A Road to Romance by Barbara Cartland

Author:Barbara Cartland
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: xxx
Publisher: Barbara Cartland .com
Published: 2014-02-26T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

They took tea with the farmer and his wife and as the Marquis had expected, it was a substantial meal with eggs and meat for the men.

He thought that they would be in no hurry to reach a place to stay.

He asked the farmer if there was a good inn about ten or fifteen miles away.

“I knows of one,” he said. “It be in a village called Hopely and I went there some years ago.”

The Marquis thought that at least it was on the road they were already on, while the farmer’s son was giving Johnny instructions how to handle the yearling and he was also telling him his name.

“I’ve always called ’im ‘Hunter’,” he explained, “as I was allowed, the first time I rode ’im, to go out with the ’ounds.”

“I think it’s a good name,” the Marquis said, “as we have had to hunt for him and you have been kind enough to find him for us.”

The farmer laughed at this, but his wife advised,

“You be very careful young man. Them ’orses can be dangerous animals. If you rides ’im carefully and obey this kind man, you’ll come to no ’arm.”

“I’ll do what ’e tells me,” Johnny agreed as Velina smiled at him.

They set off at a fairly good pace.

From the farmer’s description of it, the inn that they were seeking might be even further than the Marquis had expected.

Johnny was very excited at the idea of riding such a fine horse and the farmer’s son gave him some last minute instructions when he was in the saddle.

Watching him, however, the Marquis realised that he was a natural horseman so that when he was older he would obviously be a very good rider.

He had often wondered why he himself had been able to ride so well when he was still very young and he was sure that it was an inheritance from his father who was an outstanding equestrian.

He had had friends when he had been at school who had no idea how to handle a horse and they always turned out to be bad riders.

This had convinced him that it was something one inherited in one’s blood and was an excellent attribute to possess.

As Johnny rode a little ahead of him, he told Velina what he was thinking and she agreed with him.

“I always thought I inherited my love of horses and the way I can handle even the most difficult of them from my father,” she said. “I believe that my grandfather was also a fine equestrian and much admired when he rode to hounds.”

The Marquis longed to ask her who her father and grandfather were. But he knew if he did so he would have to say who he was and that would be a mistake.

They had introduced themselves at the beginning by their Christian names and that is how it should remain until the end of their journey.

However, he thought that every day he spent with Velina, he found her more and more interesting.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.