A Steeplechase For Love by Barbara Cartland

Author:Barbara Cartland
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-78213-091-8
Publisher: Barbara Cartland.com

CHAPTER FIVE

Helsa was determined to see the horses jumping.

But she thought it would be a mistake, especially as people from the village might be there, for her to go to the paddock.

She therefore walked to the West wing of The Hall where one of her many ancestors, who was apparently very eccentric in his ways, had added a Palladian tower.

From it he could look over the estate and see what everyone was doing. She had not been up the tower for years and the steps were very dusty, but when she reached the pinnacle it was exactly as it had always been.

There were windows all round it so that one could see for miles in every direction.

As a child she had discovered the skylight and she had been brave enough to climb through it onto the very top of the tower.

The skylight was still there and underneath it was a heavy wooden bed in which her ancestor had slept when he particularly wanted to know what was going on at night.

He had been ‘a peeping Tom’ in a big way and this was a continual joke in the family, Helsa recalled.

There was no need for her at the moment to climb up from the bed through the skylight onto the top of the roof as she could see the paddock very clearly from one of the windows and indeed every individual jump.

Gazing out she could see that the Duke was riding Masterpiece and she thought he looked more distinguished than anyone else in the paddock.

Lady Basset obviously thought the same as she was following him around and trying to attract his attention and even from this distance Helsa could see that he was much more interested in the jumps.

The others were mounting their horses and Watson was now giving orders for the jumping competition.

When it began, Helsa realised that each man had to go round the course three times and was timed by Watson.

He sent the Duke round first.

Helsa thought with a smile that he was challenging the other riders to beat what she was quite sure would be an almost unbeatable time.

Certainly Masterpiece deserved his name and she was sure that the Duke who seemed to go faster with each round would be impossible to equal let alone surpass.

She watched the other competitors and there were cheers when one gentleman on an exceptional horse, who was obviously an experienced jumper, tied with the Duke.

It was then that the two of them rode together for a deciding round. While Helsa held her breath, the Duke won by just half a length.

By this time quite a crowd had gathered from the village and she was glad she had been sensible enough not to go into the paddock.

It was quite certain they would speak to her politely as ‘Miss Helsa’ and if Lady Basset heard them, she would undoubtedly be curious. It was nearly teatime when the Duke won the final competition amid applause from all those present.

He raised his hand to

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