Amanda Scott - [Dangerous 03] (15 page)

“Certainly not,” he agreed, smiling at her. “In fact, I’ll give myself the pleasure of attending your lesson this morning, for I’m curious to know how one female goes about teaching another to ride. You won’t object, I hope.”

Fearing that her expression had already made her misgiving plain, Daintry greeted the entry of the footman with her tea and toast with relief, thanking him before she said mendaciously that Sir Geoffrey was certainly welcome to join them.

Fifteen minutes later, when the two little girls came running to find her, she saw her concern reflected in their expressions when they discovered she was not alone. Catching Charley’s gaze and holding it with what she hoped was a warning look, she said cheerfully, “Here is a treat for you, girls. Sir Geoffrey has decided to watch your riding lesson this morning. He will be surprised to discover how well you both ride now.”

With a sinking feeling, she saw that Melissa was unable to conceal her dismay, but before Sir Geoffrey had taken note of it, Charley stepped in front of her cousin and said lightly, “I daresay you will be very surprised indeed, Uncle Geoffrey. Melissa is hardly ever afraid anymore.”

He laughed, reaching out to pinch her cheek. “I do not concede that to be necessarily an improvement, Charlotte, for you must know that I do not consider intrepidity an asset to a female on horseback. Good, healthy fear will keep her much safer.”

“Oh, no,” Charley said, “for she is certain to communicate her fear to the horse, you know, and—”

“Charley, for goodness’ sake,” Daintry interjected, “your uncle does not require a lecture on horsemanship. If you are ready, we will go to the stables now.”

“But you have not finished eating,” Sir Geoffrey protested.

“I told you, I rarely take much food before I ride. Come along, girls,” she added, hoping she would have a few moments alone with them before he followed, to warn them to say nothing about their erstwhile plan to ride on the moor.

She was not given the chance, however, for Sir Geoffrey followed at once, shouting to Pedrek to fetch his hat and coat, and clearly expecting them to wait until these articles had been brought to him.

The last thing Daintry wanted was for him to order a horse saddled for himself when they reached the stables, and although he was not wearing riding breeches, she suspected he might do so if it appeared that they meant to leave the yard. Therefore, when Clemons brought out the three horses, she said, “You forgot to bring their lead reins. Please, go and get them at once.”

The wiry groom did not so much as blink but handed over the reins he held to a nearby stableboy and turned on his heel. Daintry held her breath, hoping neither of the two girls would be so foolish as to mention that they had not suffered the indignity of a lead rein in weeks.

They remained obediently silent until Clemons had attached the leads, but when he bent to lift Charley onto her saddle, Daintry saw the spark of mutiny flare in the child’s dark eyes, and said, “Wait, Clemons. Miss Charlotte would prefer to show her uncle that she can mount unaided.”

Sir Geoffrey laughed. “Daintry, don’t encourage such folly. No child can mount a full-grown horse without assistance.”

“Charley can. Watch.”

Charley, grinning now, moved up beside the bay gelding and patted its muzzle. “Now, Victor, my lovely fellow, show Uncle Geoffrey how clever you are.” She touched his shoulder, spoke softly to him, and to Sir Geoffrey’s visible astonishment, the gelding folded his front legs beneath him, kneeling so that the little girl could put her left foot in the stirrup. Accepting her reins from the stableboy and holding firmly to pommel and hind bow, Charley made no attempt to seat herself until the gelding had obeyed her command to rise, but then she settled herself with dispatch, grinning triumphantly.

Melissa said, “Is Charley not amazingly clever, Papa?”

“Amazingly,” he agreed, “but I hope you never attempt such an indelicate method, my dear. It is not at all the proper way for a young lady of quality to mount a horse.”

“Oh, I could never teach a horse to do such clever things,” Melissa said naively, “but Charley and Aunt Daintry have taught all sorts of tricks to Grandpapa’s horses.”

Daintry said, “That is quite true, Geoffrey. Charley has a real gift for training animals to do the most amazing things, but I promise you, she has taught Tender Lady nothing alarming. Put Miss Melissa up, Clemons, and then lead them both to the end of the stable yard, if you please. You may assist me, Geoffrey.”

He was still watching Charley, but he turned obediently and formed a cup with his hands so that she might put her left foot in it. Holding reins and whip in her right hand and resting it on the pommel, she put her left hand on his shoulder and sprang lightly into the saddle, putting her right knee over the pommel to secure her seat. Then, arranging her skirt, she shifted her reins to her left hand and turned her attention to her charges. Clemons held the long lead reins, and the two girls had already begun to ride circles around him. Daintry saw that Charley, having knotted her reins and left them hanging on Victor’s neck, had her hands folded demurely in her lap.

“Don’t panic, Geoffrey,” she said when she saw him frown. “I believe that too much dependence on the reins is one of the most common faults in riding, so I have taught both girls to ride without them, depending on their balance to keep them in the saddle. They will come to no harm, Clemons is very careful.” She saw no reason to mention that Clemons generally had no lead rein and could thus do no more than chase after the girls when they rode in this fashion, which Charley at least had been known to do on occasions when it was less than sensible.

“Bring them to a trot, girls, and show me that you can rise without benefit of your stirrup. I daresay it has not occurred to you, Geoffrey,” she added, seeing him frown again, “but on a sidesaddle, an amateur has a tendency to push up from the stirrup instead of employing the muscles of her right leg. That will not do for any girl who learns from me, I can tell you.”

He turned toward her when she said his name the second time, but she doubted he had heard what she said, for his attention was fixed upon a point behind her. Turning, she saw her brother striding toward them with Lady Catherine Chauncey at his side. Lady Catherine was dressed for riding.

Charles, waving, shouted, “There you are, Seacourt. I have been searching the house for you. Good morning, Daintry. Lady Catherine here tells me it is her habit to ride each morning, and I said you’d be delighted to take her out and about, so I hope you don’t mean to spend the whole morning giving the girls riding lessons. They ought to be in the schoolroom, oughtn’t they?”

“Nothing will be gained by forcing them to remain locked up with Cousin Ethelinda, Charles, particularly when she feels guilty if she has to abandon Mama to look after them. Melissa has only a few more days before she must go home, and Charley’s new governess will be here soon enough. In the meantime it will do neither of them harm to get some extra fresh air and exercise. If Lady Catherine wishes to ride,” she added before he could debate any portion of her statement, “I will be happy to take her over some of the nearby countryside. I had promised the girls an outing after their lesson, in any event, and by the time a horse can be saddled and bridled for her, they will be ready. Are you an expert or a mere hacker, Lady Catherine?”

“Why, I have frequently been told that I am a born rider, Lady Daintry, with a natural seat on any horse.” She fluttered her long eyelashes at both men, adding with a pout, “but surely, my dear, you do not ride without a proper male escort.”

Sir Geoffrey said instantly, “Tarrant and I will be happy to accompany you, won’t we, Charles?”

Daintry, glancing apologetically at Charley and Melissa, saw that the former was watching her father expectantly, and turned back just as Charles replied, “No, dash it, we won’t. “You don’t think I was turning the house upside down looking for you so that we could join the infantry on an amble around Cornwall, do you? We are going shooting, Geoffrey, my lad. Medrose tells me there are woodcocks and coots in the home wood, and dash it all, I haven’t been out with a gun in six months. You don’t want to play the dashed knight errant to four females, do you? Clemons can take some of the other stable lads if you’re in a fret about their safety. No need for that, though. Bruising riders, all of them. At least, Daintry is, and the girls, I daresay, and Lady Catherine just said she’s perfectly at home in the saddle, too, so come on with me. I’ll show you some real sport.”

Sir Geoffrey looked doubtful, but Daintry knew her brother would prevail and, her spirits rising, called to a stableboy to fetch out a lady’s mount at once for Lady Catherine.

“Which one, my lady?”

Before she could reply, Charley shouted, “Bring the Duchess, Teddy. She will be perfect for Lady Catherine.”

Opening her mouth to protest, Daintry encountered a fierce glare from her niece, and fell silent. Common civility dictated that one ought to provide one’s guest with the best riding horse at one’s disposal, but Lady Catherine had said she was an expert, so no doubt the Duchess’s frequently peculiar gaits and odd habits would not trouble her.

Lady Catherine was watching the gentlemen’s departure, but she turned just then, looking not quite so much as before like a lady expecting to enjoy an exhilarating gallop across the moor. But when Teddy emerged from the stable, leading a lovely little white mare, her countenance brightened. “Oh, how pretty,” she exclaimed, walking up to stroke the Duchess’s rosy muzzle.

Charley, having removed her lead rein the moment her Uncle Geoffrey’s back was turned, rode up beside Daintry and muttered, “I don’t believe she really wants to go with us at all, you know. In my opinion, she saw Uncle Geoffrey and thought he meant to ride with us, and so she came out, too.”

Realizing that her niece suffered from much the same misunderstanding that she had suffered the day before, Daintry said, “I doubt that, darling. She is a cousin of his, you know. Moreover,” she added, remembering that Lady Catherine’s bedchamber did overlook the drive leading to the yard, “if she saw him, she must have seen that he was not dressed for riding.”

Charley looked doubtful, but Lady Catherine was mounted and though she still was arranging her skirt and had not yet even taken her reins from the stableboy, there was no further opportunity for private conversation. When Clemons asked if a second groom ought to accompany them, Daintry replied quickly in the negative before Charley could commit another impertinence.

Daintry had seen from the way Lady Catherine mounted that she was not the expert rider she had claimed to be, and soon realized that the case was even worse. Not only did the woman persist in clucking to the mare, a habit that would soon make her unpopular with anyone riding a skittish horse near her, but she held her reins in both hands as if she were rowing a boat and sat much too far forward in her saddle. Glancing at Charley, Daintry tried to remember if the Duchess had any really dangerous habits.

Their ride progressed without incident for nearly half an hour, and Daintry exerted herself to maintain a conversation with Lady Catherine while the girls rode a little ahead of them.

“I am surprised that your brother and Sir Geoffrey allow their little girls to ride such big horses,” Lady Catherine said when they were barely out of the stable yard. “My own dear papa refused to put me on one until I was sixteen, for of course, no younger female is strong enough to ride really well.”

Daintry replied vaguely but as politely as she could.

When Charley and Melissa increased their pace to a trot and she followed suit, Lady Catherine said, “Surely, this pace is too fast for them, particularly since the road is beginning to rise. All this bouncing about cannot be good for tender little bodies!”

This time, Daintry said only,
“They
do not bounce.”

Lady Catherine certainly did bounce, and knowing that only a very good rider might have a hope of matching her rises to the Duchess’s notion of a trot, Daintry soon called to Charley to canter instead. “I know you must be longing for a real gallop, Lady Catherine,” she said, raising her voice to be heard above the hoofbeats, “but I insist that the girls increase their paces slowly, and only after they are certain the ground is safe.”

Lady Catherine did not respond, and not long afterward Daintry took pity on her and shouted for the girls to draw rein, knowing the incline would soon increase significantly, in any case. As they came up to the others, she heard Charley begin to whistle rather tunelessly and saw Melissa look sharply at her.

Saying that they would walk the horses now that they had run the fidgets out of them, Daintry prayed that Charley would behave herself, since it would do neither of the children any good to have Lady Catherine telling tales of them when they got back to Tuscombe Park. Charley’s odd whistling continued.

“What is that child doing?” Lady Catherine said. “Ladies do not whistle, Charlotte. Gracious, what is wrong with this mare?”

“Sorry,” Charley said, falling silent.

Daintry looked at the mare, which appeared to be walking just as it should be. Catching sight of Clemons, riding behind them, she saw the man wipe a smile off his face, and grew alert.

As if absentmindedly, Charley began the tuneless whistling again, and Daintry, still watching the mare, saw at once what was happening. The Duchess had developed a limp.

“There,” Lady Catherine cried, “what is it? She nearly had me off that time. There
is
something wrong with her!”

Drawing rein and struggling to control her unreliable emotions, Daintry said, “Check the Duchess’s right hind shoe, Clemons. Perhaps she has picked up a stone.”

Wooden-faced, the groom dismounted and painstakingly checked all four of the mare’s shoes, one after the other. “Nothing, my lady. Like as not she’s strained that rear hock again.”

Charley said instantly, “That’s it, Aunt Daintry! We thought it was completely healed, of course, but I daresay it was still a trifle weak, or else she simply twisted it again. You will have to go back, Lady Catherine. How dismal for you!”