“Lady knows how to jump, so you just have to take it at moderate speed, portray confidence, and hold the reins so that you keep a light but steady bearing on the bit.”
Mary nodded firmly, and Elizabeth felt somewhat anxious about her sister but also very proud of her courage.
The first time Mary attempted the actual hedge, Lady and she went sailing over with plenty of room to spare.
Elizabeth cheered for her and watched as Mr Darcy, on Orion, led her sister on a rather uneven path in which they leapt over two low gates and three low hedges.
When Mary returned, she looked tremendously proud and excited, but she begged to sit down and rest. A stablehand named Melvin ran into the house and ordered lemonade and biscuits be brought out, and then he saw to Lady’s comfort.
“Are you ready to ride out?” Mr Darcy asked Elizabeth.
“You mean, ride outside of the paddock?” Elizabeth said. She had done enough brisk walking and trotting, at Longbourn, that she felt quite confident with those gaits. And earlier that day, while Mary was first learning from Mr Darcy about jumping, Elizabeth had dared to try a canter within the much larger paddock of which Netherfield could boast.
“It is what I mean, but if you are not ready, Misty and I are patient.”
“I tried…” Elizabeth floundered, not sure what she wished to say.
“You cantered today, for the first time. I saw you. I hope you felt very proud.”
“What I felt, sir, was very frightened.”
He nodded. “You were by yourself, making your own choices, and you dared to go faster than you did in our lessons. It would be natural to be scared. But you also were brave enough to do it, and you were competent enough to do it successfully.”
“How could I be frightened and brave at the same time?”
“If you think about it, you cannot be brave if you do something that has no chance of frightening you.”
Elizabeth just looked at him, still a bit puzzled.
“For example, say that you were a very young child and you did not understand that wolves were not to be trusted as, say, your family dog, and so you reached out to pet a wolf. Are you being brave?”
“Definitely not. But as I am not a very young child, and I do understand that wolves are not pet dogs, but I still would not be brave to pet it—I would be stupid!”
“That is correct, but let us say that you were near enough to that very young child who wished to pet a wolf. You would likely be frightened to run towards them and to snatch the child up, but if you were brave enough, you would do so anyway. But if you were not even a little bit frightened—say, you knew that the wolf was a gentle, trained animal—it would not be brave to approach it and remove the young child.”
“I do see what you mean.” Elizabeth grinned as she said, “I am so glad to claim to be much braver than you when I ride—because I am so very frightened.”
He nodded, a grin making a brief appearance and quite transforming his already-handsome face.
Elizabeth felt a ridiculous amount of palm-sweating and heart-skipping and stomach-plunging. She firmly and silently ordered herself to regain her composure.
For the most part, her body refused to comply. But she squared her shoulders and said, “My answer, then, is yes, let us ride out.”
They were fairly far from the mounting blocks, and Mr Darcy merely knelt and cupped his hands to give her a leg up. She found her seat and held her reins while secretly peeping at how smoothly and easily Mr Darcy mounted his own stallion. Then they walked out of the paddock, trotted a bit along a straight dirt path, and then entered a large meadow. “Shall we canter?” Mr Darcy asked.
Elizabeth wanted to say “no, thank you,” but she made herself agree. She shortened her reins and arranged her legs to give the signal, and Misty cooperated smoothly. Mr Darcy and Orion kept up easily, of course.
The wind created by their medium speed tugged at Elizabeth’s bonnet and stirred her skirts, and she liked the feeling of riding at speed but not the terror of falling. She finally reined Misty in, as they reached the other end of the meadow,and she signalled her mount to turn and trot back towards the paddock. Mr Darcy congratulated her warmly and asked if she liked increasing the speed, now that she was not quite as frightened.
“I am not certain if I dislike riding swiftly or if I merely dislike being scared.”
“Well, Melvin looks ready to care for Misty; maybe you can sit on Orion, with me, and I can gallop, and you can see if you like the greater speed once you are assured of your own safety.”
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes but dismounted and slid down to the ground. She looked up and up at Mr Darcy, who was still sitting atop his very tall horse. He reached a hand down to her and cocked his foot outwards to provide a step.
“You make it seem as if no strong rider has ever been hurt while riding, sir.”
“We all know that is not the case, but I promise you, I will not allow you to be hurt the few minutes that we gallop.”
