Page 14 of A Wild English Rose
When the stable master returned, leading a jet-black horse of some sixteen hands high, Cecily smiled her appreciation.
She came to the horse and took hold of the reins. “You are a beauty. Are you going to come out and spend the day with me?”
To the delight of all the stable hands gathered around, the horse responded with a snicker. The softening of his lower jawline and upper lip were the closest Thomas had ever seen to a genuine smile on a horse. Cecily had won another heart at Rosemount Abbey.
Cecily climbed into the saddle with such skill and grace that a murmur of appreciation rippled through the stable hands and their master. Thomas stifled a smile, trying against all hope to hide his obvious attraction to her. He avoided meeting the gaze of the stable master, a man who had known Thomas since he was a boy.
Thomas knew love was written all over his face.
As soon as they were clear of the stables, Cecily brought her mount up alongside his. “I must apologize for my behavior just then. When I caught sight of the placid mount, they had prepared for me, I saw red. Everyone seems to think a woman incapable of riding anything bigger or faster than a pony.”
“And you and I both know you are an accomplished rider. Trust me, I don’t think the stable master will make that mistake a second time,” replied Thomas.
He hoped there would be a second time. A small voice in the back of his mind whispered to him, telling him that if he played his cards right, by day’s end he would know where he stood with her.
“So where to first?” she asked.
“I thought we might take a ride into the village of Thorney, then on the return journey I could show you the Ionic temple. While you can see it from the house, it’s quite something up close,” he said.
Cecily dug her heels into her horse. “Race you!” she cried as Black Ace galloped away. Thomas urged his own mount on and settled low in the saddle, but as Cecily and her horse drew clear, he knew he was never going to catch them.
Please lord, don’t ever let her out of my sight.
She was waiting for him just outside the entrance to the village, her horse happily chewing on some grass by the side of the road. He rose in the saddle and bowed to her. When Cecily laughed at his gallant gesture, Thomas knew Cupid’s arrow had found its mark.
In the village, they visited the local shop and Thomas purchased cold lamb pies and a freshly baked apple tart. At the nearby tavern, he added a large bottle of ale and some cheese bread to their supplies. The tavern keeper packed all the goods into a basket which Thomas then proudly carried before him.
Cecily let out a low whistle when he appeared from the tavern. “Either you are inviting an army for breakfast and you haven’t told me, or you are trying to fatten me up.”
He looked down at the basket and winced. He was used to stocking up for the regular jaunts he and Freddie undertook through the countryside. The overabundance of victuals never posed a problem for his brother’s bottomless pit of a stomach.
“My apologies. I think I may have over-catered,” he replied.
“I am sure we can stretch the food into supper if there is any remaining after we return to the abbey. Good food should never be allowed to go bad,” she said.
Practical as well as beautiful. Thomas added to his growing list of things he found enchanting about Cecily.
On the road back toward the abbey, he steered his horse into a narrow lane which led off the main road. Cecily fell in behind. His concern that she would find the solitude of riding single file boring was swept aside when the sound of her voice drifted to his ears.
“I’ve been a wild rover for many a year
“And I spent all my money on whisky and beer.
“Da da dee, da da dum.”
He turned in the saddle and looked back at her. Cecily was in her own little world, happily singing.
When he caught her eye, she shrugged. “Sorry. I can only ever remember the first two lines. It’s an old Irish drinking song and my grandmother said it was beneath me to learn the whole thing.”
The lane ended at a gate. They dismounted, and after Thomas opened the gate, they led their horses through, and he closed itbehind them. After passing through a small copse of trees, they came to a clearing.
Cecily stopped. In front of them was the Ionic temple Thomas had pointed out to her from the garden the previous day. Beyond that, she could see the main house. They had come half circle back home.
“Ah,” she said, getting her bearings.
Up close, she realized that the temple was more than a simple garden folly. Its unfluted Ionic columns rose high into the sky, supporting a mock-Grecian roof. There was a set of steps which led up to what appeared to be a room with a door and glazed windows.
“It’s a proper building. I had assumed it was going to be a faux ruin and we would just admire it from a distance,” she said.
