A Lady's Fortune by Jane Dunn

Author:Jane Dunn [Dunn, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Published: 2024-08-05T00:00:00+00:00

8

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

Lady Bucklebury had sent her grooms down to Rokeby Abbey to bring back two of the Earl’s horses suitable for the young women in her charge to ride in Hyde Park. She met Leonora and Charlotte at breakfast. ‘Good morning, my dears. I always think a good ride in the Park clears the heart and mind. I have two of Rokeby’s palfreys in the stables, needing to be ridden. Would you take them out this afternoon?’ It was couched as a question but both young women knew it was closer to an order. ‘All the best of Society is on display there on a sunny afternoon.’

By two o’clock, Charlotte and Leonora were dressed in their newly embellished riding habits, and on their heads wore their smart top hats sporting plumes of feathers. They waited for the sound of hooves as the groom brought the horses round from the stables to the front door. Davy was the Bucklebury groom and was young and cheerful, dressed in livery that appeared to have been made for a bigger man. He rode up on his own chestnut horse with the reins of the two Rokeby mares for the young women. One was black and one was a grey, and both were finely built and glossy with good health.

Leonora cheered up at the sight of these magnificent animals. Her homesickness had been in part due to missing her beautiful Dione and the freedom to ride.

‘They are very fine horses. What are their names?’ Leonora asked as she descended the front steps.

Davy grinned. ‘The grey is Iris, the black mare is Minerva.’ Leonora and Charlotte were just gazing into their fine lustrous eyes, wondering which horse each should claim, when the groom said, ‘The Earl of Rokeby suggested Iris for Miss Blythe and Minerva for Miss Appleby.’

‘Well that simplifies matters,’ Charlotte said, stroking the forehead of her pretty mare before accepting Davy’s hand to help her into the side-saddle. Leonora’s heart was once more troubled by mention of Lord Rokeby’s name. And why would he designate which horse she should ride? Minerva, goddess of wisdom; was there any significance in this? She shook her head. How foolish to look for omens in every simple thing; how missish of her to let her thoughts be so dominated by him.

Davy helped Leonora mount and immediately she knew she was sitting on a lively mare who was keen for adventure. She had to rein her back as Davy, astride his chestnut gelding, led the way to the Park. Her overactive brain would not be stilled; she wondered whether it was because the Earl thought her a more experienced horsewoman that he had suggested this spirited ride for her. She knew she had to protect her peace of mind from these fruitless speculations, resolutely guarding her imagination from fearful images of Lord Rokeby embracing Claudette Dupré.

It was exciting entering at Grosvenor Gate where a crush of men and some women with their grooms were mounted on

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