'Fond is not the word!' I exclaimed—and it certainly was not.
'I am not sure that what I said about lending Wild Rose would apply to you,' she said. 'I think you would be gentle with her.'
I was certain that I should treat her with all consideration; but as I doubted whether she would wholly reciprocate it, I said with much presence of mind, that I should regard riding her as akin to profanation.
As Brutus and I were going home, he observed that it was a good thing I had not agreed to lend him to the Colonel.
'Yes,' I said, determined to improve the occasion, 'you might not have found him as considerate as—well, as some people!'
'I meant it was a good thing for you!' he hinted darkly, and I did not care to ask for an explanation. 'What did you mean,' he resumed, 'by saying that I should not admire Wild Rose? Why, she is charming—charming!'
'In that case,' I said, 'I don't mind riding with her mistress occasionally—to oblige you.'
'You don't mind!' he said; 'you will have to, my boy,—and every afternoon!'
I suppressed a chuckle: after all, man is the nobler animal. I could manage a horse—in my own way. My little ruse had succeeded: I should have no more forced introductions to mystified strangers.