It was a relief when Doran Winton said to her,
“I think you should go to change. We have a long way to go and I don’t want you to be too tired.”
“Where are you going?” the Earl asked.
“That is a secret,” Doran Winton replied, “but I will write to you in Ireland so that you can reply telling us of all the horses you have bought.”
“You are a lucky chap,” Jimmy Harrington said, “And were it not impossible for me to get leave, I would come with you.”
“David is going on a very special mission to Ireland,” Doran Winton intervened, “and so I will not have him distracted into looking at anything other than horses.”
They all laughed at this and Aleda left the room.
As she walked up the stairs, she thought just how wonderful it would be if she could go with David.
She knew that she rode as w
