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He raised their hands and kissed the back of hers before releasing it. He tried to smile at her.
“I will teach David,” he said. “I will be a father to him in every way I can. I will ride with him. I will-”
“You must paint with him,” she said. “You must paint.”
But though he had calmed down considerably, there was still a coldness and a rawness at the core of his being, where he had not dared tread during all the years since he returned from the Peninsula.
“And you,” he said, realizing something suddenly with blinding clarity when he had not even been thinking about it, “need to go home, A
There was a brief, tense silence between them while the faint rushing sound of rain beyond the shelter mingled with the lapping sounds of the lake water.
“To Ty Gwyn?” she asked.
“To Gloucestershire,” he said.
“No.”
“Sometimes,” he said, “it is necessary to go back before we can move forward. At least I think that must be so, unwelcome as the thought is. I suppose we both need to go back, A
When he looked at her, he found her staring back, her face pale, her look inscrutable.
“It is what you want me to do,” he said.
“But…” She paused for a long moment. “I ca
“So be it, then,” he said, taking her hand in his again.
They sat in silence, watching the rain.
A
“Look at me, Mama,” he called.
“I am looking,” she assured him.
Kit had turned his attention to Lauren, helping her mount her sidesaddle, and lifting Sophia up to sit with her.
Sydnam came striding toward A
“Riding is not something you forget,” he assured her, correctly interpreting the look on her face. He gri
“Meaning she is ancient and lame in all four legs?” she asked hopefully.
He laughed.
“Set your boot on my hand and you will be in the saddle in no time,” he said.
“Let me do that, Syd,” Kit suggested, coming toward them.
“I thought I broke you of that habit years ago,” Sydnam said, still gri
“Of underestimating you?” Kit said. “Go ahead, then, and show off for your bride. Impress all of us.” He was chuckling too.
A
“You have made your point,” Kit said. “No one needs two arms. The second one is superfluous.”
Just yesterday afternoon A
But then, after the rain had stopped, they had picked their way through the wet woods and walked side by side up the long driveway, and David had met them in the hall with his excited tale of riding on his own, first with a leading rope and then with none, beyond the paddock and to the limits of the park before turning around and being rained upon before they arrived safely back at the stables.
“You should have seen me, Mama,” he had cried. “You should have seen me, sir. Uncle Kit says I have a good seat.”
“I could see that yesterday.” Sydnam had reached out a hand to ruffle his hair, and David had beamed happily up at him.
And suddenly a great deal of the gloom had dispersed.
And suddenly and for no real reason it had seemed that after all there was hope.
This morning they were going to ride over to Lindsey Hall to call upon the Duke and Duchess of Bewcastle. When they had mentioned their plans in the nursery after breakfast, David had begged to go too and had renewed his pleas even after A
“But James will be there,” he had reminded her. “Let me come, Mama. Please, sir?”
And then, of course, Andrew had wanted to go too. And Sophia had wormed her way into the group and tugged at the tassel on Sydnam’s Hessian boot to gain his attention.
Yes, this morning, despite a night spent at opposite sides of their bed and no real resolution to any of their problems, A
Andrew, mounted on his pony, was attached to Kit’s horse by a leading rope, the understanding being that he would ride as far as he was able and then be taken up before his father.
The two men mounted last.
A
“Ho!” David said admiringly. “How did you do that, sir?”
“There is very little a person ca
“I did not know then that you could ride,” David said, “or you could have taught me.”
“I would not be able to do my work at Glandwr if I could not ride, would I?” Sydnam said. “But now that you can ride, you will be able to come with me whenever you wish.”
“Will I?” David sounded interested.
“Of course,” Sydnam said. “You are my boy, are you not?”
They rode off side by side, following after Kit and Lauren and Andrew, and A
They rode at a very sedate pace all the way to Lindsey Hall, much to A
“I am always thankful to have Andrew with us when we go riding,” she said. “Kit is less likely to challenge me to a race.”
They both laughed.
“A race?” Kit said. “Heaven help us, a race with Lauren involves taking our horses into a fairly moderate trot. It is enough to make one weep, Syd, I swear.”
But A