The pair walked outside where the sun was still shining brightly, a nice change from all the rain and gray of the past days.
“Is there anything else you’d like to see?” Lucien asked as he peered down at her.
“No, I suppose we should be getting back.”
“I’d like to look in on Onyx when we get back,” he said.
“We should. It would be nice if he is progressing well enough to be allowed into his paddock.”
“That is what I’m hoping for. Just to be able to walk around in the fresh air would do him good,” Lucien replied.
They walked across the village once again. They didn’t stop until arriving at the gig. The gelding was napping but came to attention as Lucien helped his wife into the gig. Once on their way and out of town, Lucien quickened the gelding’s gait before handing the reins over to Harriet. She knew he was doing it so she could learn her way around because the more comfortable she got the more she’d take herself to the village.
“Take this path to the right,” Lucien said pointing to a well-used path.
“Where does it go?”
“To the stables,” he replied.
“That keeps traffic down around the main house, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does.”
“Someone went through a lot of planning when adding things like the stables,” Harriet announced.
“I’ve said the same thing since I first saw the estate. Leaves a lot less work changing things around or moving items.”
The stable came into view and Lucien showed her where to park the gig. A stable boy came to help them, holding the gelding as Lucien helped Harriet down to the ground.
Walking into the stable, Lucien went straight to the stallion’s stall. Onyx nickered to his master as he walked towards Lucien. He noticed the top door which led to the paddock had been opened to let in light and for Onyx to have a way to look out at other horses.
“He’s about ready to be allowed into the paddock, even if it’s only for part of a day,” a familiar voice said. The stablemaster.
“His legs look much better in just a few days’ time. They’re healing nicely now,” Lucien observed.
“He is getting back to his old self. The legs must not hurt like they did,” Harriet said.
Lucien turned to the stablemaster. “Let’s start letting him out for a couple of hours. If he doesn’t get too wild, we can up the time. The walking should help him tremendously.”
“Yes, it should, my lord.”
“Go ahead and let’s let him out now and see what he does,” Lucien requested.
Harriet watched in fascination as the stablemaster opened the stall door and walked across the straw to the outside door. The bottom door was opened, and Onyx stood watching until he finally slowly walked out in the small paddock. It appeared the stallion had begun to walk the fence line looking at everything he hadn’t seen in weeks.
Pushing back from the stall’s outer door, Lucien seemed happy. “I’ll let you be the judge as to how long he’s out for, and I’ll check in on him tomorrow.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The pair leisurely walked back to the house. “Tell me what sort of trees are grown here and for what?” Harriet asked.
“Apple is the most abundant. There’s a grove of fruit trees, and apple is the dominant one. Apricot and fig. There are walnut trees as well,” Lucien replied.
“It sounds like the estate is self-sufficient.”
Lucien arched a brow and smiled at her observation. “For the most part it is. There are cattle which I’m adding to, a few sheep and pigs of course. Vegetable garden is kept by the cook and the gardener.”
“That certainly takes a lot of people,” Harriet said.
