Tessa's Touch by Brenda Hiatt

his chestnut.
"I plan to take part in the bidding for her myself," he volunteered.
"Emery does mean to offer her for sale, doesn't he?" he asked Miss
Seaton.
    "Yes," she replied. "Probably
after the Cottesmore on Saturday." That would be the next gathering of the
majority of the sportsmen in Melton-Mowbray.
    "Has your father owned her for long?"
Stormy asked then.
    Anthony thought she hesitated before answering.
"Only a few months, though I confess I have already grown fond of
her."
    "Then why—?" Sir Brian began.
    Noticing the distress in Miss Seaton's
expression, Anthony cut him off. "Sadly, business often leaves little room
for sentimentality," he said. "Did any of you see Porrington after
the tumble he took on that double? He was mud from the waist down."
    The others chuckled and began discussing the
advantages of knowing how to fall properly during a hunt. Anthony glanced at
Miss Seaton and found her smiling at him with what could only be gratitude for
his changing the subject. He smiled back, shaken again by the effect she had on
him.
    To his relief, the hounds gave tongue again
before he was forced to analyze his feelings further. Glancing back, he saw
that Emery was still more than a furlong behind, along with one or two other
stragglers. The fellow really wasn't much of a sportsman.
    Anthony couldn't help wondering if he was as
inept at managing the Seaton estate as he was at riding to hunt. Perhaps at
dinner tonight he would have an opportunity to determine that— discreetly, of
course.
    It wasn't until the next check that it occurred
to him that it was neither his business nor his responsibility.

    * *
     *

    The hunt ended only an hour after noon, when
the hounds lost the scent entirely and were unable to find it again, despite
repeated casting by the hunstman. Tessa was just as glad —not only because the
fox had escaped, but because she'd be less sore while playing hostess at
tonight's dinner.
    It also meant she'd have more time to prepare.
She almost hadn't ridden today, there was so much to do at home for their first
dinner party in many years, but her father had insisted that the servants could
handle everything. Tessa wasn't so sure, but when Uncle Mercer reminded her of
how badly they needed the money from Cinnamon's sale, she had finally agreed.
    As she turned her mount's head toward the road,
Lord Anthony rode over to her. "I imagine you are in a hurry to return
home, what with all of us descending upon you tonight," he said, echoing
her thoughts, "but I wanted to compliment you again on your riding today.
I hope we will see you at many more meets this season."
    She smiled at him, startled to realize that she
was almost looking forward to tonight's dinner party— though not to its
probable effect on her father. "Thank you, my lord, but that will be up to
my father. I confess I quite enjoy it, so I hope that he will agree to
it."
    "Perhaps we can encourage him to do so
over dinner tonight," he said with a grin, as Lord Rushford and Sir
Charles Storm approached, followed by Mr. Turpin and little Lord Killerby.
    She debated cautioning him and his friends
against tiring her father tonight, but decided she would wait to see how the
evening played out. Lord Anthony seemed quite perceptive, so no doubt he would
realize that Sir George's strength was limited. If not, she would simply ask
them all to leave.
    "Until tonight, then, gentlemen," she
said, nodding to each in turn. As a man, they all bowed from the saddle,
expressing their eagerness for the visit, and then she turned and rode back to
where Uncle Mercer waited on old brown Thunder.
    "Mind you don't get too chummy with the
gentlemen," he cautioned her when she reached him. "Your father
wouldn't like it. Most are only on the lookout for their next mistress, you
know."
    Stung by the reproach when she'd expected
praise for her riding, she responded sharply. "My father invited those
very gentlemen to dinner tonight, so I don't think it is for you to