“Is your foot still hurting you?” he asked.
“No, it’s much better, thank you. It is so very kind of you to bring me home in your carriage, sir. Your horses are magnificent.”
“I am very proud of my stable.”
“And you don’t use a bearing rein?”
She looked at him anxiously as she spoke, as if she thought he might contradict her,
“Certainly not!”
She gave a little sigh.
“I am so glad. I think it’s cruel. Mama says it shows off the horses and they should show off their owner.”
Lord Saire was well aware that fashionable ladies insisted on bearing reins, which arched their horses’ necks, but could, if adjusted too tightly, be extremely painful for an animal after being used for an hour or so.
It was a cruelty that he abominated even though he knew that he was very much in the minority in
