Free The Gamble by Joan Wolf

Lord Winterdale appeared at my side on Isabelle. The two horses cantered along side by side under the greening oak trees, and I rode easily in a forward seat the way I did at home when I rode cross-country with Corina.
    The path along the Hyde Park lake called the Serpentine was fairly empty at this hour, and we were able to increase our speed. Cato surprised me with his enthusiasm, and our horses stretched out side by side in a nice long gallop. When finally we pulled up I laughed and patted Cato’s warm neck and Lord Winterdale looked at me with surprise and approval.
    “You do ride well,” he said.
    It was absurd how delighted I was by his compliment. “Thank you, my lord,” I said. “I would ask you to send for my own mare, but she is used to being outdoors all day long, and I’m afraid the confinement of a London stable would be detrimental to her health.”
    As we rode back the way we had come I found that the park was beginning to grow crowded with fashionable carriages and well-turned-out men and women on horseback. All of the horseflesh was sleek and shiny and all of the carriages sparkled with cleanliness. The men and women were dressed in the height of elegance. The men wore immaculate buff breeches and polished riding boots with black or brown riding coats; the women’s outfits were more varied: from curricle dresses and pelisses, to the kind of full-skirted riding habit that Lady Winterdale had ordered for me.
    It was an incomparably rich-looking scene and, truthfully, I found it slightly intimidating. Was I mad to think that one of these aristocratic, elegant-looking gentleman was going to want to marry me ?
    Lord Winterdale and I were walking our horses side by side, each of us thinking our own thoughts, when we were approached by a young woman on a chestnut horse who was accompanied by a gentleman riding a handsome bay.
    “Lord Winterdale,” the woman said in a well-bred, faintly husky voice. “How delightful to see you. You so rarely ride in the park at this hour.”
    “Miss Stanhope,” Winterdale returned. “How do you do. May I present my ward, Miss Georgiana Newbury. Miss Newbury, this is Miss Helen Stanhope and her brother Mr. George Stanhope.”
    Miss Stanhope was extremely beautiful, with satiny black hair and long green eyes. She was wearing a green habit that matched her eyes exactly.
    “How do you do,” I said with a friendly smile. “It is very nice to meet you Miss Stanhope, Mr. Stanhope.”
    Miss Stanhope gave me a look that was noticeably cool. On the other hand, her brother’s smile was extremely amiable. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Newbury,” he said. “It certainly came as a shock to the ton to learn that Winterdale had acquired a ward, but I can see that you will be a very welcome addition to our social circle this Season.”
    “Thank you, Mr. Stanhope,” I said. “Will you be coming to our ball tomorrow evening?”
    “We certainly shall,” Mr. Stanhope said. He had black hair like his sister, but his eyes were a less brilliant green. “May I hope that you will save me a dance?”
    One of my terrors about tomorrow’s ball had been that no one would ask me to dance, so now I gave Mr. Stanhope a big, relieved smile. “I should be delighted to save you a dance, Mr. Stanhope,” I said. “Thank you for asking me.”
    “And I hope you will save me a dance, Miss Stanhope,” Lord Winterdale asked politely.
    That lady bestowed upon him a far more restrained smile than the one I had given to her brother. I noticed that she answered rather quickly, however. “Of course, my lord. Shall I pencil you in for the quadrille? Or would you prefer a waltz?”
    “What about both?” Lord Winterdale said.
    Miss Stanhope could not conceal her pleasure with this arrangement and agreed to accommodate him with both those dances.
    “Will there be waltzing at the ball?” I asked in surprise. We did not waltz in the country, and I did not know the steps.
    “There will