Free Rivals of Fortune / The Impetuous Heiress by Jane Ashford

large and stolid and wholly uninterested in anything but the grass by the roadside, yet Gregory and Gerald kept mounting up and urging it to try the wall.” Her laughter began to overcome her.
    Joanna smiled. “I had forgotten. How silly they were. Anyone might have known that that horse would never jump.”
    â€œYes,” gasped Constance, “but they were forbidden to take out the hunters because they had lamed Falcon on another wall. I shall never forget their solemn discussion about whether their ‘word’ included the farm horses also. They had promised not to go riding for two weeks, remember?”
    Joanna shook her head. “What a memory you have. I had forgotten it all. But now I recall that the old horse finally just walked back to her stable, after she had eaten all the grass she wanted.”
    Constance nodded with brimming eyes, and the two girls dissolved in laughter.
    When they had recovered their breath, Constance said, “Gerald is still at Oxford, I believe?”
    â€œYes, he is trying for a fellowship, and Gregory has gone into the army. How long ago it all seems.”
    â€œHe is, ah, studying classics?”
    â€œWhat? Oh, Gerald? Yes, classics. Can you imagine how dull it must be?”
    Constance looked down. “It is fortunate, though, that he is so close. You can visit him.”
    â€œI?” said Joanna, amused, “He would not be overglad to see me at his chambers, I daresay. He thinks me quite silly.”
    Constance flushed a little. “I meant that he could visit his family now and then, and, and get away from his studies.”
    â€œAs if he would wish to. But yes, he does come to see Papa and join in his Philosophical Society. They go on for hours about the most ridiculous things.”
    Constance made no reply, and soon after, they reached the place where she was to turn off the path. The two girls said good-bye, Joanna thinking to herself that she liked Constance much more than she would have expected. She was invited to the rectory for tea the following week and accepted happily, glad to further her acquaintance with this pleasant girl.
    When Joanna reached her own house and went into the hall, she nearly collided with Jonathan Erland, who was just coming out of the study. “Oh, hello,” she said, startled.
    He bowed slightly. “Good day. I have been with your father, discussing his plans for my grounds. They are extensive. I fear you will find me under foot here often in the next few weeks.”
    â€œAh, well,” was the only reply Joanna could think of. “Will you come upstairs?” she added. “My mother is probably in the drawing room.”
    â€œThank you,” replied Erland. “For a moment, perhaps.”
    They walked up the stairs, but Mrs. Rowntree was not in the empty drawing room. Joanna felt extremely awkward. She took off her bonnet, but could not decide where to put it. She looked about nervously and at last set it on a table by the door. Hesitating again, she finally went to the sofa and sat down. Why had she asked the man to come up, she wondered?
    Erland joined her. “Your father is very eager to begin his scheme,” he told her. “He wants to go over the entire ruin, clear it out, and catalogue the contents of each section.”
    â€œWhy?” asked Joanna before she thought. She flushed a little.
    But he smiled. “Perhaps the untidiness offends his scientific sensibilities,” he suggested.
    Joanna looked at him dubiously, then giggled, shaking her head.
    â€œNo, you are right. He wishes to see what has been left there, and perhaps find out something about the lives of the monks. It was monks, by the by; one of the Oxford gentlemen has ascertained that. Indeed, this whole scheme owes much to his enthusiasm. Do you know him? Templeton, the name was.”
    Joanna shook her head again.
    â€œAh, just as well perhaps.” His eyes twinkled as he smiled at