Riding In the Sky Read online

  She had in fact only just got back into bed when Emily came in.

  “I’m sorry, miss, if I’ve left you so long in the dark,” she said. “But supper were late tonight ’cos the gentlemen stayed so long in the dinin’ room.”

  “What are they doing now?” Filipa asked.

  “The footmen were sayin’ they were talkin’ of ’avin’ a ‘sing-song’ and Miss Lulu wanted to show ’em that she could do all the things they saw last night, includin’ kickin’ her leg as high as her head!”

  Filipa knew that she was glad she was not there.

  “Now what you’ve got to do, miss, is to have a good night,” Emily went on, “and tomorrow the bruises on your back’ll be a great deal better than they are at the moment.”

  Filipa knew that Emily was trying to cheer her up and gave her a smile.

  “You have been very kind,” she murmured, “and I am very grateful.”

  Emily patted her pillows, lit the candles beside her bed and asked as she pulled the curtains,

  “Are you goin’ to sleep, miss, or do you want the light?”

  “I would like you to leave them for a little while,” Filipa replied.

  “Very good, miss, but sleep’s what you need.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Then goodnight, miss,” Emily said, “and ‘may the angels look after you’, as me Ma used to say!”

  “I am sure they will!” Filipa murmured beneath her breath.

  She waited until Emily had gone and then she got out of bed and started to dress.

  She managed to alter her mother’s dress at the back, although it hurt her to do so, and she found her pretty flower-trimmed bonnet in a drawer.

  Then she sat down at the secrétaire that stood in a comer of the room and wrote a note to Mark.

  “I have gone home on Skylark, because I have no wish to see the Marquis or anybody else in this house tomorrow morning.

  Please make my apologies and tell him the only address you have for me is in London.

  This is important, otherwise he may think that he will have to reward me for saving Jupiter and I don’t want his money.

  Please come home and tell me what has happened.

  So much love and take care of yourself,

  Filipa.”

  She put the note into an envelope and sealed it with the sealing wax that was provided for the Marquis’s guests.

  She wrote Mark’s name on the envelope and left it propped up on his pillow, so that he could not fail to see it when he came to bed.

  Then, knowing that the servants would be in their own part of the house or else attending to the needs of the guests downstairs, she crept along the corridor.

  There was a secondary staircase that she was sure would bring her to that part of the house that led to the kitchen quarters.

  Moving very stealthily in case anybody should see her, she reached the ground floor.

  She let herself out by a door that led into the garden.

  As she did so, she looked up at the sky.

  It was now filled with stars and there was a small crescent moon behind the trees.

  It was so lovely that it seemed to her part of what she had felt when the Marquis kissed her.

  Once again she could feel the wonder of his lips, the rapture and the ecstasy he had given her.

  Then she remembered what he had asked of her.

  She felt that the misery of it made her fall, as Satan had fallen down from Heaven into the degradation of Hell.

  ‘Goodbye, my love,’ she said in her heart.

  Chapter Seven

  It did not take long for Filipa to ride home.

  She rode straight across country, moving not too fast for fear it would spoil her mother’s gown.

  The sleepy stable boy she had woken had not seemed at all surprised at her appearance.

  She thought a little wryly that after the clothes worn by the Pretty Horse-Breakers, nothing would seem peculiar.

  She did not look back as she rode away from the house.

  She felt that if she did so, she would not be able to help returning so that she could see the Marquis just once again.

  All the time she was riding Skylark she felt a pain in her heart as if it was an open wound.

  Never, she thought, would she be able to love anyone else in the same way or feel when he kissed her that she was riding in the sky.

  It would be impossible for any other man to be so authoritative, so attractive and so fascinating.

  She knew despairingly that, when he returned to London, there would be dozens of lovely women waiting for him.

  Then he would never give her so much as a single thought.

  ‘At least I saved him,’ she told herself.

  But it was no consolation for her loneliness and the agony of her love.

  When she reached The Manor, she left Skylark in the stables.

  The other horses, when they heard her, whinnied and moved restlessly in their stalls.

  She thought that they at least loved her and had missed her when she was away.

  She walked to the house, not wanting to see the stars or the way that the moon made the garden a place of enchantment.

  Beauty, she thought, would always remind her of the Marquis and she could not bear to look at it.

  The front door was locked.

  But Filipa knew it was very easy to enter the house through a broken window at the back on the ground floor that should have been mended years ago.

  Inside the house there was the scent of age, of beeswax and pot-pourri.

  It was so much the smell of home that it made her want to cry.

  Resolutely, she went up the stairs to her bedroom.

  Having undressed, she hung her mother’s gown in the wardrobe and put away her pretty bonnet.

  Then she got into bed.

  Needless to say, as she had not been at home, no one had made her bed. It was just as she left it when she went away with Mark.

  She expected to lie awake thinking of the Marquis, but she fell asleep and dreamt of him.

  *

  Filipa awoke and was not surprised to find that it was late in the morning.

  In fact it was nearly half-past-seven and no one had realised she had returned.

  She put on one of the plain muslin gowns that she had made herself and thought that Mrs. Meadows would view it disdainfully and think it looked very shabby.

  Then she walked downstairs and into the kitchen, where Mrs. Smeaton exclaimed with surprise at seeing her.

  “You’re back, Miss Filipa! It’s real good to see you again.”

  “Thank you,” Filipa answered. “Is everything all right?”

  “No. There’s bad news,” Mrs. Smeaton replied, putting down a saucepan on the stove.

  “What has – happened?” Filipa asked anxiously.

  “Miss Richmond were took bad yesterday mornin’, so I sends the carrier as comes here on his way to the village to tell them we wanted the doctor.”

  “Oh, I am sorry!” Filipa exclaimed. “What did the doctor say?”

  “He sends a carriage to take Miss Richmond in the afternoon to the County Hospital. He said he wants to have her looked at for a few days, but you weren’t to worry.”

  “That was kind of him,” Filipa said.

  She knew that the County Hospital was a small cosy place, where the staff nursed their patients, who were usually old, with a care and consideration that had always pleased her mother.

  “I will go to see her,” Filipa said.

  “The doctor’s a-comin’ in late to tell you how she be,” Mrs. Smeaton replied. “I’d wait till then.”

  “Perhaps you are right,” Filipa agreed.

  She went from the kitchen into the dining room.

  Five minutes later old Smeaton came shuffling in with her coffee, toast, and honey.

  “No eggs this morn, miss!” he reported in a gloomy voice.

  Filipa was not surprised.

  The hens were
getting old and should have been replaced, but there had been no money with which to do so.

  Then she remembered that Mark would be bringing her money and now everything would be different.

  She wished that she could feel more elated about it.

  Instead she tried not to think of the long lines of silver dishes in the dining room at Kilne Hall.

  It was something she would never see again.

  Shying away from her own thoughts, she went down to the stables to find the old groom who looked after her father’s horses.

  He was rubbing down Skylark.

  “This be a fine ’orse, Miss Filipa!” he said as he worked on Skylark’s shining body.

  “Unfortunately he is not mine,” Filipa replied. “Sir Mark will be arriving later to return him to the livery stables he was hired from.”

  The old groom shook his head as if to indicate it was a pity that Skylark had to leave and it was what Filipa thought herself.

  But she knew that every penny of the money she and Mark had won had to be expended on food and wages.

  It would have to last a long time and they could not afford to buy anything extravagant, least of all a horse.

  She helped the groom with the other horses and it was nearly noon when she walked slowly back to the house.

  She picked a few flowers on the way and arranged them in the drawing room.

  Her mother had always said that the room looked bare without them.

  She had just finished putting a bowl of early roses on the table in the window, when she heard the sound of wheels.

  Before she could run to the front door, Mark had sprung out of the chaise he had arrived in and bounded up the steps.

  She met him in the hall and he put his arm around her and kissed her cheek in an affectionate manner that rather surprised her.

  Then he said,

  “I have something to tell you, something so surprising that you will never believe it!”

  “What is it?” Filipa asked. “And – do you understand why I – came home?”

  “You might have waited for me,” Mark said casually, “but listen – what do you think the Marquis has offered me?”

  Filipa was still.

  “Offered – you?” she repeated. “What do you – mean?”

  Mark took a deep breath and threw himself down in a chair, saying as he did so,

  “You will not believe it, and I can hardly believe it myself, but Kilne has suggested that I go to Syria for him.”

  “To Syria?” Filipa exclaimed.

  “He took me aside after breakfast,” Mark explained, “and told me that he had already arranged to send out a friend of his, Major Henderson, who I have met at White’s. He is a great judge of horseflesh, but, the Marquis admitted, not as good a rider as I am.”

  “Then you – are to go – with him to – Syria?” Filipa asked, trying to understand.

  “Henderson is going there to look at Arab mares, which is where they come from,” Mark explained, “and I am to go with him because, as the Marquis said, after seeing Jupiter I will know what he requires.”

  It flashed through Filipa’s mind that it would be a wonderful opportunity for Mark to go abroad.

  What was more it would prevent him from being extravagant in London, spending money he did not really possess.

  As if he read her thoughts, Mark said,

  “You will not have to worry about money while I am away. The Marquis has bought Hercules from me.”

  Filipa gasped and he went on,

  “That means that you can have half of the one thousand guineas we won in the race and I asked the Marquis to make out two cheques, so there is five hundred guineas for you and five hundred for me.”

  Filipa gave a little sigh.

  Yet she was not certain whether it was because she was so pleased at having the money or whether it was one of regret.

  Obviously the Marquis had not asked after her.

  Mark then pulled the cheques out of his pocket and added,

  “And here is yours for one hundred pounds.”

  He laughed.

  “You must admit, Filipa, we took a bit of a gamble on going to Kilne Hall with you disguised as a Pretty Horse-Breaker, but it has certainly paid off.”

  “Y-yes – of course,” Filipa said in a small voice, “and – I am sure it will be – exciting for you to – go abroad.”

  “It is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me!” Mark exclaimed. “Apart from the thrill of seeing Arab mares, I know I shall learn a lot from Henderson. In fact – ”

  He hesitated and Filipa asked curiously,

  “In fact – what?”

  “Well, I hardly dare to think it might be true, but the Marquis hinted that he might have something for me to do when I return!”

  “What could that be?” Filipa asked.

  “I had the idea that it would involve finding young horses,” Mark replied, “and breaking them in, so that they could be sold profitably at Tattersalls.”

  Filipa clasped her hands together.

  “Oh, Mark, that would be wonderful for you!”

  “That is what I thought,” he agreed, “and I know you are longing to add that it will keep me out of mischief!”

  “I was thinking that!” Filipa admitted.

  “Well, you are right,” Mark said, “and I am not going to make a fool of myself again with any of the Pretty Horse-Breakers, who are like magnets ready to attract guineas out of a man’s pocket.”

  “Y-you will – not be seeing – Lulu?” Filipa asked tentatively.

  “Not if I can help it,” Mark replied, “and actually I shall be too busy. Henderson and I are leaving on Saturday and I have a mass of things to find, besides paying my bills, giving notice at my lodgings and saying goodbye to one or two of my real friends.”

  Again Filipa gave a little sigh of relief as he went on,

  “It is all due to you that things have turned out so well. You will be all right until I come back?”

  It was a question and Filipa thought that it would be a mistake to tell him about Miss Richmond.

  He would be sure to say that she could not stay alone at The Manor.

  She might have to find somebody later to keep her company if Miss Richmond was too ill to return.

  It was, however, not something she wanted to discuss at the moment.

  “I shall be all right,” she said.

  “I thought you would say that,” Mark answered. “You are the best sister any man could have and I will try to bring you back something unusual from my travels!”

  Filipa laughed.

  “What I would really like would be a horse, but I am sure that would be far too expensive.”

  “If you are going to help me in the future, you will have plenty of horses to ride.”

  Filipa looked at him.

  “Are you really – saying that I can – assist you?”

  “Don’t be stupid – of course you must! And what could be better than to have the horses I buy trained here? We have plenty of stabling to start with and at least we don’t have to pay any rent!”

  “It all sounds too wonderful to be true.”

  “Well, I must be off,” Mark announced. “The groom can ride Skylark and I have to return the clothes we hired for the Marquis’s pageant and also the chaise and the horses I borrowed from Perceval.”

  He walked into the hall and, as Filipa followed him, she said in a low voice,

  “Shall I – see you again to say – goodbye?”

  Mark thought for a moment before he replied,

  “I doubt it! The Marquis made it clear that I have to arrange everything with Major Henderson and I shall need another pair of riding breeches and certainly another pair of boots.”

  “I understand,” Filipa said. “So, goodbye, dearest Mark, and please – take care of yourself.”

  There was a little tremor in her voice that she could not repress.

  Mark did not notice.

 
; “I will write to you if I have a chance,” he said, “and you must admit, Filipa, that this is a miracle I never expected to happen in a million years.”

  He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheeks.

  “Now, take care of yourself,” he said, “and don’t get into trouble before I come back.”

  “That is very unlikely,” Filipa answered.

  Then, as he started to walk down the steps to where the chaise was waiting, she asked,

  “D-did the Marquis – enquire – where I was?”

  “I told him that you had gone back to London.”

  “Did he ask you for my address?”

  Mark shook his head.

  As he reached the chaise, he took the reins from Jim, the groom, and said,

  “Miss Filipa will show you where Skylark is stabled. Follow me as quickly as you can and leave him in the stables in Bruton Mews.”

  The groom touched his cap.

  “Goodbye, Filipa,” Mark called out and drove away.

  Filipa waved, but he did not look back.

  The expression on his face and the way he was driving told her that his thoughts were concentrated on reaching London as quickly as possible.

  She realised that the groom was waiting respectfully beside her and she said,

  “I will take you round to the stables. I am sure that you will enjoy riding Skylark – and please thank Mr. Jackson for letting Sir Mark hire him.”

  “I’ll do that, miss.”

  Back at the house, after Jim had set off for London, Filipa looked at the two cheques that Mark had left for her.

  She knew that she must pay them into the Bank.

  Now she could give the Smeatons their long-overdue wages.

  It was something that would have delighted her a few days ago.

  But now the money did not compensate for the loneliness of losing Mark for such a long time.

  As she ate the rabbit stew that Mrs. Smeaton had cooked for luncheon, she realised that she would have to ride into the market town to the Bank.

  It was now too late to do so today, as the Bank closed early.

  ‘I will go first thing tomorrow morning,’ she told herself.

  When her meagre luncheon was finished, she went back into the drawing room.

  There were a great number of things to do that had been neglected while she was away.