Authors: Lilac Lacey
When desert was cleared away, Tara rose slowly from her seat, trying to postpone the moment of truth and then she felt a warm hand on hers and Leo was taking her arm in his. ‘May I escort you, Lady Tara?’ he asked swiftly, as if cutting out someone else at a ball.
Slightly bewildered, Tara nodded and Leo led her in Rodney’s wake, through the house to a long corridor running down the north side. This was the Hulme’s gallery. She was in good company, Tara thought wryly, recognising paintings by Turner, Gainsborough and Constable. The Hulme lands and family had been painted only by the best. Now there would be a Fosse joining their ranks, she thought, and wondered for the first time if Leo were as nervous as she was. But he seemed perfectly composed, eager even, she thought, from the way he led her briskly down to the far end of the gallery, keen to show off his work and receive the adulation he deserved.
‘Happy Birthday, father,’ Rodney said as the he drew the group to a halt. ‘Here is your present.’ Tara found she hardly dared raise her eyes and when she did it was the faces of the other people, all looking at her portrait, which arrested her. They were looking at the painting, some appreciatively and others politely, but so far no one had yet turned to look at her in disbelief or scorn.
‘What a beautiful gift!’ Lord Hulme exclaimed. He shook hands with Rodney enthusiastically then came over to Tara and embraced her. His whiskery kiss on her cheek was fleeting and through it she was well aware that Leo had not relinquished his hold on her. His firm grip on her arm gave her some strength and she found she was able to smile quite steadily at Lord Hulme. ‘Thank you, my dear, for agreeing to be painted. I am very happy to be able to add the portrait of the daughter of an old friend to my collection, and the fact that she is a beautiful woman only adds to my pleasure.’
‘You are too kind, Lord Hulme,’ Tara managed to say, and she was sure she would not even have been able to do more than nod if Leo had not been supporting her.
‘That’s a cracker of a picture, Tara,’ Freddie said. ‘You look just like you did that time at Almack’s last year, you remember? The time Philippe gate-crashed and was about to be thrown out and you claimed him as your cousin.’
At the mention of Philippe’s name Tara felt Leo’s grip on her arm suddenly tighten, but it was a fleeting sensation, and looking at him he appeared as composed as ever. Still, she wondered, could he possibly be jealous of the Frenchman? Rodney was grinning from ear to ear with the success of his present and Tara saw that the gentlemen at least, were not inclined to compare her unfavourably with her portrait. She relaxed a little.
‘We should congratulate the artist on painting such an accurate likeness,’ Rodney said.
‘Hear, hear,’ Freddie said while Lord Hulme looked at Leo contemplatively.
‘You’re a dark horse,’ he said.
‘I think it is time we ladies withdrew,’ Lady Maude interrupted, asserting herself in her role as chaperone. Dutifully Susannah fell into step by her mother and Tara had no choice but to make her way to the green drawing room with the other women. But as she parted from Leo she looked back at him, wondering what Lord Hulme had meant. She had the distinct impression that he knew considerably more about Leo than she did herself.
The next day dawned as bright the last, although noticeably warmer, Tara thought, and wondered if a thunderstorm were on the way. When she came downstairs for breakfast she ran into Rodney in the front hall, peeing at the barometer. ‘It’s fixed on fair, he said, looking pleased. ‘I have a marvellous scheme for today; we can ride over to St Bourne’s Priory and take a picnic. It’s about five miles away, the ladies can travel in the landau and the gentlemen can ride.’
‘Have you no mounts suitable for ladies?’ Tara asked and then suddenly remembered Antonia conversing with Leo at Freddie’s dinner party on the subject of riding. No doubt she was a far more accomplished horsewoman than she was herself. Tara’s riding had been far more for practical purposes than for show. To her riding was a way to cross the family estate, not a means of parading herself in Regent’s Park. ‘But you are right,’ she added hastily, ‘five miles is a long way. The landau will be far more appropriate.’
But she was too late. ‘No, no, you have made a good point,’ Rodney said. ‘No doubt the chaperones will prefer to travel in the landau, but why should the young ladies be so confined? I shall send a message for ladies’ mounts to be prepared at once.’
Rodney rang for a servant and Tara made her way to the breakfast room. To her delight she found only Leo and Freddie there. She was beginning to find the company of the other ladies rather wearing and after the unveiling of her portrait last night she had pleaded tiredness and gone to bed, rather than wait for the inevitable unfavourable comparison of herself with her picture to be voiced.
‘We are to ride to St Bourne’s today,’ she said gaily, her heart lifting at the thought of a long ride in the country and firmly dismissing any thought that her handling of her horse might not be as good as Antonia’s. The day promised to be fun and she would be in Leo’s company, that was all that mattered.
Leo raised his eyebrows at her. ‘Ride?’ he asked laconically. ‘I thought the ladies were to travel by carriage.’
‘The ladies were,’ Tara said, grinning back at him, ‘Rodney changed his mind. Those of us who would prefer to go on horseback will be able to do so.’
Freddie shuddered. ‘I am never out and about at such a time of day and I am quite sure Tara is not either.’ If pushed Tara knew she would have to admit she rarely left her house before eleven in the morning, but she was suddenly reluctant to reveal to Leo what a decadent lifestyle she led. She was saved from having to answer by the arrival of Susannah and Antonia, who were both full of chatter about the proposed trip.
They made short work of breakfast, but as she rose to leave the room and dress for riding, Freddie caught Tara’s sleeve and held her back. ‘You seem to have gained another admirer,’ he said slyly, when they were alone.
‘What do you mean?’ Tara asked, taken aback, surely he couldn’t be referring to Lord Hulme?
‘Fosse,’ Freddie said. ‘Just look at how he painted you, you’re radiant in that picture. He’s completely fallen for you. Not that it’s not a good likeness,’ he added hastily, misinterpreting her silence. ‘But Fosse is clearly quite stricken by you. You could do worse,’ he said cryptically and left the room, leaving Tara quite speechless.
Did Freddie really mean to say he thought Leo was in love with her? It was a delicious thought. But would Leo act on it, and if he did could she accept him? She would have to renew her efforts to discover more about his background. She was a lady and she had an obligation to marry among her own social class. She could not disgrace her family by making an unsuitable match, her mother and Richard had had quite enough to contend with, living with the shame of her father’s suicide. Any decision she made had to take them into consideration quite as much as herself. Then she shook her head, she was getting ahead of herself, all she had to go on was Freddie’s speculation, Leo had not even kissed her. She should not worry about the future yet.
Rodney had picked out a bay mare for Tara, called Willow. She stood still enough by the mounting block but danced around the stable yard once Tara was in the saddle. ‘Don’t worry,’ Rodney called encouragingly. ‘She’ll settle down when we’re on the move, she’ll fall in beside Ash, she’s taken a fancy to him.’
It was easy for Rodney to say, Tara thought a little alarmed by her horse’s behaviour as it skittered over the cobblestones. She was vaguely aware of the others mounting, and of brisk discussion over which horse each was to ride, but most of her attention was taken up by Willow. Then, as if by magic, the mare suddenly settled and stood calmly by the stable gate, looking out at the woodland beyond. Perhaps she had a way with horses after all, Tara thought jubilantly. She looked over her shoulder to see if anyone else had noticed and found she was looking up at Leo who was mounted on a grey horse a good couple hands higher than her own. ‘You’re riding Ash!’ she said. It wasn’t her latent skill with horses that had calmed Willow, it was the presence of the horse she had taken a shine to. Then it dawned on her, Leo had contrived to ride that very horse. ‘You’re riding Ash!’ she repeated and smiled up at him laughingly.
As Rodney had said, Willow was keen to stay at Ash’s side. The party rode in couples down the lane, the landau bearing Lady Maude, Phyllis and the picnic hamper, trundling along behind them. ‘We can cut across this water meadow for a good gallop,’ Rodney called suddenly, reining in his horse. ‘Anyone who doesn’t want to should follow the road. We’ll meet by that stand of oaks over there.’
Leo looked at Tara enquiringly. ‘Do you want to gallop?’ he asked, and she saw that his eyes were alight.
She wasn’t entirely sure that she did, the meadow was flat and empty, presenting no obstacles, but her principal trouble with horses was in stopping them and on the far side of the meadow a grove of oak trees stood ready for her horse to crash into. However if Willow did whatever Ash did and Leo was confident of stopping his horse on the far side of the meadow she should come to no harm. ‘Yes, let’s.’ she said.
‘Good,’ Leo said. They waited for Freddie, Susannah and the landau to pass, then Rodney led the way off the road, down into the lush pasture.
‘Giddy up,’ Tara said tentatively to Willow, but the mare needed no urging. As soon as Ash surged forward she broke straight into a canter and rushed after him. Ahead of her Tara saw Leo dig in his heels and his horse leapt into a fully fledged gallop. Without prompting, Willow followed suit. Tara felt the rocking rhythm of the mare’s canter change to the smooth leap of the gallop and the next thing she knew she and the horse were flying across the meadow. It was exhilarating. She knew she couldn’t stop Willow if she tried, so she just gave herself up to the sheer enjoyment of it, somehow trusting implicitly that Leo would be in complete control and would manage to bring both the horses to a halt at the edge of the grove. The wind was in her hair and she had never felt such freedom, only made possible because Leo was at her side.
Then the edge of the meadow drew near and Leo reined in his horse. At once Tara felt Willow slow to a gentle canter which quickly became a trot and then after only a couple of steps her mare was walking at the other horse’s side. It was as she had known it would be, her horse was walking safely and sedately and due to Leo’s competence Tara had not had to attempt to assert herself over the animal at all. ‘That was wonderful!’ she exclaimed. He looked sideways at her and seemed to be laughing.
‘Do you enjoy the thrill of a race?’
‘Not usually,’ Tara said frankly. ‘Usually I’m too concerned with how I’m going to get the horse to stop. I only tend to gallop when I’m being bolted with.’ Then she wondered if she had been too honest. Leo was hardly likely to be impressed by such an admission. But he was laughing openly now.
‘I can’t imagine it,’ he said. ‘I can’t imagine any living thing daring to defy you in such away. I thought you were always in command.’
Tara did not deign to answer. A little way ahead of them Rodney and Antonia were waiting for the others by the side of the road. She realized that she and Leo were alone at last, for the first time since that fleeting conversation at breakfast the day before. This was the perfect opportunity to reopen her enquiries into Leo’s background.
‘You ride very well,’ she said.
Leo gave her a strange look. ‘I had plenty of practice in my youth,’ he said. Perhaps his family had worked on a farm, or with post horses. ‘Did your father work with horses?’ Tara asked.
‘You might say that,’ Leo said neutrally. Tara looked at him in frustration. Why was he so unwilling to be drawn? He had said himself the night of Freddie’s dinner party that there was no shame in an honest trade and what could be more honest than being a carter or a blacksmith. Then it struck her. His father had been a horse-thief! Somehow she had gathered that Leo’s father was dead, he had probably been hanged and Leo had been forced to fend for himself, turning to painting as his only means of making money. She stared at him, not knowing what to say, her heart beating painfully in her chest. She wanted to tell him that she would never hold his father’s crimes against him but at the same time she knew she could never bring herself to dishonour her family by bringing home the son of a horse-thief.
They arrived at the ruined priory shortly before one o’clock. Tara’s thoughts were still in a turmoil, but looking at Leo as he sat relaxed and entirely comfortable on his horse, letting it put its head down to graze, she was struck anew by how desirable she found him. She could not let her worries cloud this week they had together, it would be all they ever had and she owed it to both of them to enjoy their time together to the fullest. With great strength of mind she set her concerns aside and gave herself up to watching Leo. Casting her a lazy grin Leo leapt off his horse and led him over to a weathered hitching post. Willow sedately followed Ash and it was only natural, Tara realized with an inward smirk, for Leo to help her dismount. He was tall enough to reach her easily. He placed his hands on her waist and Tara allowed herself to jump down under his guidance. She felt him catching her as she descended and for once felt feather-light as Leo set her gently on the ground with ease.
‘Thank you,’ she said, smiling up at him, well aware that he hadn’t released his hold on her.
‘You’re welcome,’ he said as he slid his hands around her back drawing her closer. Tara caught her breath, they were standing between the two horses, sheltered from the casual glance, but surely he would not dare to kiss her in so public a place. She felt her body start to tingle at the very thought, and suddenly, despite the consequences, she wanted him to very much. She took a step closer so that she brushed against him. He felt hard and strong, unyielding, and the thought of how demanding he might be in a far more intimate situation made a shiver of anticipation run through her.