Free Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer

it was melancholy.'
    'I said,' corrected Kate, 'that there was something very melancholy about still water.'
    'Yes, I collect many people think so,' agreed her ladyship. 'I have never been conscious of it myself. There, Torquil! I haven't lost my old skill!' She showed him an unbroken spiral of apple-peel, and turned her head to tell Kate that when he had been a little boy he had eaten apples only for the joy of watching her peel them for him. 'As he will do today!' she said, cutting the fruit into neat quarters, and arranging them on a plate.
    He accepted this from her without demur, for he had been struck by a sudden thought. His eyes lit; he said: 'Do you ride, cousin?'
    'Indeed I do!'
    'Oh, that's famous! Will you ride with me? Do say you will! I've no one to ride with except Whalley, my groom! Or Matthew! And they are both slow-tops!'
    'Yes - with the greatest imaginable pleasure!' she replied promptly. 'That is - if my aunt permits?'
    'But of course!' responded Lady Broome. 'Tell Whalley to put my saddle on Jupiter tomorrow, Torquil! My dear, have you a riding-habit with you?'
    'Well, yes, ma'am! It so happens that I did bring it with me - in the hope that I might be granted the indulgence of a ride!' confessed Kate. 'Oh, what a treat it will be! I haven't been on a horse since we came home to England!'
    'Then you'll pay dearly for it!' said Torquil, chuckling.
    'I know I shall - but I have an excellent embrocation!' she said hopefully.
    But it seemed, on the following morning, as though the treat was going to be denied her. When she and Torquil came out of the house, not two but three horses stood saddled below the terrace, and to this Torquil took instant exception, saying sharply: 'We shan't need you, Whalley!'
    'Her ladyship's orders are that I should go with you, sir,' said the groom apologetically. 'In case of accidents!' He kept a wary eye on Torquils whip-hand, and added, in a soothing voice: 'I shan't worrit you, Master Torquil, but if Miss was to take a tumble - or you wanted a gate opened—'
    'Go to the devil!' whispered Torquil, white with fury, his hand clenched hard on his whip. 'If you go. I don't!'
    Kate, feeling that it behoved her to intervene, said calmly: 'Well, I don't mean to take a tumble, but if my aunt wishes your groom to accompany us it may be irksome, but not such a great matter, after all! Will you put me up, if you please?'
    He glared at her, biting his lip, and jerking the lash of his whip between his hands ; but after a moment's indecision came sulkily forward. She took the bridle from Whalley, and, as Torquil bent, laid one hand on his shoulder, slightly pressing it. He threw her up rather roughly, but she surprised him by springing from his grasp, and landing neatly in the saddle. While Jupiter sidled and fretted, she brought one leg round the pommel, adjusted the voluminous folds of her skirt, and commanded Torquil to shorten the stirrup-leather. He did so, with no very good grace, flung himself on to his own mount, and dashed off down the avenue. The next instant, Whalley, with an agility astonishing for a man of his years, had leapt into his own saddle, and had set off after him, leaving Kate to follow as best she might. This, since Jupiter was an incorrigible slug, was no easy task: he lacked the competitive spirit, and it was not until she had startled him with a slash from her whip that he broke into a gallop. By the time she overtook Torquil he had reached the shut gates, and Whalley was remonstrating with him. 'Give over, Master Torquil! give over!'
    Whalley implored. 'Whatever will Miss Kate think of you?'
    'The worst escort possible!' said Kate, not mincing matters. 'How dared you, cousin, dash off like that, without warning me that you meant to make a race of it? Not that this animal has the least notion of showing the way! Is he touched in the wind, or gone to soil?'
    'Neither! Just lazy!' answered Torquil, bursting into laughter. 'Or perhaps your hand is strange to