Page 5 of Lady of Fortune
As Eddie looked up at the raucous crowd, his eyes stopped once more on Lady Julia Stone. He was closer now, though one could recognize her ethereal beauty from anywhere. She had certainly grown up, he mused, as he looked from her to her parents sitting with her, one on either side. They had always been decent employers, and he had regretted leaving them, but hadn’t been able to pass up the opportunity he had been waiting for his entire life.
Ah, little Julia. He smiled at the fond memories of her riding astride, and he wondered if she still did. She had been so young, so innocent, but he had always known she would grow to be a beauty. She must be at least two and twenty now, and he wondered why she wasn’t attending the race with a husband.
Not that it mattered. When he had said farewell to her and her family, he had known it would be the last he would ever speak with her or her brothers, who had been such companions of his through his childhood. They were all older now, of course, and the divide between them was greater than it ever had been.
Eddie was nearly thrown off balance when an elbow caught him in the ribs.
“Something — or someone — caught your eye there, Ed?”
He turned to good-naturedly smack his friend. He and Will had come up through the ranks together, and always found a way to keep one another humble, if nothing else.
“Just watching the crowd,” Eddie responded as they returned to the jockeys’ clubhouse to change. “Always lots to see up there.”
Will arched an eyebrow so high it almost met the line of his shockingly red hair. He looked as though he were still a youth, but he was just as old as Eddie.
“That there is, Ed, that there is. Particularly some of the lovely young ladies that have come to watch us fine jockeys race today.”
Eddie turned to his friend, seeing a knowing look in his eyes. So his perusal of the Lady Julia had not gone unnoticed.
“They’re not here for us, Will. They’re here for the horses and for the money.”
“Well, most of them will be sorely disappointed then,” his friend said with a smirk and a twinkle in his eye.
Eddie loved nothing more than the racetrack, particularly the horses themselves, but he would never understand how people — be they nobility or working-class men like himself — could risk all they had on a horse’s chances. It was much too far from a sure thing for him — a horse could be injured, sick, or, for whatever reason, not even make the race. Horses could be fickle, people even more so, and if a jockey or his steed had a bad day, well, there could go all of the fortunes one owned.
He loved a good thrill, but not that kind — not when he worked so hard for what he had, he thought as he and Will entered the building, and Eddie turned to find the scales to be weighed once more.
When the clerk was satisfied that Eddie hadn’t gained a stone following the race, Eddie entered the jockeys’ room, accepting well-wishes from his peers — some forced, others well-meaning — before finding his bags, ridding himself of just his helmet for now as he rummaged around for an apple. Before he celebrated today’s win, he wanted to have a final word with his horse. Nothishorse, he reminded himself. The horse he had shared the victory with. He headed toward the stables, where Valiant was now receiving a well-earned rubdown from one of Torrington’s grooms, and Eddie greeted the lad before coming around to the side of Valiant’s head. He crooned some words of endearment into the horse’s ear as he brought half an apple to his mouth, which Valiant ate quickly before nuzzling the side of Eddie’s head.
What he wouldn’t give for a horse like this — or this horse himself. But, like most things in life, Eddie would have to be content with taking what he could and yearning from afar.
“He’s a beaut, isn’t he?”
Eddie nearly jumped, so startled he was at the voice, and he turned to find Lord Torrington standing at the front of the horse’s stall.
“My lord,” he said with a nod of his head, and the Earl strode into the room, patting the horse himself.
“You did well today, Francis,” Torrington said, turning from Valiant to eye him. “You had me worried there for a moment, but you came through as you always do. You’ll be prepared to race Valiant in Newmarket?”
“For the Two Thousand Guineas? Of course,” Eddie said, already eagerly anticipating the race to come in the next few weeks.
“Good. You have a way with this horse and I enjoy the prize money,” the Earl said with a laugh, and Eddie forced a smile onto his face.
“I’ve arranged lodging for you, so you needn’t worry about that. I’ll expect you a week ahead of the Craven Stakes — in which I’d also like you to race — to give you a few runs with Valiant,” Torrington continued, to which Eddie nodded. “And the same payment as always, Francis. Which, I believe we can both agree, is more than fair.”
Which it was. Many of the owners were beginning to pay much better, to try to discourage jockeys from accepting bribes. There weren’t many jockeys, besides Will, who Eddie trusted, though he was on friendly terms with all of them.
“I’ll see you in Newmarket, Francis,” said Torrington, and then he was out the door without another look back at his jockey and his horse.
CHAPTER3
Julia felt like a young girl, excitement racing through her veins as the carriage neared Newmarket. She had been waiting for what seemed like months for the next couple of weeks, which would culminate in the Two Thousand Guineas, where Orianna would be tested. And for the first time, all was up to Julia.
Julia glanced over at her father, who was looking out the window with a smile resting in his cheeks. Garnet Stone, Earl of St. Albans, spent nearly every waking moment preparing for races such as these. Julia couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t hard at work determining with whom he should breed his finest mares, which colts he should sell, and which he should race. His passion had been contagious, and when her brothers lacked much interest in following in their father’s footsteps, Julia had gladly done so.
“Are you certain about this, Garnet?” Julia’s mother was now asking worriedly, and Julia took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as her father, thankfully, continued to provide his support.
“Of course, darling,” he said, reaching over to take Julia’s mother’s hand in his own. Thankfully, as much as he loved his horses, he loved his wife and his family even more. “It is not as though I’ve been sending Julia to Tattersall’s and nor is she doing any of the breeding, which, I agree, would be less than proper for a lady of her status. But as ladies frequently bet on the races and are found in the stands nearly as often as men, I do not have any concerns with Julia overseeing Orianna’s race.”
