"It is very good of him," answered Emily.
Hester thought she looked a trifle nervous, and wondered why. She did not say anything about the riding lessons, and in fact had seemed of late less eager and interested. In the first place, it had been Alec who had postponed, now it was she. First one trifling thing and then another seemed to interpose.
"The mare is as safe as a feather-bed," Osborn said to her one afternoon when they were taking tea on the lawn at Palstrey. "You had better begin now if you wish to accomplish anything before Lord Walderhurst comes back. What do you hear from him as to his return?"
Emily had heard that he was likely to be detained longer than he had expected. It seemed always to be the case that people were detained by such business. He was annoyed, but it could not be helped. There was a rather tired look in her eyes and she was paler than usual.
"I am going up to town to-morrow," she said. "The riding lessons might begin after I come back."
"Are you anxious about anything?" Hester asked her as she was preparing for the drive back to The Kennel Farm.
"No, no," Emily answered. "Only—"
"Only what?"
"I should be so glad if—if he were not away."
Hester gazed reflectively at her suddenly quivering face.