Free Love and the Loveless by Henry Williamson

will be like afterwards? I doubt if the old routine will satisfy—even if taxation don’t make it impossible—y’know, long weekends at country houses, first nights in town, all that sort of thing.”
    A little later he said, “By the way, I notice you ride with the reins in one hand. All right for ceremonial, but perhaps it might be better to hold two in each hand, when we get crackin’ on a line and have to fly the bigger timber. It’s only an idea, of course. Only, if one hasn’t hunted this fairly fast country before, y’ know——”
    Phillip sorted out bridoon and snaffle reins, and threaded them between second and third, and third and little fingers of each hand respectively; then saw that they were untwisted, and lying flat on Prince’s neck. Thus prepared for the worst, he tried to rebalance himself, feeling almost misplaced upon the saddle since now his left arm and shoulder were no longer upheld with the right arm hanging low. He felt he would not be able to keep his seat like that; but resisted the impulse to transfer the reins to his left hand. When they cantered on the grass verge of the lane, Prince following Jack’s mare, he found, after a quarter of a mile, that he could sit with a new feeling of balance.
    “When you go over a fence, hold your hands low, just behind your horse’s withers,” said Jack. “A steadying touch there makes all the difference to balance, I think you’ll find.”
    They trotted up a drive, passing a lodge, and came through trees to a house of red brick with many windows and twisted chimney stacks, before which, on a large gravelled space, stood horses, some mounted, others held by grooms.
    Phillip had seen only one meet of hounds before, when a boy staying with his cousin Willie at Rookhurst, when the scene had been pictorial, with human figures seen without discrimination . Now he wondered about the people before him. Khaki predominated, most of the officers wearing badges of cavalry regiments, and those in the yeomanry with burnished shoulder-chains . Other riders in mufti were obviously men on leave, from their soldierly appearance. Then there were elderly farmers, by the look of them. They wore dark coats with bowlers, most with breeches and long black boots, but others with ordinary trousers held within gaiters. The more rugged and elderly ones wore stiff collars, some of them celluloid, with nondescript ties; one old boy with white hair and moustaches wore long trousers and ankle boots, with a high-crowned black hat, between bowler and topper; his horse was a big chestnut animal with a Roman nose. Other, younger farmers wore stock-ties held by gold-mounted pins seemingly made from slender quill-like bones about two inches long. They were smartly dressed, in dark West-of-England skirted coats and white breeches, and had a quiet but independent manner, as they kept to themselves, touching hat-brims lightly with finger-and-thumb when addressed by one or another of the elderly gentlemen, looking like squires wearing red coats, which he must remember to call pink. Hobart seemed to know quite a number of people, among them ladies sitting side-saddle, and wearing tall silk hats. There were some children, too, on ponies, the older ones breeched, wearing bowlers and tweed jackets. Apart from them was a group of smaller children seated in wicker baskets on long-tailed Shetlands, all dressed in black velvet caps and fawn gaiters buttoned to above the knee. Their nurses stood by them, in grey uniforms and bonnets.
    More riders were arriving, among them some young women dressed like men and riding astride. They had brown faces, and appeared to be unaware of the several men, apparently temporary officers like himself, who stared at them. Words are given us to conceal our thoughts. He remembered O’Connor, who haddefended him before the subalterns’ court-martial at Heathmarket, two battles ago: likewise to conceal one’s glances, to observe with the retinae of the eyes, was