“This is Roddy. He’ll be joining us on our ride,” Arthur said. He petted the top of the dog’s head.
“He’s beautiful. He hunts?”
“No, he couldn’t get the hang of it. He tries, but he’s too interested in everything else around him. Thus, he’s my dog,” Arthur replied with a smile.
“He thinks a lot of you.”
“Actually, he’s hoping for a morsel.”
“Spoiled,” Charles replied, adding, “I will go put boots on. I’ll meet you in the main entry hall?”
“Yes, say twenty minutes?”
“I will see you then.”
Fifteen minutes later, Charles was waiting on his brother in the grand hall. He noted there were vases of fresh flowers on the tables that were different from yesterday when they arrived. He assumed they came out of one of the gardens. He walked around the room as he waited on Arthur, which wasn’t long because the Irish setter came bounding into the hall, his hind legs coming out from under him because of the speed at which he was running. Recovering quickly, he ran circles around Charles and bounded over to Arthur when he saw him.
“Shall we?” Arthur commented as a footman opened the front door.
At the bottom of the stairs, Arthur began leading them to the path that went to the stables. Charles realized where he would have ended up yesterday if he’d chosen this path. Moments later, as they walked, fencing began to appear. Pastures and paddocks for the horses, depending on their needs. As they neared the building, Charles noticed a groom with two horses tethered. The boy was checking the saddles and other equipment one last time before he turned the horses over to them.
“The chestnut is the horse I was telling you about. He is solid, dependable, and well mannered.”
“He’s well-muscled and tall. How old is he? He looks like a youngster,” Charles replied.
“He’s five, I believe.”
“Good age.”
“Yes. Now like I told you, don’t feel obligated to him. If you still want to go to Tattersalls the next time we’re in London, we’ll go. There’s also a bay mare you might like if the chestnut doesn’t work for you.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Charles replied as he stroked the chestnut’s neck before putting his foot in the stirrup and swinging his leg over the animal’s back. The groom came aroundand helped him adjust the stirrups and made double sure the saddle was well placed.
Arthur had already mounted and was walking the black stallion around waiting for Charles to finish. Charles nodded he was ready, and the two began to walk next to each other down another path leading away from the stables. Charles was amazed at how well maintained the stables were. The ones on Wight he was familiar with needed repairs.
“Where to?” Charles asked.
“I thought we would ride through the meadow and then to the small lake nearby. After that, I’ll show you the orchards, and after we can ride to the cottage I was telling you about. It’s not too far from the orchards.”
“Lead the way.”
Charles followed his brother toward the meadow. Roddy, the setter, would circle them before going off to some scent he’d picked up. He watched as the dog took off from sight. The horse he was riding didn’t seem to like the dog circling them. Getting the animal to accept Roddy was a matter of the horse getting used to the dog being around. It would take time.
They made it to the edge of the meadow. His horse wanted to do something beyond walking or trotting. Arthur picked up on that.
“Would you care to canter across the meadow or at least part of it? I think the horses would like to stretch their legs.”
“Absolutely.”
Arthur urged his stallion into a canter with Charles and the chestnut following not too far behind. Roddy, in the meantime, was running at breakneck speeds.
When they slowed to a walk to give the horses a rest, Charles glanced up at the blue sky. It was clear with only a couple of puffy white clouds floating by. It was the perfect day to be riding. He wasn’t sure about what to expect from a ride with his brother.It was obvious that Arthur spent a great amount of time in the saddle. He sat a horse quite well. Almost like the two were one.
Charles hadn’t had a lot of opportunity to ride on Wight. Not that he hadn’t wanted to, it was simply the way things were, especially when he was younger. Perhaps now he would have time to learn a lot of new things.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” Arthur asked.
“Learning new things. Improving my riding skills. I would also like to learn to drive a curricle or something similar. I was never given the opportunity.”
