‘I could not bear to miss it,’ she said to herself, ‘and this year I shall not only see Crusader run, but I shall be able to talk to him and touch him when he is here in the stables.’
What could be more fortunate, she thought, than that her grandfather, the spendthrift who had wasted a great deal of money on slow horses and fast women, had also built some very fine stables?
‘Perhaps they will all be in use at the same time,’ Demelza thought.
Her eyes were shining as she ran to the linen cupboard to see if there was enough linen for the six beds that would be in use.
The sheets and pillowcases all had lavender bags packed between them which she had made the previous year.
She hesitated for a moment as she looked at one pile separate from the others which were edged with real lace. Thes
