Samuel.

"What the hell do you make of that?" James looked down where his cousin was left standing looking after the girl as she stormed off with her sisters.

Samuel turned with a puzzled look on his face. "I think we have just met Shakespeare's Shrew."

Eying his cousin, James said, "I know we're dressed like Bedawees, but why did you speak in Arabic?" Samuel had given them each a burnouse before they left Denbury Hall because he said they would protect them from the wind and rain better than an English cloak. At first James felt strange wearing it, but now he had to admit it was perfect for riding.

"I don't know. It just came out." Samuel looked up at Omar to see if he had an answer.

"Whitechapel," Omar said in Arabic. "She was the same girl, wasn't she?"

"Nem fielaan," Samuel replied. "I am sure she is."

James shook his head and chuckled. "What are you two talking about?"

"The girl. I'm sure I have seen her before." Samuel mounted his horse.

"Really?" James jerked his head back. "Where?"

"I can't remember." Samuel chuckled to cover up his slip. He couldn't say, because his cousins would ask why he had been in Whitechapel, and he couldn't have them knowing anything about his time there.

James got a sense Samuel didn't want to talk about where he'd seen the girl, so tried a different approach. "Is she peasant or lady? The state of her dress would suggest peasant. Her speech was certainly not."

"I think they were ladies." Mathew raised his eyebrows at his cousins'. "At least the other one was. She was very graceful, even if she wasn't wearing shoes. Perhaps the more forceful one was her governess or handmaiden."

Samuel shook his head. "A governess with a tongue as sharp as a knife, I don't think so. She did say they were her sisters." He raised his eyebrows. "Perhaps, Mathew, you were too busy ogling the second girl to listen to what was actually said."

James frowned. "It's not right that she spoke to you like that. Perhaps we should try and find her, so she can be put in her place."

Looking James in the eye, Samuel said, "And do what, James? Beat her? To be honest, I found it refreshing." He grinned. "After six weeks of insipid women, it was a nice change." He laughed at the look on James' face. "I've only ever been spoken to like that once in my life by a woman." Sam paused and thought of Erin as he added, "A woman I grew to be very fond of." He kicked his horse into a canter and called over his shoulder, "I think we will stop for the night in Tidworth, and head to Ludgershall in the morning."

Mathew chuckled and followed his cousin. "Are you going to try and find out who she is?"

"No. I'm supposed to be looking for a wife, Mathew, not an ill-tempered forest wench."

"Well." Mathew laughed some more. "If you do find out who they were, will you let me know? I should like to be properly introduced to the charming one." He looked back at James and Omar who were catching up the rear. "That leaves you two with the child. Perhaps you could baby sit her, while Sammy and I woo the lovely ladies."

Samuel slowed his horse and fell behind his cousins. The girl's image wouldn't leave his mind. As she appeared from the trees in front of them, and helped her sister to her feet, he thought she was some farmer's wife aiding her daughter. When she turned and scolded James for his remark, he couldn't help but chuckle as her full red lips delivered her retort with such venom. Then, when she turned on him, it felt like someone had punched him in the chest.

It had taken him a moment to recover from the shock of her beauty. Her long blonde hair framed her face perfectly, while her large green eyes, surrounded by thick black lashes, delivered the full blaze of her anger. Then to watch them widen more, when she looked up at him as he jumped from his horse, made him hold his breath. He had to touch her to check that she was real.

It was then, that the memory of knocking her over flashed through his mind. Samuel was at a complete loss. What had she been doing in Whitechapel? A very poor area of London, to now be here, in the countryside.

She spoke well, yet her dress was made of muslin and was rather dirty. He couldn't understand why she didn't have shoes on. From the sight of her ankles and feet he felt she had been quite comfortable without them. Samuel shook his head and decided he had better forget about her. To encourage himself to have an interest would be futile, as such a woman would never be approved of, by his uncle's Leopold and Rupert.

"Sam! The auction at Ludgershall begins at what time tomorrow?" James' deep voice brought him out of his reverie.

"Eleven and will end late afternoon. We'll freshen up after it finishes, and then go to that blasted ball."

Omar chuckled while James and Mathew roared with laughter. "You're going to love it, Sammy."

They don't have a clue of who each other is. Hahahaha

I wonder if Shay will be at that ball?

Photo taken from Etsy.