CHAPTER FIVEThe Earl came down the stairs for breakfast early to find that Vanda was already in the parlour.
She was looking very smart in her riding habit, wearing a hat that had a gauze veil trailing prettily behind it.
“Good morning, Vanda,” he smiled at her. “Now I know you really are a country girl.”
“Because I am up so early?” Vanda asked. “I like riding when the world is fresh.”
“So do I,” the Earl agreed, “and I wish I was riding this morning.”
As the landlord and the waitresses came hurrying in with their breakfast, he suggested,
“As I want to talk to you on the way to where we are going, I have told my groom to ride your horse.”
He thought Vanda looked as if she was going to refuse and added swiftly,
“He is a very experienced rider and, I promise you, you can trust him.”
