The Widow and the Warrior by Sarah Winn

Author:Sarah Winn [Winn, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Torrid Books
Published: 2017-09-29T04:00:00+00:00

* * * *

Although he was tired after a long day, Gerald looked forward to dinner with Ellen that night. It was the one time they had alone and he was learning to value her opinions. When the food had been served and she was sitting across from him, Ellen thanked him for taking the time to give Toby the pony ride. “He could talk of nothing else for the rest of the afternoon.”

“I’m sorry it had to be cut short, but Mr. Pickering may be a stroke of luck for us.”

“How’s that?” she asked.

“He just might become a source of other students. I knew fox hunting was growing in popularity among the new-rich, that’s why I started training hunters, but it had not occurred to me that they might not know how to ride properly.”

“Why wouldn’t they know how to ride?’

“In the past, fox hunting was the province of the landed gentry. They grew up riding pell-mell over fields and jumping fences and in the process trained their horses and themselves. Now with all these hunting clubs opening up, men who have grown up in the cities want to get in on the fun.”

“So, you think Mr. Pickering can learn to ride properly?” she asked.

“Only time will tell,” Gerald said. “When I saw how he yanked on the reins and kicked the poor horse, I lost patience with him. But Mr. Sam has a lot more experience with teaching than I do. After Pickering left, he said, the boy was really afraid of taking jumps, and that’s why he acted so brusquely. I hope he’s right. If so, Mr. Pickering could be the answer to one of my problems.”

“How is that?”

“He said all his friends were interested in fox hunting. If he talks a few of them into taking lessons with us, I can keep my promise to Mr. Sam to supply him with students. To be honest, I’d begun to wonder if I could keep him on.”

“Well, let’s hope for the best with Mr. Pickering. If he suddenly turns into a champion rider, his friends will be impressed and want to know how he did it.”

As she passed Gerald more potatoes, her brow wrinkled into a frown. “Will we have to supply him with room and board while he’s here?”

Gerald had not thought about that. “Well—he’s an adult. He can stay in one of the inns in town.”

She sighed with relief. “I would have done my best to make him feel comfortable here, but I don’t know what I could do to improve Mrs. Moore’s cooking.”

Gerald chuckled. “The old dear is a bit set in her ways. But the real reason I don’t want Mr. Pickering staying here is that he might bring a bunch of handsome, young, city-men with him, and I wouldn’t want them flirting with my pretty wife.”

Ellen’s eyes opened widely and then her cheeks reddened. “Why—I—they wouldn’t flirt with me.”

“Of course, they would. You’re the best-looking woman in the county.”

She tried to give him a censoring look, but she couldn’t entirely suppress her pleased smile.

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