Page 35 of His Duchess in Disguise
“Do you think you can ride today? How is your hand?”
“My hand is much better, thank you. I don’t think it would keep me from riding. It is my left one, after all. I might need a little help mounting.”
“Excellent. Here is what I propose. Captain Arnault purchased the rest of the horses from the auction where you got Beauty. Some of them will do nicely for military mounts, but some of them are too temperamental, too small or too old. We will need to dispose of them in some manner. I have no wish to keep them here. However, if we can establish that they are sufficiently well trained to be used as ladies’ mounts, we should be able to sell them readily enough.”
“You want us to ride them?” Emma gave a little bounce, her eyes sparkling.
“Exactly. Do you feel up to it?”
“Up to it? I would love it! To be outside for a day would be wonderful. Not that I’m not happy with the library,” she added hastily.
“A little outing then. Or perhaps several short outings. Miss Higginsby and Mr. Hamilton will ride with us to keep all proper and to help exercise and assess the horses.”
Emma then glanced down at herself. “I’m not quite dressed for riding.”
“That has been thought about. There is a trunk of old riding habits in the north guest room. They are kept for visitors who did not come prepared. They are, I believe, cast-offs from my aunts and my mother. They are not likely to be in the first mode, but they should serve well enough. Miss Higginsby can help you dress.”
In short order, the two ladies had located a riding habit that was sufficiently modern not to have a train or similar accoutrements. It took only a little pinning here and there to make it fit. Miss Higginsby pronounced it, “shabby but serviceable.”
In a very short while, the four of them were riding out along the trail to the stone circle. It was a gorgeous morning. The air was crisp and clean. Emma drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Kinda gets you, don’t it?” Miss Higginsby observed. “I likes ridin’ but I don’t get the chance often.”
“Me either,” Emma replied. “This is a lovely opportunity. I’m not sure what prompted the idea, but I certainly didn’t want to turn it down.”
“Somethin’ about some o’ these horses not bein’ real well broke. Guess the Duke doesn’t want to unload them on anyone unsuspectin’ like.
“This one seems quiet enough. I can’t imagine her doing anything untoward.”
The Duke dropped back to ride beside them for a moment. The land was level and unobstructed in this area. “That mare isn’t likely to do anything too unusual,” he said. “But she is a little too old to send into battle. What do you think of her gait?”
“Very smooth and comfortable, Your Grace. Somewhat like an old rocking chair.”
“Excellent. We’ll ride up to the stones and back today. Put these four through their paces.”
The trail narrowed again, and somehow Miss Higginsby rode on ahead with Mr. Hamilton, while the Duke continued to ride beside Emma.
“What did you think of our standing stones, Miss Smith?”
“They are very large, Your Grace, but not very good shelter in bad weather. Whatever do you suppose they were intended to do?”
“No one is quite sure. They can act as a sort of giant sundial that shows the time of year. Perhaps they were used by primitive people to help them understand the seasons.”
“That does seem useful. I should imagine that it would be a good thing to have the means to know when to plant and when to harvest.”
“Indeed so.”
They rode for a few minutes in silence, then Emma asked, “How long have you been the Duke, Your Grace?”
“Only a few weeks,” he sighed. “My father and older brother succumbed to the same illness. I came home just in time for the funeral.”
“Where were you, Your Grace?”
“Out with the Navy, Miss Smith. I was an admiral before I sold my commission so I could come home and run the estate.”
“How dreadful for you, to lose the last of your family.”
“Oh, not quite the last. There is my cousin, Reginald, and a few other cousins, uncles, and aunts. My father and I were not ever close. I did not think I would miss my brother, but I find that I do. We often went shooting together at this time of year.”
