matching gold feathers.

She would have looked bang up to the mark in Hyde Park...but was a bit overdressed for the wilds of Wales.

Brenn rubbed a hand over the rough beard of his face and wondered what she was up to.

Ace whinnied, a distinct plea for deliverance.

Brenn propped his arm on the stall wall. "Having problems?"

Tess flashed him an irritated look from under her lashes. She'd known he was there. "No, I'm doing

fine." She finished buckling Ace's bridle. "Don't you have a side saddle?""No. Never had a call to use one.""All right then," she said, more to herself than to him. "I'll just have to use this."She picked up Brenn's saddle, the weight of it almost too heavy for her, and struggled to get it up on top of the horse.Ace sent Brenn a desperate look.Tess picked up the girth and studied the buckles."I doubt if you've ever saddled your own horse," he said."There can't be that much to it," she said briskly, lifting up the saddle skirt. She started buckling the girth in place.

"No," Brenn said agreeably. "But usually you put a saddle pad on before the saddle. Protects the horse'sback."Tess. .h.i.t herself in the forehead with two fingers. "Yes, a saddle pad."She looked around. Brenn's arm had been resting on it. He lifted it off the stall's half-wall and offered it to her.

"Thank you," she said in that preoccupied voice. She pulled off the saddle, put on the pad, and then

heaved the saddle back up again.

Brenn couldn't help but admire her tenacity. "Do you want me to adjust the girth?"

She glared at him. "No, I will do it."

"Make sure you get it tight. I'd hate for you to fall off on the other side."

"Well, maybe you should check it," she said.

He did so. "Where are you off to?" he asked.

"I'm going to the village to hire help. I have a list of ch.o.r.es that need to be done." She showed him a

page from her copybook.

He took the paper from her. Hire a cook. Hire one maid. Search for chair fabric.

He handed it back to her. "You won't find fabric in the village. It's too small for such a thing."

"We'll see," she said, folding her list into quarters and tucking it in the pocket of her riding habit. She led Ace out of the barn.

Brenn threw an arm over the saddle, blocking her way. "I thought you were going to use your copybook

to write."

"I am, but I use the copybook for other things. My list. Willa's letter of reference." Resentment flashed inher eyes. "My writing is the one thing I've found of value in this marriage.""Ouch."She made an impatient sound. "Yes, I'm cer tain you are hurt. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way."He didn't move. "And what am I to do while Lady Tess rides into the village to visit the little people?""Your sarcasm is unbecoming." She tilted her Tarleton cap to a jaunty level and said, "But while I'm gone, you should be making plans to sell the silver. We have a house to build."

Brenn didn't like being dismissed...until he realized there was one problem she had not antic.i.p.ated. He smiled. "Well then, I will set to work. Enjoy your ride." He started toward the cottage, knowing it was

just a matter of time before she asked for a leg up. There was no other way she could get up on Ace,since they didn't have a mounting block.When he'd walked a quarter of the way toward the cottage and she hadn't called him back, he couldn't resist a peek over his shoulder. He stopped dead in his tracks.

Tess was trying to raise her foot high enough to get her boot in the stirrup. When that didn't work, she

led Ace next to a small boulder. Cooing for the horse to hold steady, she tried to get her foothold with the aid of the extra height.

Ace would have none of it. He sidled away. Tess tried again, and again.

Brenn had to say this for her: she was a stubborn woman.

"Can I give you a leg up?" he called.

"No, I'm fine." She got her boot in the stirrup as she said it and climbed into the saddle. It wasn't

graceful, but she did it...except that she tried to sit sidesaddle.

"What nonsense," Brenn said, just as she started to topple off the other side of the horse.

He went running up to help her.

She grabbed the saddle and caught herself in time but her venture had all been for naught. She was down

on the ground again, her ridiculous hat sliding over her nose.

She shoved it back and glared at him.

"What did I do?" Brenn asked. "I was coming to help you."

"I don't need help."

"Ah, Tess. It's only a leg up-or mayhap you think you are going to sprout wings and fly?"

Her brows came together. She pressed her lips tightly, biting back a sharp retort no doubt. When shespoke, her words were clipped. "I need a leg up.""I beg your pardon?" he couldn't resist saying."I need a leg up," she repeated, louder, terser.Brenn was tempted to make her repeat her request again but decided it wasn't wise to tweak the tigress'

s whiskers too much. He laced his fingers together and leaned down.

She put her foot in his hand and he put her into the saddle. Again, she insisted on attempting to sitsidesaddle."Fork the horse, Tess.""That's not proper.""Who's to see if you are proper or not? Do you want to stay on the animal or fall off?"Tess had obviously never forked a horse before. The expression on her face was comical. He placed his hand on her waist to keep her balanced. "I look into your angry blue eyes and your mouth that's frowning at me...and have the d.a.m.nedest urge to kiss you," he confessed.

She swung her leg over to straddle the horse. "You can let go now."

But he didn't. "Tess, stop this nonsense. We are both at fault. You can stop making me wear a hair shirt."

"I'm not doing anything of the sort. You are the one who said our marriage was a business arrangement.

I am just being businesslike."It was uncomfortable to have one's words thrown in one's face. "Tess, I was angry. I said some things Ishouldn't."

She started at a point beyond his head. It frustrated him to be ignored-but then she spoke. "I feel like Idon't know myself anymore. Now I am not certain about anything. But I do know this. I will never be astrusting as I was before."

"But you love me," he reminded her.

"Do I?" She smiled, the expression sad. "The girl who said those words is changing. I have to build a life.

Hand me the reins."

He did as she asked, uncertain how to take her words.

Her head high, back straight, she set off for the village.

Brenn couldn't help but admire her. And she did love him-no matter what she claimed now.

He shouted, "You are far too proud for your own good, Tess Owen!"

She acknowledged him with a wave of her hand.

Tess was glad the village was as close as it was. Ace had a gait so jarring, her teeth were rattling in her

head. Worse, it was uncomfortable to ride like a man.

She rode the horse right up to Cedric Pughe's smithy. Since he was the only man in the village she knew spoke English, then she would have to talk to him first.

Pughe was a barrel-chested man about the same height as herself. His face was already wearing the grime and sweat of his trade. Three boys helped him in the open-air shop. They were obviously his sons since each had the same sad brown eyes and coa.r.s.e thatch of black hair as their father.

Fortunately, Pughe had a mounting block, although her descent from Ace's back was still less than

graceful. She was glad Brenn wasn't here to see it.Straightening her hat, which had been jogged to an odd angle by Ace's movement, Tess introducedherself. "Mr. Pughe, I am Lady Merton."

Mr. Pughe lowered the hammer he'd held raised over his head. He stared at her as if he didn't believe