What About Cecelia? (6 page)

“Who was that?”

Mr. Landor replied, “That was Captain George
Wood, of Penyclawdd. I wouldn't worry about your horse, he's a
responsible sort of chap.”

“That's my horse! He stole my horse!”

“As I said don't worry about it, if he hurts it
he'll pay for it.” He paused to watch George clear the first hedge,
“Damn he's a fine rider. Didn't think your horse had the ability to
jump like that in him.”

The man looked at Mr. Landor in disbelief, “That
was a twenty pound horse and saddle. I'll call the bailiffs.”

“Don't bother. Twenty pounds you say?”

“Worth every last brass farthing.”

Landor pulled a ten-pound bank note out of his
coat. “I don't feel like haggling with you. Will this do?” It did,
the man would have settled for five. His only regret was that he
hadn't asked for forty pounds first.

George found Cecelia several fields and a
half-mile away. She had finally pulled Ionie's head to one side,
forcing her to circle in the field. Circling made her settle down
and stop running. When George finally arrived, Ionie was calmly
eating grass in the field, while Cecelia was struggling with the
tattered remains of her dress. She used her one free hand to try to
keep the top of her dress up. “That horse dragged me through a
hedge.”

“I see.”

“You're seeing more than is proper, Captain
Wood.”

“I appreciate your problem. Did anyone ever tell
you that you have nice shoulders?” He thought some lucky man would
get to appreciate what was hidden beneath her folded arm.

“No, but thank you. I'd rather not show them
off. Let alone flaunt what would show if my arm slips.”

George gave her dilemma careful consideration
and replied, “An idea, Miss Wood. I'll give you my jacket and then
you'll be at least notionally decent.”

He removed his jacket, nudged his horse next to
hers and exchanged his jacket for her reins. While he looked away,
regretfully, Cecelia put his jacket on over the shreds of her dress
and buttoned it up. “Captain Wood, you can look now.”

“I must say it becomes you. You'll set a new
fashion for fair equestrians.”

“No I won't. It feels indecent.”

“It isn't. It's lovely, like you.” Cecelia
blushed. Unaware of his danger, he continued, “Let's get back to
Raglan.”

They returned. Ionie, having had her run,
behaved well as they trotted back together.

Lord Charles admired Cecelia's horsemanship, but
said, “That is a fine horse, but not one for my daughter to ride.
Your horse is better suited for racing. Let me see what my steward
thinks of her.”

In the meantime Captain Wood attracted Jane and
Julia's attention. “Miss Wood needs help with her dress. Can you
fix it?” The two women led Cecelia off to see what could be
salvaged, or failing that to see what could be assembled by
purchase in Raglan.

Before he left to find his steward and to see if
he could use another racing horse, Lord Charles noticed George. “I
say, aren't you Captain George Wood, lately returned from
Spain?”

“Yes, my Lord”

“I thought so, my brother Fitzroy wrote me to
look out for you. Seems you had a rough time of it.”

“My division was nearly destroyed at Badajoz.
I'm sorry to say that I was shattered as well, and I'm back home to
recover. If I can.”

“Then you'll appreciate the news, Lord
Wellington's siege has taken the city.”

“They tried again?”

“This time his excellency supervised it himself.
Fitzroy says it was bloody, but it succeeded.” George could hear
the distant guns thundering in his mind. The color drained from his
face. “My Lord if you'll excuse me.” He trotted off, found Landor
and said, “Walter I have to go, now. Would you pay for this
horse?”

“George are you well?”

“Just heard about the second siege of Badajoz. I
need some space and time by myself. I'll ride to Penyclawdd.”

“I understand. We'll settle up later. Enjoy your
new horse.”

“Thank you, please see that Jane and Cecelia get
home safely.”

“Don't worry about it. If need be Cecelia can
drive one of the gigs.”

George laughed at the thought, “Yes, she does
have good hands and a light touch.” Then he rode off to find solace
in the solitude of the mountains.

Jane and Julia led Cecelia back to the fair.
Their efforts, combined with a bodice from the village seamstress,
restored Cecelia to a presentable state of dress. Cecelia asked Mr.
Landor, “Where is Captain Wood? I'd like to thank him for lending
me his jacket. For that matter I'd like to give it back to
him.”

Mr. Landor was staring off into the distance,
verses coursing through his head, and didn't hear her. Julia,
familiar with her husband's peculiarities, waited a moment, then
pinched him. He jumped, “What?”

“Sorry, my love, but where is the Captain?”

“Halfway to Penyclawdd, given the way he was
riding. Unless he stopped to climb Holy mountain. Probably didn't,
though it would do him good.”

Disappointment showed itself on Cecelia's
expression, “I so wanted to thank him for my rescue.”

“Rescue?”

“The way my dress was parted, I'd have inspired
you to write a poem about the Amazons.”

This brought a laugh from the Landors but not
from Jane. Cecelia noticed Jane's discomfort, and told her “Captain
Wood was a perfect gentleman. He lent me his jacket because my
dress was so badly ripped that I was nearly indecent. Then he
turned his back and protected my modesty while I put it on. You're
very lucky to be engaged to him.”

“I am, aren't I?”

“Jane, please don't worry about my cousin and
me. We're just friends. I'd like to be one of your bridesmaids if
you'd have me.”

Jane seemed mollified, and smiled at Cecelia,
“You aren't trying to take him from me?”

“Me? Lord no. Why would you ever think
that?”

“It's just. Let's say once burned is twice
shy.”

Mr. Landor inserted himself into the
conversation. “Ladies, this is a horse fair. Neither Miss Arnold,
nor Mrs. Landor has even looked at horses today.”

Cecelia remembered the purpose of their
expedition, “Come, and let’s see if I can't find you a good
mount.”

They hadn't gone very far into the crush when
they bumped into Lord Charles and his daughter the Honorable Mary
Georgiana Somerset. He condescended to notice them. “Is this young
woman the one who rode that horse?”

Cecelia curtsied to them. “I am, my lord.”

“And your name?”

“Miss Cecelia Wood.”

“Miss Wood? I've heard of you. Sir Giles Wood's
daughter aren't you? Quite a horsewoman, one of the best in
Monmouth County.”

Cecelia blushed with embarrassment, “I'm sure my
reputation is overblown.”

“I watched you ride that shrew of a horse. My
steward wasn't sure that our jockeys could handle her as well as
you did.”

“Ionie is just a bit unmannered. I've ridden
worse.”

Jane was quietly simmering in the background.
This commoner was getting all the attention. She interrupted, “My
Lord Somerset, don't you remember me?”

“I'm sorry Miss, but I don't.”

“I'm the Honorable Jane Arnold, daughter of Lord
Andover. We met in Westminster last year.”

Sir Charles frowned, then recognized her, “Jane.
I'm sorry. What are you doing in this forsaken place?”

“I'm affianced to Captain Wood, Miss Wood's
cousin. He's inherited Penyclawdd House.”

“Captain Wood? Oh yes, we talked earlier today.
A quiet, but distinguished looking young man.”

“I think so. He's been ever so attentive to
me.”

“Wasn't he mentioned in dispatches from the
first siege of Badajoz?”

“He was.”

“I gather that battle undid him. Shame. He was a
good officer and bound for better things. With luck he'll recover
some of his poise.” Sir Charles paused for a moment's consideration
and then to Jane's immense annoyance asked Cecelia, “Miss Wood,
I've been trying to find suitable mounts for my daughters. Could
you help?”

“It would be my pleasure. How well do they
ride?”

The Honorable Mary spoke up, “Nothing like you,
Miss Wood. I can just go up and down in Hyde park.”

“Hyde park, I've never been there. Is it
difficult terrain?”

Jane nudged Cecelia, “It's in London.”

“So all on the flat with no jumps. How
boring.”

This brought laughter to most of the company,
and confusion to Cecelia. “I'm sorry, I don't understand.”

“You've never been to London, have you?”

“Bath, once, when I was a little girl, but
London, never.”

Mary described Hyde Park for her. “It's just a
big flat open area next to the city. You walk your horse up and
down it while talking to other fashionable people.”

Cecelia dug herself into a deeper hole by
replying. “That doesn't sound like fun at all. No wonder you and
Miss Arnold can't ride properly. I'd be very happy to help you pick
out a horse, but you have to promise me not to condemn the poor
creature to such a miserable existence.”

“Why?”

“Any horse worth riding likes to run
occasionally.”

Sir Charles did the unforgivable, at least in
Miss Arnold's eyes. He laughed and said, “Miss Wood, it sounds to
me like my daughter could use some instruction in equitation. Would
you be willing to help her learn?”

“My Lord, it would be my pleasure. I'm due to go
to Bath in a couple of weeks with Miss Arnold and her fiancée, but
until then I'm available.”

“Bath, you say. Mary weren't you planning to
stay there with your Aunt next month?”

“Yes, father, as you well know.”

“Miss Wood, why don't you accompany us to Raglan
House this afternoon? You can spend a couple days tutoring Miss
Somerset, and then maybe she can help introduce you to Bath
society. That would be a fair exchange, wouldn't it?”

“More than fair, I'd be happy to accept. Can I
make sure that my friends can get home safely without my help
before I accept your offer?”

Mr. Landor intervened immediately. “Don't worry
about us. Julia's a fair whip and we have only the two gigs.
Especially if someone purchases Ionie.”

Sir Charles laughed again, “Landor, you really
do want to get rid of that horse, don't you?”

“She's not a suitable ride for Mrs. Landor, and
she eats like a pig. So yes I'd even give her away to get rid of
her.”

“How's twenty-five pounds?”

“Done. Even if you don't race her, she's good
breeding stock.”

Jane managed, with difficulty, to keep her
opinions to herself until she and Julia were part-way back to
Abergavenny. Eventually they boiled up and erupted into heated
speech.

“I thought the idea for this trip was to find
mounts for us, not introduce that puffed up ignorant little girl to
society.”

“Is your nose out of joint that she was invited
to the Somerset's and you weren't?”

“No, well yes it is. My family has known them
for years, and she's a nobody. A little countrified nobody. Just
because she can ride well, she gets to visit them.”

“That's not quite fair, Jane.”

“I'll tell you what isn't fair. We're riding
home in this gig, without horses. That's what's not fair.”

“There weren't many mares for sale at this fair.
None that were any good.”

“George bought a horse.”

“Only because he needed to get away from the
crush in a hurry. Something upset him.”

“Still I should have been invited to stay at
Raglan too. I'm almost family.”

“But you aren't are you?”

“Yes I am, my mother's second cousin once
removed is Sir Charles' great-uncle.”

“I suppose that's close enough to be called
family.”

“It certainly is. I consider myself
snubbed.”

“Do you want Cecelia to live with you and
Captain Wood once you're married?”

“Good God No!”

“Then she has to find her way into society. Sir
Charles is doing her a great favor by introducing her to his
daughter.”

“It should be me too. Cecelia should teach me to
ride.”

“I'm sure she will when she has the chance.”

Eventually Jane's grumblings reached the point
where Julia felt the need to stop them. She pulled the reins and
stopped the gig. She turned to her passenger and bluntly told her,
“Jane, when you twit at Cecelia like that, you only make yourself
look awful. It's one of your less appealing traits.”

“But?”

“Would you like to walk the rest of the way to
Penyclawdd? Miss Wood is my friend as well as you. I'm happy that
she's making some acquaintance with a larger society. You should be
as well.”

Jane paused, it was never pleasant to have one's
character flaws pointed out. After a few moments thought she
replied, “I'm sorry Julia. You're right. I'm just so worried.”

“Why? Captain Wood certainly seems to love you.
He is getting better with time, and you have friends here who like
you. In spite of your occasional snappy comments.”

“I don't know. There's just something off. I
just can't be happy.”

“I can't solve that for you. You have to make up
your own mind to enjoy your life.”

“Doesn't make it easy, does it?”

“No it doesn't.” Julia paused and then
continued, “I know it's not quite as much fun as riding, but can
you drive?”

“A little, I've done a few passes up and down in
Hyde park.”

“Time for a lesson, then.” She passed Jane the
reins and they swapped places in the gig so that Jane could reach
the brake. “If you're ready, give the reins a shake and tell the
horse to 'walk on'.”

Jane was moving along the Hereford road in
decent style and showing that she had a good eye and a decent touch
on the reins when a lone horseman crashed out of the brush ahead of
them. Their horse reared in surprise and backed the gig into the
hedge before the two women could get it back under control.