Miss Carlyle's Curricle: Signet Regency Romance (InterMix) by Karen Harbaugh

and he was confident in my abilities.”
    “And yet,” Lord Brisbane said gently, “he met his end with this carriage.”
    “Are you saying my uncle had his accident because
he
was at fault?” Diana demanded. His lordship merely gazed at her, his eyes half closed, looking down his nose at her as if again in skepticism. It infuriated her. “His lordship was a superior horseman and whip. He belonged to the Four-in-Hand Club. No one,
no one
, can say he could not handle his horses.” “And yet, this time, he did not.”
    “I do not expect you to understand such things,” she said, looking him up and down, barely able to conceal her anger, and squashing down a growing dread. “Perhaps there was some fault with the carriage, the way it was made, that did not appear until that moment. I don’t know, but whatever it was, I intend to have it repaired. But it was
not
Uncle Charles’s fault.”
    “If your uncle was such a good driver, how was it that he did not notice anything awry from the outset?”
    “If there was anything awry with the carriage he most certainly would have noticed it, and if not he, then McKinney, our head groom.”
    “But the groom noticed nothing as well?”
    “No.”
    Lord Brisbane ran his hand over a curve of the carriage in a contemplative manner. He glanced at her. “I understand this McKinney has been in your uncle’s employ for many years.” It was a statement, but with just a hint of a question in it.
    Diana frowned. She had heard of landlords who, upon inheriting an estate, proceeded to rid themselves of all the old servants and replace them with their own handpicked ones. It was a stupid practice, inefficient, and bound to cause ill will in the surrounding neighborhood. “If you are thinking of blaming McKinney for the accident or of discharging him from his post, I would advise against it. The man has been employed here since my uncle was a very young man, and his service has been loyal and faultless. Indeed, he felt most deeply regarding the accident and proffered his resignation, which I refused to consider.”
    “You?”
    Diana blushed lightly; it was not her place to accept or decline a servant’s employment unless it was her own, personal, servant. “McKinney was distraught, and Uncle Charles had said more than a few times that my word was as good as his when it came to the stables,” she said stiffly. “If you must know, I directed him to Sir James, thinking he would be the heir.”
    “Ah.”
    That was all he said, an unassuming sound, but it made her very conscious that she had presumed, and presumed wrongly. “Sir James will not have discharged him, I am sure,” she said.
    “Mmm hmm,” he said, gazing at her thoughtfully.
    Diana shifted her feet uncomfortably. “I am sure McKinney is about somewhere. You may speak to him yourself.”
    “Is he?”
    “But of course. I saw him—” She stopped and realized she had not seen McKinney lately. “Surely Sir James did not . . .”
    “There may be some other explanation for why McKinney is not here,” Lord Brisbane said.
    Diana made herself look at him, but she could not hold his gaze long, for remorse hit her hard. “I have presumed a great deal,” she said. “And I was wrong to do so. I . . .I apologize.”
    “Yes,” he replied, but there was no censure in his voice. She felt a finger under her chin and she stared at him. He smiled slightly. “Come, cousin, it is no tragedy. Let us be frank: I well know that your uncle’s wish that we wed was unexpected, and highly unusual. Would it be less awkward for you to know that I had no knowledge of it? I met your uncle only a year ago, when he first found me, and because of business our subsequent meetings were infrequent. Had I known of the conditions, I would have protested, of course. I am not certain why he decided we should suit, but he did, and made it nearly impossible for you not to comply.”
    “Mama said it was perhaps the closest he could come to