Read Online The Incredible Honeymoon (Bantam Series No. 46) by Barbara Cartland - Free Book Online
Authors: Barbara Cartland
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not have a chance however of approaching him on any subject and she had the idea that he might be relieved that they saw so little of each other.
The Duke was in fact finding his time fully occupied with the Marchioness.
She had been appointed a Lady of the Bedchamber and she thanked him for making it possible by being even more passionate and voluptuous in their moments of intimacy than she had ever been before.
He wondered sometimes how it was possible for a woman who looked almost angelic to be a ferocious tiger when it came to love-making.
As he walked through the high stone archway which led into the stables the Duke was thinking of the Marchioness.
It was almost as if her arms were still clinging to him possessively and her lips were still like a consuming fire against his.
Then he realised the stables were very quiet and knew the stable-boys had retired for the night.
He wished now that he had sent for Ives when he first arrived and explained to the old groom why he could not go round the course as he had planned.
Ives he knew would be disappointed.
He had always wanted the Duke to go in for steeple - chasing, and now there would be much they had to discuss and a number more horses to be bought before they could really enter a new field in the racing world.
“I am too late,” the Duke told himself. “He will have gone to bed.”
The horses were all shut up in their stalls for the night.
He was just wondering if he would have a look at Black Knight when he heard the sound of hoofs at the far end of the buildings.
The stables were so extensive that in the dusk it was hard to see clearly what was happening, so that he heard rather than saw two horses being ridden into the stable-yard to enter the stalls at the far end.
The Duke wondered who was out so late, and told himself that perhaps Ives was having a last look at the jumps and wished that he could have been with him.
He walked on and as he drew nearer heard Ives speak to be answered by a voice he also knew.
“I did it! I did it, Ives! It is the most exciting thing I have ever done in my life!”
“You rode magnificently, M’Lady!” Ives replied. “But you’d no right to take that untried animal over the jumps, as you well know!”
“But he took them like a bird!” Antonia insisted. “He hesitated just for a moment at the Water-Jump, then he stretched himself out and I swear not a drop of water touched his hoofs!”
“Oi be sure of it, M’Lady, but that jump’s too big for a woman!”
“Not for me!” Antonia said proudly.
“Oi don’t know what His Grace would say, that Oi don’t!”
The Duke stood still outside the stable.
He was aware that Ives and Antonia were unsaddling the horses.
There were two stalls side by side in that particular stable, Ives was rubbing down his mount making a whistling sound through his teeth that the Duke could remember hearing ever since he was a boy.
“I am quite certain that Black Knight has a chance of winning the Grand National!” Antonia was saying. “You must tell the Duke so.”
“And how am Oi to explain to His Grace what a good jumper the horse is?” Ives enquired.
“He should have been here to see for himself,” Antonia answered. “We waited until it was nearly dark.”
“That be true, M’Lady.”
Antonia gave a little sigh.
“Oh, Ives, I wish I were not going away to-morrow. I want to go round the course again not once, but a dozen times!”
“Ye’ll enjoy yourself abroad, M’Lady. Oi hears as ye be going to France. Them Frenchies have some good horses!”
“Do they? Yes, of course they have! I can see them at the races if His Grace will take me there!”
She sighed again.
“But I shall be counting the days until I can be back, to ride Black Knight for the second time.”
“Oi’m only hoping, M’Lady that His Grace won’t consider the horse too strong for ye.”
“You know he is not!” Antonia answered. “I do not think there is a horse I cannot
The Duke was in fact finding his time fully occupied with the Marchioness.
She had been appointed a Lady of the Bedchamber and she thanked him for making it possible by being even more passionate and voluptuous in their moments of intimacy than she had ever been before.
He wondered sometimes how it was possible for a woman who looked almost angelic to be a ferocious tiger when it came to love-making.
As he walked through the high stone archway which led into the stables the Duke was thinking of the Marchioness.
It was almost as if her arms were still clinging to him possessively and her lips were still like a consuming fire against his.
Then he realised the stables were very quiet and knew the stable-boys had retired for the night.
He wished now that he had sent for Ives when he first arrived and explained to the old groom why he could not go round the course as he had planned.
Ives he knew would be disappointed.
He had always wanted the Duke to go in for steeple - chasing, and now there would be much they had to discuss and a number more horses to be bought before they could really enter a new field in the racing world.
“I am too late,” the Duke told himself. “He will have gone to bed.”
The horses were all shut up in their stalls for the night.
He was just wondering if he would have a look at Black Knight when he heard the sound of hoofs at the far end of the buildings.
The stables were so extensive that in the dusk it was hard to see clearly what was happening, so that he heard rather than saw two horses being ridden into the stable-yard to enter the stalls at the far end.
The Duke wondered who was out so late, and told himself that perhaps Ives was having a last look at the jumps and wished that he could have been with him.
He walked on and as he drew nearer heard Ives speak to be answered by a voice he also knew.
“I did it! I did it, Ives! It is the most exciting thing I have ever done in my life!”
“You rode magnificently, M’Lady!” Ives replied. “But you’d no right to take that untried animal over the jumps, as you well know!”
“But he took them like a bird!” Antonia insisted. “He hesitated just for a moment at the Water-Jump, then he stretched himself out and I swear not a drop of water touched his hoofs!”
“Oi be sure of it, M’Lady, but that jump’s too big for a woman!”
“Not for me!” Antonia said proudly.
“Oi don’t know what His Grace would say, that Oi don’t!”
The Duke stood still outside the stable.
He was aware that Ives and Antonia were unsaddling the horses.
There were two stalls side by side in that particular stable, Ives was rubbing down his mount making a whistling sound through his teeth that the Duke could remember hearing ever since he was a boy.
“I am quite certain that Black Knight has a chance of winning the Grand National!” Antonia was saying. “You must tell the Duke so.”
“And how am Oi to explain to His Grace what a good jumper the horse is?” Ives enquired.
“He should have been here to see for himself,” Antonia answered. “We waited until it was nearly dark.”
“That be true, M’Lady.”
Antonia gave a little sigh.
“Oh, Ives, I wish I were not going away to-morrow. I want to go round the course again not once, but a dozen times!”
“Ye’ll enjoy yourself abroad, M’Lady. Oi hears as ye be going to France. Them Frenchies have some good horses!”
“Do they? Yes, of course they have! I can see them at the races if His Grace will take me there!”
She sighed again.
“But I shall be counting the days until I can be back, to ride Black Knight for the second time.”
“Oi’m only hoping, M’Lady that His Grace won’t consider the horse too strong for ye.”
“You know he is not!” Antonia answered. “I do not think there is a horse I cannot
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