Why would he? She was a smudge of gray and brown against the stables. "West," Henry said. His voice was a low rumble, rougher than Basia expected from a man who likely owned a valet just to iron his morning paper.
"Tell me the farrier isn't delaying again." "Tomorrow morning, Your Grace," West said, dropping the rag and touching his cap. "Roads are washed out past the toll bridge." Henry exhaled through his nose. He pulled a silver case from his pocket, snapping it open with a sharp metallic click that made one of the nearby thoroughbreds prick its ears. He extracted a cheroot, clamped it between his teeth, and struck a match.
The sharp sulfur smell cut through the damp air. As the flame flared, his eyes caught movement. Basia had stepped out of the shadow of the overhang. Henry paused, the match burning precariously close to his gloved fingers.
He shook it out, tossing the smoking wood into a puddle. "West, why is there a child in my yard?" "Not a child, Your Grace," Basia said. Her voice cracked. She hadn't spoken since dawn.
She cleared her throat, tasting copper and morning breath, and tried again. "I'm 24, and I'm here for the breaker's position." Henry stared at her. His gaze wasn't calculating or intrigued. It was entirely blank.
He looked at her battered felt hat, the oversized men's coat she wore tied at the waist with a piece of baling twine, and the mud caked to her shins. "I don't run a charity," Henry said, turning back to his groom. "Send her to the kitchens if she's hungry, then see her off the grounds." "I don't want soup," Basia snapped. Her hands formed fists in her pockets.
The sudden spike of anger felt good. It warmed the blood in her chest. "I heard you fired your last two breakers. I heard you have a yard full of green two-year-olds and a stable full of problem horses that nobody wants to touch." Henry stopped.
He turned slowly, the cheroot clamped in his jaw. A faint plume of blue smoke drifted up past his eye. "You heard?" "Yes." "From whom?" "The taverns in town. Men talk when their arms are in slings." Basia held his gaze.