Chapter 1

Venerable Hall

Elizabeth Venerable looked out at the stable area in back of the manor as if looking at hell personified. In many ways it was. It represented a last chance at something. She hadn't figured out exactly what. Edward, her husband of seventeen years had insisted on restoring those stables to their past glory. Without her knowledge, he had purchased six fine horses for riding, then had advertised for a groom/riding instructor and a stable hand. That was over a year ago now.

Sometimes, she wondered if her husband had any idea what he was doing or what things actually cost. During the last year he had been sick a lot more often than he was well. But looking at him, short and chubby, with a ready grin, you would have thought he could live forever. What she suspected he had been trying to do with the horses was give his only son, Adam, an entre into the hunt club and access to the marriageable women associated with the upper classes.

Personally, Elizabeth thought the idea was hopeless and extravagantly expensive. The pink coat one wore at parties, as a member of the hunt club was silly at best and came at a heavy monetary cost. For the previous two years, before hiring the new groom, her son had taken lessons in riding at a local stable. In that time he had become an adequate rider but knew little of actually jumping the horses as was required in fox hunting. As far as she was concerned, he could have more profitably spent his time studying to take over his father's job of conserving the family's remaining invested funds and improving their farm lands.

That stable, with it's groom and stable hand, and horses represented a drain on the family's resources. Plus, her husband had insisted that their son go to his old Alma Mater to get an education. That, she could understand. The additional cost of frat house membership, she couldn't.

Then, of course, there was Jennifer. A sillier thirteen-year- old girl she couldn't imagine. She was lazy and uninterested in education. She would have to go to a finishing school at the same time as Adam was attending prep school. How in the world do you put a finish on stupidity. All of it wouldn't have been a concern except that the farm lands and the tenant farmers that they depended on for income were doing poorly. The diminished income led to an inevitable draw-down of their invested funds.

Her mind drifted back to that groom. He was barely older than herself, and had a son the age of her own boy, Adam. In hopes of making her husband see the futility of starting up the stable again, she had insisted on a demonstration of the groom/riding instructor's riding skills. She had one of the farm hands bring in the only other horse they owned, besides the new ones. It had been given to them and left in the fields for so long she barely recognized it. If they could get that plug to accept a rider, she would be surprised. It hadn't been ridden in at least five years.

Venerable Stables

Elizabeth had insisted on the whole family showing up for the try-out, even her daughter. The groom had ridden each of the new horses very well, taking them through all the usual gaits except for jumping. Then he had asked his son to take over. The groom setup two, three, and four foot jumps for the son to test the horses. The groom and his son didn't even realize they were the ones being tested. Elizabeth thought that to be the height of arrogance.

The boy popped into the saddle as if he were already at ease with that particular horse. He rode each one around the paddock and then moved them through jumps. Some of them he didn't even try at the four foot level. Then he walked the last horse over and conferred with his father. The groom nodded in concurrence and tilted his head toward the family. The boy rode over and dismounted.

"The gilding and the two red mares are jumpers, the others are fine riding horses."

Elizabeth couldn't keep her mouth shut. "You left out our other horse. What do you think of her?"

"My apologies, Ma'am, I didn't know she was new to you."

"Why don't you give us your opinion of her?"

Elizabeth smiled to herself. She had them now. She watched as the groom saddled the shaggy-haired old horse. She was a little surprised that she could even be saddled. With the boy rubbing the horse's neck and talking to her, the groom adjusted the rigging. Then the groom helped the boy into the skimpy saddle.

The horse stood absolutely still until the boy was mounted, then snorted once. The boy leaned forward and talked to the old plug. Twice the boy urged the old horse in a walk around the paddock, then broke into a lope for a few more laps. Elizabeth was stunned to say the least. The boy brought her to a stop at the far end of the paddock. He dropped the reins onto her neck and sat absolutely erect looking straight ahead. The god damn horse started dancing obliquely across the paddock with both front and back legs crossing each other and maintaining perfect fore and aft alignment. Then with no hesitation started across to the other side. Back and forth they went without any apparent direction from the rider. Finally, the horse stopped at the end of the paddock and walked straight backward until it was across from Elizabeth. The horse reared up on his back legs while the rider leaned forward along its neck. It pirouetted twice in a circle then stopped directly in front of Elizabeth, facing her.

"Ma'am, your horse has been trained in dressage. She is a little old but would be an excellent trainer for your family. She is unsuitable for jumping, fox hunting or all-out running. But, with a little effort and proper grooming, she could again be a fine horse."

Thank you, smart-assed, snot-nosed, son of a bitch, Elizabeth thought.

"Thank you for your evaluation," she said smiling.

Venerable Hall

That had been the last time she had tried to fool either one of them when it came to horses. She still smarted whenever she thought about it. After that test, what she did, with as much dignity as possible, was agree with her husband that perhaps they were suitable.

At least she had saved a little money. She had hired them as a groom and stable hand for a price less than if they had been separately hired. When she mentioned she expected the boy to be a full-time stable hand for their pay, William, the father had said that he wanted his son to finish his education. Otherwise he would look elsewhere for a position. Despite her better judgment she had given-in, but only if the stable was well-maintained. On that point, she hadn't been able to fault either of them.

The worse part was that she was very attracted to the groom and his son, sexually. He was ruggedly handsome, dignified beyond his station, and looked 100% lusty male. The son looked like a younger version of the same man. The father was both the groom and riding instructor but didn't seem to ride for pleasure.

It was the son that pissed her off immensely during that next year. He rode a horse like he had been born on one. Erect posture when riding, both elegant and relaxed. He could get all a horse had to give without ever using his spurs. He could jump a horse over any barrier, but he never taxed a horse into anything he didn't know the horse could do. She had never seen a horse he was riding default at a barrier. Every time she went down there to that damn barn to ride or just to talk to either of them, she wet herself. It was absolutely disgusting that she had to wear expensive perfume to cover-up her excited state.

It was as a matter of principle that she refused to stop her horseback riding just because they were there. And, her silly daughter just kept saying nice things about the groom's son, Mathew. Actually, the two of them had exceeded what she had expected. The stable was clean, the horses were sleek from proper grooming, and the tack was properly maintained. They had also cleaned-up the upper part of the stables as a living area for the two of them, taking the pressure off of the inside, hired-help living spaces, which were crammed at best. As a concession, she had given them both eating privileges in the staff kitchen.

An added benefit she hadn't expected was that her son had bonded almost immediately with the groom's son. When she first saw the affection they had for one another, she thought of chastising her son. Fortunately, she held off. Her son's study habits began improving almost from the first day they attended school together. Why was the groom's boy so talented, and her son had to work so hard. We are classes above them she kept telling herself.

Venerable Stables

William, the groom, had similar problems with the accommodations, but for a different reason. God knows they had needed the job when he had applied here. Over the last four years it had been a waiting game. Save as much money as possible, keep his own son at his studies, and wait for those miserable bastards, the Constables. Sooner or later they would be here too. Then, they had to be ready to move on.

He had been a professor of known potential and good at teaching. Just once he had done something unprofessional and had been forced to retire from teaching. Looking back now, he wasn't sure whether he could have changed his behavior. His son was getting old enough now to know the truth, and certainly intelligent enough to heed the warning he must give him.

The two boys had worked hard the whole year to excel at their studies. The all-England exams had come and gone with both of them doing pretty well. Their applications had gone in together and they were anxiously waiting the results. As it turned out, both letters arrived the same day, one for the groom's son and one for the owner's son. For the last three days they had walked together to the end of the lane to catch the postman before he could drop them in the box. They were that anxious to see the results of their last terms all-out study effort.

Mathew was hoping for a full scholarship award and wasn't disappointed. It had been his only chance of going to prep school at all. He was vastly relieved and in a hurry to tell his Father the good news.

Adam, on the other hand, looked half-embarrassed by his letter.