JAMES WAS RETURNING from the village when he saw Noir passing by him in a flash. His own horse neighed in response, raising its front hooves suddenly, almost causing James to fall off. He ground his heels, urging the horse to settle down, "easy boy," he whispered.

Once the horse settled back down and was under this control, James urged his horse to gallop full speed ahead to the stable. Something must have gone extremely wrong to have his racehorse running away without a rider on its back. When he reached the building, a stable boy quickly approached him. James leapt off quickly, handing him the reigns to his horse.

"Where is the stable master?"

"I shan't know, Your Grace."

James gritted his teeth, "There better be a good reason for his disappearance because I just witnessed Noir galloping across the land—unaccompanied."

The stable boy's eyes widened.

"Sound the alarm," James instructed him.

The boy nodded, binding the horse to one of the pegs quickly and then pulled the ancient alarm bell. James did not bother waiting around, he rushed towards Noir's stall—as expected it was left open.

What he did not expect to see though was the lady knocked out cold and a small orange coloured kitten meowing loudly beside her. James had not experience fear like this in a long time. He quickly disregarded his hat before stepping into the hay beside her. Pressing two fingers to her throat, he was relieved to find a pulse.

"What in the devil happened?"

James spun around to see his stable master looking at the scene before him in horror. That made the two of them. He glared at the servant, "Isn't that your responsibility to know?"

The stable master paled. "I stepped out for a couple of minutes; I didn't know that this was going to happen."

"I don't need excuses, what I need is results," James snapped, his voice rising by the second. "Send three of your fastest riders after Noir, he couldn't have gone far."

The stable master nodded and called a few names. Seconds later, two men and a lanky boy appeared. "Take the fastest horses, Noir has escaped and must be captured," the stable master instructed.

There was a flurry of activity in the stables as the groomsmen began saddling and gathering equipment to capture the racehorse. James shook his head; this could have all been avoided if only he'd taken Noir for a run like he initially planned to in the morning. Instead, he had decided to give the horse a break for a day and look where that decision had gotten them all.

"Your Grace, shall I saddle a horse for you to join the hunt as well?"

James shook his head, normally, he would have gone to capture the wild beast but right now he had more pressing matters to attend to. Carefully, as if he was picking up one of his great-aunt Esme's antiques, James gathered Vivienne in his arms.

"Call for a doctor to meet me back in the manor," he ordered.

"Is she still alive?"

"I would be calling for a priest instead of a physician if she wasn't."

Ignoring the gaping look on his stable master's face, James made slow steps towards the manor. He had only taken a few steps when he heard the mumbling, "the kitten."

Bloody hell. Vivienne would be the only one worrying about the kitten when she herself was in such a dire state. She mumbled the words a few times until he whispered back to her, "The kitten's safe, rest now."

A sense of peace went through her, and the mumbling stopped, her body stilling. James ordered one of the stable hands to go fetch the kitten and bring it back the manor.

She looked so small in his arms. His mother's gown, which was too large on her petite frame hid most of her body. He couldn't see her injury, but he was sure that Noir had harmed her somehow. What didn't make sense was her presence in the stables anyways. Her golden curls brushed softly against his forearm, and he tried ignoring the softness of them.

Martin swung the door opened, and his butler—who remained compose in almost all scenarios looked surprised.

"A physician should be coming soon. Tell Mrs. Shrine to meet me in Lady Vivienne's room."

His butler bowed low. "Very Well, Your Grace."

He walked up the stairs and kicked upon the door to Vivienne's room with his leg. He sat her down on the bed gently, making sure not to harm her any further. Her face was scrunched up, and James knew she was in pain. He couldn't do anything about it—and it frustrated him to no end. As a duke, he had the power and responsibility of ensuring the safety of everyone under his roof. However, this was the second time Vivienne had been injured under his watch. Before he knew what he was doing, he pushed one of the golden locks away from her face, yet she didn't stir.

"Your Grace?" James immediately dropped his hand and turned back to the doorway to see his housekeeper standing there.

Her eyes went to the bed, and she covered her mouth as a gasp escaped. "What happened to her?"

James looked at Vivienne's petite body in the bed, "She was knocked out cold in the stables."

"How is this possible? Lady Vivienne never ventures outside!"

James let out a small humph. There was always someone responsible when it came to incidents like this. "Believe me, I'm going to get to the bottom of it." he vowed, and he would—after ensuring that she safe once more. "I don't know where her injuries lie, and it didn't seem appropriate to undress her."

His housekeeper nodded and she called for Chrissy. A mousy maid came in a few minutes later.

"Grab the scissors," Mrs. Shrine instructed. "We are going to cut her dress to see where she has been hurt."

The maid did as she was told, and James took a step back. His housekeeper turned to look at him, "It might be better to wait in the hall, Your Grace."

James shot her a look to indicate that no way in hell was he moving from his place. "I've seen plenty of bare skin before."

The maid and Mrs. Shrine both blushed at his statement but they didn't say anything after. He watched as they cut the rosy coloured dress down the middle. She was wearing a white coloured chemise underneath and that's when James turned his head. It didn't seem appropriate to be gazing upon an undressed lady without her permission. Thankfully, there was another interruption at the door and instead of letting one of the women open it, he did it himself.

"Mr. Ballard." 

The physician who had treated Vivienne the first time she'd stumbled into Chalcott manor bowed, "Your Grace, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance once again."

James raised an eyebrow, "One would say Ballard it's never a pleasant scenario when having to call you."

The physician's lips twitched slightly, indicating he understood the jest. He gestured towards the room, "may I?"

James nodded and stepped aside. He could hear Mrs. Shrine explaining the situation but before he could shut the door, he spied a servant walking up the stairs. Quickly stepping outside and shutting the door behind him, he waited as Martin stood holding an orange-coloured kitten by the scruff. His butler looked less than pleased as there were a few slashes in his usually pristine livery.

"A stable boy dropped this off earlier Your Grace. He said you requested that it be brought to the manor."

James' nose twitched in disgust looking at the kitten. The bottom of its paws were covered in mud, while clumps of hair were missing in its skin. He knew the cat would wreak havoc in the manor, but he could still hear Vivienne asking about the kitten as she fought the feeling of unconsciousness.

"Does it have any flees?" he asked his butler.

Martin pointed his nose upward stiffly, "I have not checked Your Grace."

James ran an impatient hand through his dark hair. "Well give the damn kitten a bath and ensure that it has no flees. I don't want insects buzzing about the house—Lord knows there's enough of you already."

His butler gave him an affronted look, "Your Grace, you don't mean for me to give this kitten a bath? I have to tend to the door in case callers arrive."

James snorted, there were in the middle of the country, it was unlikely anyone would be visiting them without a death wish. He turned his back to his butler, "Martin, I pay you good money—pass the kitten onto some other poor soul, I don't care. However, I do want it clean, fed, and preferably alive in the next hour."

With the parting words, he effectively dismissed his butler but before he could go to turn the handle of the door, it swung back open with Ballard coming back out.

James cocked an eyebrow, "that was rather quick."

Ballard gave him a wry smile, "She'll make a full recovery Your Grace. Thankfully, she's only been bruised up, I've left a balm for her to apply it should help to reduce the pain."

James recalled the scene in the stables, "Then why was she unconscious when I saw her?"

"My assumption is that she probably hit her head when the horse kicked her thus causing her to black out momentarily."

"Would a better question be to ask how her head is doing?"

Ballard smiled, "She just woke up Your Grace. It might be better for her to stay in bed for a couple of days to allow her wounds to heal but she can still speak to you."

James nodded and pushed to open the handle. "Martin will give you your payment on the way out."

"Thank you, Your Grace." the physician shook his head. "It might be better to keep that one close, she's prone to injury."

James nearly snorted, he didn't need advice from a physician to see that. After today, he would always make sure to have eyes on Vivienne to prevent any further injuries. He never wanted to witness what he'd seen earlier on.

He pushed opened the door and saw that Mrs. Shrine and Vivienne were conversing quietly. Vivienne's green eyes immediately landed on him and a sudden burst of anger filled his body.

"Get out right now," he told the servants, his voice dangerously low.

The maid fled the room immediately, but Mrs. Shrine gave him a worried glance. "I was just about to bring her something to eat."

"Later," he said, his face thunderous. "I must speak to Lady Vivienne alone now."

Mrs. Shrine noted the expression on his face and bowed to him before shutting the door softly behind her. James walked closer to the bed and watched as Vivienne struggled to sit up on one of the pillows. Before he knew what he was doing, he reached with a hand to assist her, "easy there."

Vivienne winced but her back was now leaning against one of the many pillows on the bed. Her body was mostly covered by the blanket and chemise, but he caught a brief glimpse of her hand, and he wasn't sure if it was the shadows, but he swore he saw a few lines on her arms.

"Is the kitten safe?" she blurted out.

James shut his eyes once, before opening them. "Yes, the kitten is fine, since you obviously care more about the safety of the animals than your own life, I shall tell you the horse fled and is being captured by my men as we speak. Would you like to know the condition of the chickens that are about to be slaughtered as well?"

His voice rose towards the end. Vivienne's hands came together, and he saw some regret on her face.

Good.

But then the woman turned towards him, her green eyes soft and confused. "I feel as though you are cross with me, however I didn't do anything wrong. I thought I could leave the manor!"

James walked towards the window, unable to stand still. He needed patience when dealing with her. "I don't care if you leave the manor to go to the gardens, but what were you doing in the stables alone?"

"I had never seen horses up close so I thought it might be a good idea." Vivienne played with the ends of the sheet. "There was nobody in the stables, but I didn't think anything of it. I was petting the horse when I heard a small meow. A kitten was trapped in one of the stalls and the horse was going to kill it, I had to rush in to protect the kitten from the horse, and it attacked me instead."

James pinched the bridge of his nose. All this bloody fuss over a kitten. "Do you know whose stall you entered?"

Vivienne shook her head.

James stepped closer to the bed and looked right into Vivienne's eyes. "Well let me bloody tell you how insane you are. Noir, is a thoroughbred racehorse that I recently purchased. He has barely been broken in and there are always at least two fully grown men needed to deal with him. Nobody in my stables is foolish enough to venture in his stall alone!"

Vivienne shrunk away from him and flinched, and that's when James knew he had gone too far. Her eyes pooled with water "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

James sighed, the anger expelling out of him upon her tears. "I know you didn't, but I don't want you to get hurt. You're lucky that nothing else happened this morning—it could have been a lot worse."

Vivienne nodded, grateful.

James tugged on the sleeves of his tailcoat, "I'll let you rest for now."

He watched as Vivienne crawled under the bed. He had sudden urge to brush away the silky blond strands away from her face, but he ignored it. Before he could leave though, he turned back to her, "If you want to learn how to ride—I'll teach you, that way you can truly see the beauty of the world from horseback."

Vivienne didn't respond but there was a slight smile on her face and that was an answer in itself for James.

***

Vivienne woke up a few hours later, her body still battered and bruised. She touched her sides, it felt tender. She felt thankful to be alive. A few hours earlier, she feared that she had taken her last breath, but the duke had saved her once more. She couldn't remember much about her journey from the manor, but she did remember the warm, safe arms of the duke. He had carried her all the way back and for that, she was indebted to him.

Vivienne didn't know when she would be able to pay back her debt to the duke, but she should get started in a few weeks—the sooner the better. Only it would be a monstrous task convincing the duke to let her do so.

She slowly made her way to a sitting position and glanced to the table on the right. A tray full of food had been placed by her bedside but what caught her attention was the two new books. They had to be from the duke. Smiling, she shifted her body slightly to touch the spines. There was a small meow as she did so, and she looked at the foot of the bed to see the tabby kitten she saved earlier resting.

Covering her mouth as tears filled her eyes, she grabbed the kitten and clutched it to her chest as she had done earlier. The kitten purred. It was obvious that someone had cleaned the feline and as she hugged it to her chest, she couldn't be more grateful for landing at the duke's manor the first night. She felt safe and cared for and that was all the mattered.