Page 41 of Lady for a Season
“As you wish.” Lacey was no doubt like a gentle beast, but his heart was pounding. His experience in this very yard still made him shudder, but he did not want his fears to hold Maggie back. He was glad to leave the yard, to leave the smell of horses behind and for his breathing to slow.
But two weeks later when Lacey was brought to the front door for Maggie’s riding lesson there was a handsome black horse alongside her, with both Old John and a groom in attendance. Maggie, already at the door, hesitated.
“Good morning, Old John.”
“Good morning to you, Miss. I’ve brought this fine fellow along for His Grace to see.”
“Are you sure?” she asked him. “It seems unwise when Cousin Edward has not ridden for years.”
“Let’s see, Miss,” said the old man, unperturbed. Edward emerged behind Maggie, and Old John touched his hand to his cap. “Good morning, Your Grace.”
“A new horse?” asked Edward curiously.
“Yes, Your Grace. But a shy one, flighty. He’ll be needing a steady hand, but one of my lads will take good care of him. He’s a fine horse, just needs more care. He’ll walk alongside Lacey this morning with Miss Seton riding. She’ll show him the ropes, being so gentle herself.”
Edward looked the horse over from the steps, then slowlywalked down towards it, raised a hand to its neck. The horse shifted under his hand, nervous.
“There now,” he said softly. “There now. I won’t hurt you.”
The horse stamped its feet and Maggie put out a hand towards Edward, afraid for him. But Old John touched her arm and shook his head silently.
Maggie frowned. “It looks –” she began, wanting to saydangerous, but Old John shook his head again and put a finger to his lips.
“Needs some care, that one,” he repeated. “I’ll see which of the lads can be trusted to bring him on.”
“No,” said Edward, not turning away from the horse, one hand still on its neck. “I’ll take him for myself. What’s his name?”
Maggie stared. Edward, who had refused to ride, who seemed afraid of horses, was offering to tame and ride a horse Old John considered flighty?
But the old man nodded serenely. “Merlin, Your Grace.”
Edward took the reins from the groom and walked the horse forwards. “I’ll take him to the manege to see what he can do.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Half an hour later Maggie completed her own riding lesson, returning to the manege, where Edward had Merlin on a leading rein, making him walk, trot and canter, following the circular training arena round first one way and then the other.
“Why did you buy an untrained horse for His Grace?” Maggie asked Old John, who was watching Edward.
“He’s not untrained,” explained Old John. “You could ride him. But so far he’s needed a firm hand and His Grace don’t like to treat his animals that way. He’ll make him into a gentler beast before he rides him.”
Maggie was curious. “Did you know Cousin Edward would take him on when you bought him?”
Old John nodded. “I hoped His Grace would,” he said. “I’veknown him since he were a little lad, I know what kind of horse might draw his attention. Being shy himself, he must feel he is the master, not the beast to be trained.”
Maggie gave a laugh. “I think you might be a physician,” she said. “Or a magician.”
“I ain’t a book-learned man,” said Old John. “But I do know horses.”
“And dukes?”
He chuckled. “And dukes, or some of ‘em,” he conceded.
By June the rose garden was in full bloom and there was a heady perfume in the air. Now that the stable block was no longer out of bounds, Maggie and Edward occasionally walked down as far as the lake. The first time they did so, Edward stood for a long time looking over it, the gentle ripples on the surface, the ducks swimming by. He thought of the last time he had been here, the cold of the water closing over his head, eyes tight shut, willing himself to be gone from this life in which he felt trapped without an end in sight, then the distant sound of shouts and splashing and being grabbed, yanked to the surface, the sudden rush of air and light and coughing and choking as he was dragged to the shore by one of the gardeners. Within days, he had met Doctor Morrison for the first time.
“Did you come here often as a child?” Maggie asked.
He shrugged, trying to let go of the memory. “Sometimes. My brother was too fond of playing pranks on me though, even if we took the rowing boat out, he was always trying to find a way for both of us to end up in the water.”
