Page 31 of The Rake's Daughter
“We are?”
“We most definitely are.”
“How?”
“I haven’t worked it all out yet, but I will.” She glanced at her sister. “Cinderella, youwillgo to the ridotto—whatever it is.” They both laughed.
“Mind you”—Izzy’s voice sobered—“it’s a bit risky. It could all come crashing down around our ears, and if it does, you’ll be ruined.”
“Me? What about you?”
“Oh, I’m ruined anyway,” Izzy said. “Thanks to my father, I was born ruined.”
“Then we’ll be ruined together,” Clarissa declared. “High society doesn’t matter to me anyway. I just want to find a nice, comfortable husband, and then I won’t care if I never attend a ball or ridotto.”
***
I’m taking my ward and her half sister riding with me tomorrow,” Leo said to Race that evening over dinner at his club. “Would you care to join me?”
Race gave him a cynical glance. “For something that purports to be an invitation, why does it not sound particularly inviting?”
“Because it’s a favor,” Leo admitted with a wry chuckle. “Studley’s daughters have asked me to get them horses, but I have no idea how well they ride. I would appreciate some support—you know how women generally overestimate their abilities on horseback.”
“Lord, yes, I recall one young lady who shall remain nameless. She was determined to hook a friend of mine and attempted to cut a dash to impress him at a house party. Hobbs was the huntin’, fishin’, shootin’ type and a bruising rider to hounds. The chit told him she hunted all the time—that she quitelivedfor a good chase—so the silly ass took her at her word and, on the day of the hunt, put her up on one of his hunters.”
He snorted with remembered amusement. “She rode with all the grace of a sack of potatoes, and bounced and wobbled along until they got to the first fence, where she fell off—before the horse even jumped—and proceeded to shriek like a stuck pig.”
“Ouch. What did your friend do?”
“Kept going without a backward look, of course. Nothing gets between Hobbs and a hunt. The young lady and her doting parents departed that same day in high dudgeon.”
Leo chuckled.
“The irony is that Hobbs ended up marrying a woman who doesn’t ride at all. She has no interest in horses or hunting, and yet they seem to suit each other perfectly. She sees him off at the start of a hunt with a stirrup cup, and welcomes him and his companions home at the end of the day with a good hot dinner, and that’s it.”
Leo laughed. “My guess is these girls can ride, but how well is another matter. They claim to have ridden regularly, but how far, how fast and on what kind of mount I am yet to ascertain. I might not have wanted the charge of the Studley girl, but I don’t want her breaking her neck.”
“Lord no. And the other girl?”
“She’s another reason why I want you along. The girl is a minx.”
Race’s expression was ironic. “So you’ll watch over your precious charge and I get to handle the minx.”
“Miss Studley is not my precious charge,” Leo said in arepressive tone. “But she is my responsibility. As for her half sister, I fancy you might enjoy the task.”
“Very well, I’ll come, if only out of curiosity. But I’ll want a slap-up dinner afterward. And some of that exotic liquor you brought back from your travels. I’m curious to try it.”
“It’ll blow your head off.”
Race grinned. “Perfect. I expect that by then I’ll need it.”
***
Will you look at that!” Izzy exclaimed in disgust. It was almost ten, and she and Clarissa, dressed in their riding habits, were watching from the window, waiting for Lord Salcott to arrive with their horses. “I knew it! He’s brought us a pair of fat old rocking horses.”
“They mightn’t be that bad,” Clarissa said, peering over her shoulder to where Lord Salcott and another gentleman were coming down the street mounted, with a third, who was obviously a groom, leading two plump mares who plodded along looking bored.
Izzy snorted. “I bet he asked for ‘quiet, well-behaved ladies’ mounts’ and look at them, not an ounce of spirit between them. And yet look at the glorious creaturehe’sriding!” She eyed his magnificent chestnut gelding balefully.
