Miss Whiston nodded. “I agree.” She pointed towards a bench a little further up the trail. “Would you mind assisting my sister to the bench?”
“I would be honored to,” Charles said, offering his arm.
Miss Henrietta placed her hand on his arm and allowed him to lead her down the path. “I do apologize that I have made you a public spectacle, as well.”
“That is the least of my concerns,” Charles replied.
“My mother is going to kill me,” Miss Henrietta muttered.
“It was hardly your fault that a snake spooked your horse.”
Miss Henrietta pursed her lips together, then said, “That won’t matter to my mother. She will be far more concerned that I made a fool of myself in Hyde Park.”
“I think you are underestimating her.”
“I daresay that you don’t know my mother,” Miss Henrietta said. “She values being proper and prim over anything else.”
“But you could have been seriously hurt falling off your horse.”
Miss Henrietta glanced over her shoulder at the spectators. “How long do you suppose they will continue to watch me?”
“I can’t rightly say, but it is a sad state of affairs that these people will gawk at someone else’s misfortune.” He stopped at the bench and assisted Miss Henrietta as she sat down. “Are you sure you are well?”
“I am,” she replied. “This isn’t the first time I have fallen off my horse.”
“It’s not?”
“Although, last time I landed in manure, so I should be grateful there was none around today,” Miss Henrietta shared.
“That sounds awful.”
She gave him a sheepish smile. “I smelled so bad that my mother took one whiff of me and sent me to the bath.”
“I can imagine that would be the case.”
Miss Whiston approached them and sat down next to her sister. “I have secured our horses while we wait for Lord Brixton to retrieve yours.”
“Thank you for doing so,” Charles acknowledged.
“It was the least I could do.” Miss Whiston shifted on her bench to face her sister. “Let’s hope this doesn’t make it into the morning newspaper.”
“I hope not,” Miss Henrietta said. “Mother and Father would be furious.”
Miss Whiston placed a hand on her sister’s sleeve. “I am just glad that you are all right.”
“Thank you, Marjorie.”
“What caused your horse to rear up like that?” Miss Whiston asked.
“A snake slithered across the path.”
“I am surprised; Piper isn’t one to spook easily.”
“I agree.” Miss Henrietta met Charles’s gaze and shared, “My father selected Piper for me because of her docile nature.”
“Is that so?” he asked.
“He felt that a headstrong horse would just get me killed,” Miss Henrietta said. “But Piper is quite fast, and I have even convinced her to jump a few hedges.”
