“I will have perfectly proper and acceptable questions to ask. I will share these with you before we leave tomorrow, so you can see if they pass your muster. Will that be sufficient?” She took another sip of tea and looked at her mother, to find Honora’s narrowed eyes studying her closely.
“What are you plotting, Clara?”
Clara widened her eyes. “Why, nothing, Mother. I only want to be a good daughter and appropriate match for the Duke of Wykeham.”
“I do not believe you. If you are devising some way to sabotage tomorrow’s call—”
“I have not considered any such thing.”
Honora set her cup down on the table and leaned closer to Clara. “I warn you, Clara—”
“I promise you, Mother. For the next two months I will behave properly. Pristine and obedient. I will win the duke’s favor, and you can gladly rejoice when he ships me to the border.”
“Hm.”
Clara sipped the tea, which had gone cold. She set it down. “Mother, it is really quite simple. It is too hard to fight you and Papa and the duke and Society all at once. I do not understand why things have changed among us, but quarreling with you exhausts me. I surrender. I will do what I can to secure a position so that you do not have to concern yourself with me any longer. If marrying the Duke of Wykeham is what is required to get me out of your house, then that is what I will do.”
Honora pursed her lips again. “You will have to prove this to me.”
“Anything you ask.”
“You will deliver the questions to me just after breakfast tomorrow.”
The tea began to sour on Clara’s stomach. “Of course. What time is our call on the duchess?”
“Three.”
Clara stood, feeling a bit lightheaded. “If you will excuse me, I will get Radcliff started on the sapphire gown.”
Honora hesitated, then reached for her cup again. “Very well. I will see you at supper.”
Clara wanted to run. Instead, she pushed her shoulders back and strolled from the room.Please, Rose, let me comewas her sole thought as she headed back up the stairs.Please.
*
Saturday, 20 August 1825
Hyde Park
Just before six in the afternoon
Michael leaned forward,his weight on the stirrups as he gave Copper his head. The big bay’s muscles bunched and rippled beneath Michael as Copper broke from a canter into a gallop. Michael could hear as well as feel the rhythmic thud of hooves as the air whipped around them, forcing Michael to squint, even as he bowed closer over the horse’s neck. Copper’s head nodded as his legs stretched and bent, consuming the ground beneath them. The long mane streamed back, the ends stinging Michael’s cheeks. His eyes watered, and the world narrowed to the wind and the sensation of Copper’s speed and power. Michael’s shoulders felt motionless, even as the rest of his body moved within the same rhythm, shifting as the horse’s weight moved from front to back, over and over. He felt as if he were part of Copper, as if they were one creature. Weightless, breathless.
Free.
It did not last long. Even in a field as far away from Rotten Row as Michael could get, this was Hyde Park, not the rolling hills and expansive meadows of Ashton Park. Too soon, they headed for a copse of trees. Using his knees, he slowed Copper gradually through the gaits, settling again on the saddle. Back at a walk—both horse and man gasping for air—Michael could not help but laugh. Joy soared through him.
“We have to do this more often, Copper, my friend.”
The big horse’s ears twitched.
“I know, I know. I’ll get you to back to the fields as soon as I can. Patience, I am afraid, is needed of both of us. It is turning into a most eventful summer.”
Copper snorted.
Michael laughed again and tugged on the reins, turning Copper toward Ashton House. “Believe me, I know. I will try not to neglect you for so long. But you will have new friends come Monday. With luck, their arrival will be a new beginning for all of us.”
As they headed home, they met few people on the streets. Most of the visitors to Hyde Park were still strolling the Row, while it was that time of day when others would be paying late afternoon calls. He passed a few gentlemen obviously headed to court some young lady or another, while carriages transported young girls and their mothers to teas or soirees. Maybe. With his time in Kent, and with Beth’s departure to Yorkshire for an extended stay with Rose’s Aunt Sophie, Michael had lost track of pending Society events, with the exception of a few upcoming balls.
