A Duke's Entangled Enchantress Read Free

“This was the man I dragged out of the mud near the Old Well.”
                  That got my father’s attention. “The Old Well? Why is dangerous there as its hunting season he must have taken a wrong turn!”
                  That indeed!
                  Lord Bedford, the duke, cleared his throat and we turn to look at him. He winced slightly as he said. “I have had a rather long and hard trip; perhaps we may introduce ourselves and then become acquainted on the morrow, when we have all had a better rest.”
                  I nodded; I could fall asleep at any second. “I am Ms. Alanna Black, the one you offered for, and this here is my Pa, Mr. Jackson Black.”
                  The duke smiled slightly as he bowed again and said, “Please to meet you Lady Alanna and Mr. Black. I am Grayson Blackstone de Grey, Duke of Bedford.”
                  I wrinkled my nose. “I not a lady yet.”
                  “Ah, but you are,” Lord Grayson said wisely.
                  “How so?” I asked putting hands on hips with a small glare.
                  It was my father who answered for me. “Your mother’s mother was the daughter of the Duke of Norfolk. Your Grandmother whom still resides in New York. Her and your mother however had a falling out before you were born and I believe you only met her once at your mother’s funeral.”
                  “Everyone has to be from England, don’t they? Well I guess it could be worse.” I sighed. “Good night Pa, Mr. Grayson. I guess we will have to talk everything over tomorrow.”
 

And Talk We Shall
     
     
     
     
    Our talk was rather short as it happened; few words were said between Mr. Grayson as Pa did all the talking for us. Pa however sweet he was trying to be about putting forth my best qualities did me little favor in the matter.
                  “My daughter here is as fine as a woman you could possibly come by. Champion rider she was, just like her mother, best shot in the county as well! And she had the biggest hand in designing the breeding program over the years that gave us the best stock in the country,” Pa beamed.
                  As kind as Pa was, mother had been the social butterfly with the skills for talking to people, however Pa never had the filter between his brain and mouth to sort out his thoughts. Straight mindedness and honest to a painful fault, that was my Pa.
                  Mr. Grayson looked rather shocked at how fast Pa could talk and I did my best to keep a straight face until Mr. Grayson seemed to finally catch something Pa said.
                  “Used to be a champion rider?” he questioned softly.
                  Pa looking panicked went for the first thing he could think of. “She stopped you see…because-because it wasn’t ladylike to race is all,” he said in a rush.
                  Mr. Grayson sniffed in amusement. “Quite so. No matter how she raced here I doubt she could keep up with the professionals were keep on staff.”
                  Suddenly I understood why this big, important man would come all this way to marry me. I turned a glaring look to my father.
                  “This isn’t about just me getting married is it? You promised one of the horses with me didn’t you?”
                  Pa looked away from my eyes. “The deal is you and your horse, Grand Champion. I wanted you to have something from the ranch after you left.”
                  Softening at him I smiled sadly. “Thanks Pa, that means a lot to me. I don’t know what you would do without Champ here though. He is our best racer.”
                  Pa grinned then. “Blue Bird Thunder is ready after the training you gave him; he is just like his dad.”
                  “I