Mary Nichols - Lady Lavinia's Match

‘The house is called Ridgemere, but I am not at all sure of the exact acreage. It used to cover several miles in all directions, but my grandfather reduced the holding before he died. I think there might still be five hundred acres.’

‘Heathland?’ James queried.

‘Three-quarters of it is. It supports a prodigious number of sheep. And below ground there are mines.’

‘You own the mining rights?’ James queried.

‘Yes.’ Forestalling more questions, he turned from James to Lavinia. ‘One may gallop for miles and hardly meet a soul. I should like you to see it.’

‘Perhaps one day I shall,’ she said. ‘But until then, I must make what I can of the space available.’ And with that she dug her spur into Misty’s flank and galloped off across the grass. ‘Race you to that group of trees,’ she shouted behind her and then crouched over her mount and concentrated on riding.

It was a moment or two before the men gathered themselves to follow her and it was James, more used to her ways, who was first off the mark. She could hear the hooves of his stallion behind her and laughed at the sheer exhilaration of it. Not that she could win, she knew she could not. James had the swifter horse and she was handicapped by having to ride side saddle. He overtook her easily and Edmund was drawing abreast as they reached the trees and pulled up.

‘You would not have done that if we had been at Risley,’ she said, dismounting to rest her horse. ‘I would have been riding astride and given you a run for your money.’

‘Hoyden!’ James laughed as he slid from his horse, followed by Edmund. ‘I will put that to the test next time we are there.’

‘Done!’

‘I am sure I could not take advantage of a lady by beating her,’ Edmund said pompously.

‘Fustian!’ she said.

‘Tell you what, Wincote,’ James put in. ‘If you are so averse to riding against a lady, why not pit yourself against your own sex? Join us on Hampstead Heath in a fortnight’s time for some racing. Nothing formal, just a few friends competing against each other for ha’pennies.’

‘Very well. I shall be honoured.’

‘Oh, good,’ Lavinia said. ‘We shall organise that day in the country we talked of. The ladies can come and watch. Or,’ she added with a chuckle, ‘we could hold our own events.’

James sighed. It was just like Lavinia to take what was to have been a purely masculine occasion and turn it into a big event, but she was in such a good humour, her apparent annoyance over his presence dispelled, that he could not remonstrate with her. Lavinia at her sunniest was irresistible.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.