Page 26 of The Secret Love of a Gentleman (The Marlow Family Secrets #3)

Rob leaned down and checked the saddle’s strap underneath the horse Caro would ride, ensuring the buckle was secure, and tight enough to hold the side-saddle safely.

From his bent position beneath the horse, he saw the skirt of her habit swaying with her strides as she approached. He straightened up, and then his mouth dried.

She wore a dark-blue riding habit that was tight over her bosom and trim at her waist. He had not seen that habit before.

If it was new, he hoped it meant she would continue to ride when he left.

She would be sweltering wrapped up in layers of undergarments and that velvet, though.

The air was heavy with heat. He was dressed as casually as he might be if he rode with a male friend; he wore no morning coat, nor gloves or a hat, and he had rolled up his shirt sleeves to his elbows and removed his neckcloth so his shirt hung open in a v at his neck.

She had, at least, left her hat and gloves off. Her hair was pinned up in one big, swirling knot at the back, with a few stray curls framing her face .

‘Caro.’ He nodded a welcome. They had spoken very little all day because they were in Drew and Mary’s company.

He bent and braced his hands together, forming a step. She lifted her skirt and placed the sole of her boot in his palm, held one of his shoulders and the pommel of the saddle, as he lifted her up, boosting her into the saddle.

He left her in the care of the groom, then, and mounted his own horse.

His carriage horses whinnied in their stalls.

Perhaps he should have taken her out in his curricle, they could have talked more easily. But they could probably both do with blowing away the cobwebs of emotions with a good gallop.

He looked at Caro and smiled as he tapped his heels and rocked his pelvis forward to set the horse into a walk. She drew alongside him.

Over the last weeks they had found numerous topics on which to converse, but now he could think of nothing to say.

When they left the courtyard Rob noticed the colour of the sky in the distance, a hazy brown and grey. It looked like storm clouds. A warning that the hot weather was about to break in style, but a good rainfall would freshen the air for his journey tomorrow.

He looked at Caro. ‘I feel sorry for you riding in a habit in this heat. I have heard some women ride in breeches.’

‘I would not.’

He laughed. No, he could not imagine it. She was too feminine for such rash behaviour. I will miss her.

He should regret their kisses, but he did not. He would never forget this summer. He had been content here… But now, all he had was this last hour alone with Caro and one evening with Drew and Mary, and then this summer would be over.

The war of emotions burst into life in his chest: sadness because he would be leaving here and leaving Caro, and excitement because tomorrow he would ride to London to begin his life.

The future was a canvas for him to paint.

He could not regret his need to leave any more than he did not regret this time with Caro.

He had respected and admired her and then discovered a precious bond that was so much more than friendship.

Caro lifted into a trot and led the way along the drive. She turned the horse to the left when they reached the road, riding towards the home farm, beneath the shade of the trees that lined the road. As a cart passed, he rode in single file behind her.

When they reached the farm, they had a choice: to follow a track into the woods, which was on Drew’s land, or to turn into the home farm pasture fields which led on to John’s land.

Caro rode through the farmyard, then urged her horse to jump the gate into the field.

They had planned to ride through the trees, but the sun was no longer blazing down, it was struggling to break through a dense mist of cloud.

Rob kicked his heels and urged his horse to follow. Once he’d leapt the gate, he pulled up. She had stopped.

‘I want to ride on John’s land and gallop for a long ride,’ she said.

He nodded; he felt like doing the same.

She kicked her heels and set off into a slow trot so as not to disturb the herd of dairy cows in the field.

The perfume from her hair carried in the humid air.

Lavender. He rode closer to her as she neared the next gate.

She pulled the reins, slowed the horse, leaned down to lift a loop of rope from the post and walked the horse forward to open the gate for them to pass.

She pulled the gate with the rope to close it again and lay the loop back across the post to ensure the dairy cattle were safely penned .

The next field was fallow pasture. They lifted into a canter. The horses’ hooves thudded on the thick turf.

The whole sky was turning the colour of stained linen, but Caro showed no sign of turning back and he did not have the heart to end their ride. Perhaps the storm would pass over.

They rode parallel to the woodland on the other side of the stone boundary wall.

In places, the wood was the boundary between John’s and Drew’s lands, in other areas the woodland crossed the boundary.

The next gateway, Drew constructed when he bought the manor and its land from John.

It connected Drew’s pastures and John’s parkland.

Caro kicked her heels and urged the horse into a gallop, then jumped the gate.

Rob did the same and jumped the gate behind her.

Then she was off, balanced over the saddle and letting the mare have its head, the horse’s hooves tossing up clods of grass and soil. He raced after her.

The advantage to riding through the parkland on which John’s deer herd grazed was that you could gallop for miles without encountering a wall, hedge or gate.

He did not race, but kept a pace with her, in case her mare hit a rabbit hole and came down. The air became denser, as the storm clouds darkened with that odd brown dirty colour that came before a lightning storm.

An unmistakable rumble of thunder shook the air. He hadn’t seen the lightning but it must have been there somewhere in the distance. It would be a death wish to keep the horses out in a lightning storm.

He leaned across and caught Caro’s reins for a moment, pulling on the leather strap to slow her horse as he slowed his. ‘We need to head to the woods. We can shelter there. ’

With every second the sky looked angrier and more ominous.

Caro spun her mare around and hurtled towards the wood as fast as she had been riding in the other direction.

A sharp clap of thunder shook the sky; Caro’s horse whinnied and reared its head, stopping suddenly and stamping, throwing its head back, but Caro held her seat and calmed the mare with a pat or two on the neck.

His horse became restless too, sidestepping nervously.

The animals must be able to smell and feel the storm in the air, it was more than the sound that had come from a distance away.

Caro kicked her heels and was galloping towards the woods again.

‘Steady!’ he called. She didn’t ride any slower.

A bright light split the sky above them, stretching from behind them as the air vibrated with a deep growl.

He gripped his reins and held hard as the horse reared.

Caro held her horse firmly, slowing to a canter. He saw a muscle flicker in her animal’s neck. Another flash lit up the sky and forked towards the ground on their left. The thunder cracked a couple of moments later.

His horse thrust its head, pulling against the bit. ‘It’s fine, boy.’ Rob patted the animal’s neck.

Caro urged her horse back into a gallop. He did the same. They raced towards the wall. The quickest way into the woods was to jump the wall.

They were nearing the wall when the next flash came from their right.

The thunder was fast on the back of it. It sounded as though the sky splintered.

Both animals missed a stride, their forelegs landing out of rhythm, but he and Caro urged them on regardless, and Rob prayed there would be no thunder as they jumped .

A large drop of rain fell on his crown, then a second on his shoulder, and a third on his arm. Then there were too many to count. It was as though the rain had been shaken from the clouds, and now it poured down, drenching his hair and his clothing.

They had a dozen yards left to ride when the rain turned to hail. Sharp balls of ice dropped like stones, stinging and cold. He pressed ahead, lifting his stallion’s head and jumping the wall.

He looked over as he leaned back when his horse landed. Caro was a pace behind him and she flew over the wall in a perfect jump.

Four more strides and they reached the wood. He pulled his reins as Caro pulled hers, and the hail turned back to rain.

Her mare moved restlessly, fractious. ‘Jump down, Caro.’ Rob was nervous the animal would rear and unseat her.

His stallion sidestepped several times, just as agitated.

He lifted a leg over his saddle, while Caro slid off her side-saddle. They dropped to the ground at the same time, the rain hammering down on them.

A flash spread from the sky to the earth, and almost immediately the thunder shook with a deep roar. Caro’s mare reared up on its hindlegs. She fought to keep hold of the reins.

Rob reached across and gripped her hand to help her, let go of his own horse and caught the reins closer to the animal’s bit.

Caro released her hold and turned to settle his horse.

A sharp wind swept at the treetops, and the branches swayed, spooking the horses even more, while the rain continued.

He was soaked. His cotton shirt was translucent.

Caro was soaked. Her hair clung to her scalp, while her wet habit defined every curve of her body. Rain dripped from her nose and her chin as it did his.

‘Come on.’ He led the way into the woods, leading her mare while she led his stallion. ‘It should only be a few yards through the undergrowth, then we’ll pick up the track.’