Page 79 of Till Death Us Do Part: Book 2
“His name is Omega. Do not let his size worry you. He is the steadiest horse I know. I believe if he happened to stumble on a cannon, and it fired right next to him, he would just amble over to the cannoneer and beg for an apple.”
She laughed. “I was not intimidated in the least. You seem like a man who knows his horseflesh. Shall we?”
With that, he assisted her to the mounting block, then onto Omega. He briefly wondered if she had ever ridden astride or jumped but did not ask. There might be time for that later, but for that afternoon, he just wanted to ride.
Traffic was light, and they rode side by side most of the way out of town, so long as they were willing either to hurry through a gap or wait a moment for one to clear. Mrs Thorne was clearly not in the least afraid of Omega, nor was the horse the least bit put out by her. It was as if horse and rider had been together for years, and he found it quite enthralling.
He had a young stallion he was considering as a replacement for Omega when he went out to pasture, or for hunting or racing, both of which the old stallion found distasteful and annoying.
Once they were out on a country lane, he gave her a wicked smile and was rewarded with the sight of Omega taking off first at a trot, but within a few lengths, a full gallop. He was reminded of the horse in his full glory of youth, after Elizabeth and before middle age, running like the wind. Mrs Thorne laughed like mad when he got to full speed, and Darcy marvelled that she had that kind of horsemanship, but he had never been able to detect it. He supposed it made sense, since various clues had made him believe her long-dead husband was a man of means.
After a run of half a mile, they cooled the horses down to a walk, eventually stopping at a nearby stream to let them water. There was a nice mounting rock nearby, so with permission, Darcy lifted Mrs Thorne down so they could take their leisure for a few minutes.
“This is lovely. It is hard to believe all this is only a few miles from the centre of Edinburgh.”
“Do you enjoy the country?”
She seemed to have to think about the answer for a time, and finally said, “I used to. I was raised in the country and found it very much to my liking, but I do not pine for it, if that is what you mean. It was a different life, and I was a different person. When I am in the country, I am a country girl. When I am in the city, I am a city girl. It is as if I am a completely different person, both inhabiting my body at the same time, but each yielding the right of expression to the other in the right circumstances. I know that sounds like sentimental nonsense, but—”
Darcy interrupted, “Not nonsense at all, madam. Anyone who truly understands both town and country would say much the same.”
He thought back to Bingley’s assertions along the same lines, which reminded him of his time with Elizabeth, who even after five years, was never far from his mind. He was certain he would have loved her had he just listened to her on their wedding day, but that was water under the bridge, and he had a handsome woman sitting beside him who deserved his attention.
He started when he noticed he had been inattentive and started to apologise. “My appol—”
She simply squeezed his arm. “No apologies necessary. Were you thinking ofsomeone else?”
He nodded, so she said, “Never apologise for that. It shows a depth of feeling, and anyone worth knowing will understand it.”
He nodded, not feeling the need to agree. He did agree, but somehow thought that saying it would be disrespectful, as if her opinion were not worthy without his validation, when in fact she was more likely to be the victor in any dispute. She had, over the course of the five months they had known each other, shownherself to be uncommonly witty, but that wit sometimes needed more thought than others.
After a half-hour’s rest, they mounted and continued towards his ultimate destination.
As they crested the rise into the small village, she noticed the changes to one of the outlying buildings and sat up higher in the saddle to get a better look. “Oh, look! The foundling house has some renovations.”
“Yes, I know.”
She looked at him. “Are you trying to bribe me, Mr Darcy?”
“Why would you think that?”
“It seems entirely too coincidental that you brought me to see that the charity I support has had visits from you as well.”
“Are you so exclusive with your support then?”
She laughed and shook her finger at him. “I see what you did there—but I thank you. I give what I can, but more is better than less.”
He nodded with a smile. “This case was serendipitous. One of the estates I visited had a large construction project just finishing last month, and another estate had one starting two months later. Several craftsmen were looking for work to tide them over. I engaged them here and got the work done for about two-thirds of what it might usually cost, because my friend promised them lodging through the autumn and winter. It all came out well for everyone involved.”
She smiled. “I will not be jealous of your showing me up. I am just happy to see it. What did you make?”
“A new schoolroom, kitchen, a dozen new beds, and I set up an annuity to cover the wages for three more matrons and additional food in perpetuity.”
“Shall we look around then?” she said, then with a laugh she urged Omega forward into a trot and then a run.
The children of the home were as overly excited by the two horses as you might expect, particularly when Mr Darcy begged to be excused for twenty minutes and returned with a cob and a pony from the local stable.
Amanda smiled as he gave the children rides and thought it a very fine day—a very fine day indeed.
