Page 26 of Snapdragons
“Why Midnight?” Niles watched her with curiosity.
“I’ve watched her when I’ve visited the stables. She is spirited but also well-behaved and responsive. That will give me options.My ride this morning can be as sedate or challenging as I wish it to be.”
“You are precisely correct.”
“You know the animal well,” she said, “though it’s not your own.”
He shrugged. “I helped Digby decide if he wanted to purchase Midnight a couple of years ago.”
“Just like the filly.” That was intriguing. “Do people often consult you on horse purchases?”
“All the Gents have done so at one time or another. I find horses endlessly interesting, and I have ridden dozens upon dozens. The Gents often ask for my thoughts, and I’m seldom wrong.” He gave the explanation with dismissal in his posture and tone but not the sort that undermined what he was saying. It spoke more of modesty.
He had an interest in horses and enough of an understanding to be consulted about them regularly, though he wasn’t already entirely convinced of his own infallible expertise, which far too many gentlemen had shown themselves to be when she’d mentioned her own experience with and understanding of horses. And while he was quieter than his friends, he had shown himself more than willing, and even comfortable, talking with her. He came to the rescue of servants and of insulted Irishwomen. He was kind.
None of this had been mentioned in the letters Liam had exchanged with Niles’s grandfather. She wished it had been.
“The Seymours are quite well known in Ireland for our horses,” she said. “I don’t know if you were ever told that.”
“My father did mention it.” Niles didn’t seem as excited as she was at having something so significant in common.
He was allowing her to join him on his ride though. That could be seen as a good omen, couldn’t it? A stablehand led two horses out of the stables. Midnight was fitted with a side saddle. Shereally was a beautiful horse. Niles’s roan mare was handsome as well.
“Does Mr. Layton have any white horses?” she asked Niles.
“Truly white, no,” Niles answered. “The little gray filly will be a striking shade of white in a few years’ time, but she won’t still be here.”
“I have a true-white mare. Pink skin, pink eyes. She’s the most beautiful horse I’ve ever seen.”
“A truly white horse is a rare thing,” Niles said. “I think that makes them all the more awe-inspiring.”
Oh, how could he not be excited to be discovering these connections between them? If she couldn’t build upon these commonalities, she didn’t know how to even begin winning his regard.
Penelope used a mounting block and the assistance of the stablehand to get into the saddle. Niles was quickly in his saddle as well, and they began at a leisurely pace as they left the stable yard.
“Why did you name your mare Morwenna?” Penelope asked.
“It is an old Cornish name,” he said. “As mine is an old Cornish family, we have a tendency to find inspiration in that corner of the kingdom.”
“My favorite pony when I was little had a very old Irish name: Cairbre. It was the name of two kings of Ireland, and I think the pony knew it.”
“Rather pleased with himself, was he?” Niles spoke very personably and even seemed at ease. He didn’t always.
“Extremely pleased with himself.” She grinned at the memory. “He trotted about like a monarch.”
“The most regal of kings do run about with saddles on their backs.” Niles made the observation with such earnestness that had she not looked over at him and seen that now-familiar hint of a smile on his face, she wouldn’t have realized he was jesting.How many people missed his delightful sense of humor because he offered it so subtly?
“I understand saddles are as much a royal accoutrement as a crown,” Penelope said. “And so very refined.”
“Indeed.”
It felt good to have a slightly ridiculous conversation. There’d not been as much merriment in their family the last few years. Father’s death had been a blow. Penelope’s failure to make a match in Dublin society frustrated her socially ambitious mother. Liam had worked hard to find a husband who met Penelope’s requirements, and that hadn’t worked out well. Life had been far too heavy.
“Most ladies prefer a sedate morning ride.” Penelope patted Midnight’s neck. “But I am hoping this lass’ll run.”
“She will,” Niles said. “I’ve seen it.”
“Fast?”
