed beneath his breath. Joanna followed his line of sight and spied two men who appeared to be watching their little group. She could make out their features, but didn’t recognize them. Turning to question Robert, she was interrupted before she had the chance to speak.
    Her brother took her arm roughly and nodded to his companions. “Gentlemen, I’ll look for you after the event. If you will excuse me, I must make certain my mother does not want for anything. Come along, Joanna, dear.”
    As if she had any choice. She took two steps for each of her brother’s strides and still she was being dragged. “Please slow down. Who were those men you were speaking with?”
    “Business associates. No one you need know. You must at least make a pretense at behaving like a lady when we are in public, if you are ever to marry. I’ll tell Mother you are to remain at her side, or you won’t be allowed to attend any future race meetings.”
    Allowed to attend …the very words made her blood boil. Just a few years ago, Robert was her playmate, or so he let her believe. The distance in their ages meant they hadn’t truly been close, with him away at school by the