Skylark jogged back to the winners’ enclosure, prancing about while Katie clipped her back onto the lead rope. Her eyes were on stalks and both Josie and Katie patted her neck over and over again.
‘She really enjoyed it! I think she’d go again straight off the bat!’ Josie said happily.
To prove it, the filly put in a few hops, bucking playfully as she came into the white-railed paddock. She was hardly blowing and so het up that she was reluctant to stand still. Josie dismounted, sliding down lightly, and loped off to weigh in, a huge grin on her flushed face under the pink-capped helmet. Betsy had come down with the others and ducked under the rails to give Skylark more pats and congratulations; the filly restlessly threw her head about, turning impatient circles as Katie scraped off the sweat and rugged her up again to stop her from getting cold.
‘Well done, Josie. You rode a textbook race,’ Sage said as the small jockey rejoined them, having been congratulated by a quietly ecstatic Dennis outside the weighing room.
‘Oh, that’s kind, thank you. She was an absolute privilege to ride. She ran the race herself and after a difficult start she pulled it out of the bag. She gave me some feeling! She’s got a Ferrari engine under her red bonnet.’ Josie hoped that she would get the ride again; she could tell this filly was an exciting prospect.
Betsy rushed over to thank her jockey and Sage stepped back to take it all in. Dolly leant in close and spoke quietly in her ear.
‘There’s that gorgeous trainer, Rafe, the one who came to dinner the other day. He’s up on that balcony looking all swarthy and brooding like Heathcliff. Oh shit! He’s looking at us.’ Dolly turned her eyes away hastily, embarrassed to be caught ogling.
Sage lifted her gaze up to where Rafe was standing about twenty feet away, higher up on some private balcony. They locked eyes and stared at each other hungrily, the longing between them almost palpable. Dolly gaped at Sage.
‘Fill me in, please!’ she said, her eyes wide.
Sage tore her gaze away.
‘It’s a long story.’
‘Time, we have got. Your grandparents want to stay for the last race.’ Dolly linked her arm through Sage’s and led her up towards the luring warmth of the bar. ‘Let’s get a drink, and you can tell me all about it.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
Love is involuntary. It does not often run in a yoke with prudence.
Anthony Trollope,Phineas Finn
Lady Dunbarton and Louis were just leaving as Sage and Dolly stepped through the door.
‘Sage! I’m going to watch this one run as he’s ours, but I will track you down another time. How are you fixed for next week? Can we eat luncheon together? I’ll call you.’ Lady Dunbarton was kind but firmly set on the idea and Sage was flattered.
‘Yes – next week is fine, Lady Dunbarton. Would you like to come to the house?’ Sage asked meekly, unsure of the correct protocol.
‘Oh, do call me Constance. How about a cosy girls’ lunch at the Bedford Lodge Hotel instead? Just the two of us.’ Lady Dunbarton beamed at Sage happily.
Sage felt as though they were playing high-stakes poker and that Lady Dunbarton was holding the winning cards. Louis peered at her slyly through half-closed eyes, like a lion who was toying with its supper.
‘That would be lovely,’ she said.
‘Good luck,’ Louis murmured. ‘The Gestapo has nothing on Mummy, and Rafe is the apple of her eye.’ He laughed and then turned his attention elsewhere. ‘Who is your friend?’ he asked, lazily scanning Dolly up and down with interest.
‘Come along, Louis,’ said Lady Dunbarton, then added, slightly less briskly, ‘I’ll see you next week, Sage.’
Dolly whistled softly under her breath as Louis followed his mother down the stairs.
‘Rather you than me! The best thing about dating Casper was that he had no parents!’ She then clapped her hands over her mouth in horror. ‘Ohcrap! Sage … I amsosorry – what a thoughtless, horrid thing to say. Please forgive me.’ She looked appalled and Sage took pity on her instantly, laughing at her distress.
‘Ha! Please don’t worry, Doll. I totally get it.’
‘I really am so sorry for being such an idiot. Where is your dad at the moment? Is he still off on his own somewhere?’
‘He’s down in Cornwall. I suspect he checks in with Bumpa occasionally but he’s still completely destroyed about losing Mumma. There’s not been much contact with me and Cas at all, though recently he tried to get in touch with Cas. He’d have had better luck with me. Lately I’ve wanted to see him again. I miss him.’
Dolly looked at Sage. She felt inordinate admiration for her friend who was so stoic in the face of such sorrow. She looked heartbroken leaning against the bar, biting her lower lip to keep her composure, never wanting to be the centre of attention. Dolly put her hand on Sage’s arm and spoke to the hovering barman.
‘Two glasses of red wine, please.’
