Page 6 of The Gentlewoman Companion (The Gentlewoman #4)

“That is not necessary.” She thrust her heel into Daisy and broke into a trot. At the gate, she turned and came back. Her seat was not snug against the saddle, making it hard for her to catch the horse’s rhythm, but she did not hesitate.

“See? I am competent.” She stopped next to him.

True. But she was unbalanced, and that posed a risk to her safety.

He would not ride with her until her form improved.

“Keep your…er…limb tight around the pommel. Very good.” She leaned to the right, and he put his hands in the air as if to straighten her, his pulse hitching.

He could not have her falling while he was responsible. “Hold yourself upright.”

“Riding is not so easy when legs are all to one side,” she said.

Legs? Limbs? The improper reference to her physique seemed to distress Miss Thorpe not at all.

“It looked as though you could not quite tune yourself to the horse’s step,” he said.

“Oh. That will come.” She waved as if his concern were nothing.

He did not trust her confidence. “Keep your spine in line with Daisy’s mane and tighten…everything. Ride around once more.”

She closed her eyes for a beat and exhaled, like a child told to put a toy away before tea. She urged Daisy on and trotted away, her posture much improved, but he continued shouting instructions as she took a wide circle around him. She pulled Daisy in front of him.

“Very good.” Halverton mounted Goliath. “Are you ready, then?”

As if not hearing, she gazed into the distance, her jaw tightening beneath soft pink cheeks. Blonde curls stirred in the gentle breeze. “I can do tha’,” she whispered so quietly that he understood only because he was staring at her lips.

“What can you do?” he asked.

She pointed with her chin. “Take tha’ fence.”

A low barrier separated the paddock from the forrest.

“You jumped your pony?”

“No, but Daisy is a great horse. I am sure we can do it together.”

She was absolutely not ready for jumps, but something about her bearing and expression reverberated against his own resolve.

Though her assurance was unfounded, he could see she would move forward, ready or no.

Her determination suddenly reminded him of his own step into obscurity as he joined Parliament, hoping he could become what his father had wanted for him.

His leap into the unknown, of course, was necessary due to his position as his father’s heir; Miss Thorpe surely had nothing constraining her to advance so hastily.

“Will you tell me how to jump?” she asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“You are not ready.”

She raised her brow. Clearly, being “ready” did not matter.

He sighed. “I don’t ride aside,” he said, “so I don’t know how to instruct a lady’s jump, but in theory—after warming up the horse for twenty minutes or so—practice your jumping stance at a walk, a trot, then a canter.

” He stood in his stirrups, demonstrating his position.

“Bend your knees and hover over the saddle, keeping your heels under your hips. I am not leaning forward much, just squatting above the saddle. However, riding aside, you are unable to hover. Perhaps tomorrow, you may ask the groom for better instruction.” He sat down, pleased to have laid the charge elsewhere.

“But your instructions were thorough, my lord.”

He knew he often overexplained and had been shouting instructions at her for twenty minutes. “You are funning me.”

“Yer the earl. It is not my place to tease.” Her eyes danced.

“Let’s ride, then. No faster than a trot.”

Over the next half-hour, they made little conversation, but Halverton watched Miss Thorpe make steady progress. By the time they approached the stable, she and Daisy moved as one.

A short distance from the riding yard, Miss Thorpe drew Daisy to a stop and squinted ahead. At the fence.

“No,” he said. “Wait! No, no…” She was gone. “Don’t lean. Pull up!” Miss Thorpe wavered to one side then overcorrected. “Tighten your middle!” he shouted, knowing she could not hear. He held his breath.

Her posture straightened. She bobbed in perfect tempo with the horse.

Daisy approached the fence. A visceral cry tore from him.

He could not turn away any more than he could prevent the tragedy that was certain to happen.

Daisy’s front legs lifted. Miss Thorpe leaned forward. Thud. Daisy trotted into the paddock.

Miss Thorpe remained seated. She’d done it.

Her laughter rang like a faerie spell, dangerous and irresistible. “Well, I’m blowed!” Her delight echoed across the yard.

He tore after her, taking the fence as she had. “What were you thinking? You could have fallen!”

She laughed again. “I am intact. No need to quiddle.”

“I’m not, but I should be, whatever…whatever ‘quiddling’ is. That was the most reckless—You are a beginner!”

Flushed and grinning, she said, “I almost can’t believe I did that, but the idea would not loosen its grip.”

“ I can hardly believe you will walk away alive!” He breathed heavily, words failing to articulate his fury. Did she not understand he was accountable for her safety?

“You made it sound so difficult, but the trick is balance and absorbing the jump. It was the perfect adventure for today.”

Not a bit of regret traced her face. Impertinent. She was as disrespectful as the toothless woman begging for tuppence.

“Miss Thorpe, promise me you will never do something so rash again,” he said.

“If you are determined to repeat that, it will not be on one of my horses. I could never forgive myself if I had to return to my mother and explain how I’d failed in my responsibility to look after your well-being.

” He stared at her until she blinked and looked at her hands.

“You are right, coss.”

He blew out a sigh. “Thank you. Frankly, I have never been so frightened in all my life.” His heart still thudded her death march.

“That was the point.” She looked into his face, blue eyes piercing his. “To be a little frightened. To feel a little thrill. To feel alive. But without yer superb direction, I am sure it would have ended in disaster.”

He stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded. Miss Thorpe was not what he had expected. He eventually came to himself, dismounted, and extended his hand to help her from Daisy.

“I am truly sorry I frightened you. Don’t be angry.” Her gaze remained fixed on him, hopeful.

If she was waiting for him to accept her apology, she would be disappointed. “See that you don’t do it again.”

She nodded, turned her back to him, and walked toward the house. When almost out of sight, she began skipping and threw both arms in the air. With his terror subsiding, a small smile tugged his lips. Perhaps he did feel a little more alive after all.