He was obliged to laugh. “I see that Rivenhall is more to be pitied than I am! Why did you quarrel with him?”
“I had to make an excuse for flying from Berkeley Square! You must perceive that! I could think of nothing else to do but to take out that young chestnut he has bought lately. A beautiful creature! Such grand, sloping shoulders! Such an action! But quite unbroke to London traffic and by far too strong for any female to hold!”
“I have seen the horse. Do you tell me seriously, Sophy, that you took him out?”
“I did — shocking, was it not? I assure you, I suffered a real qualm in my conscience! No harm, however! He did not bolt with me, and Charles came to the rescue before I found myself in real difficulty. The things he said to me — ! I have never seen him in such a fury! If only I could remember the half of the insults he flung at my head! It is no matter, however; they gave me all the cause I needed to fly from his vicinity.”
He closed his eyes for an anguished moment. “Informing him, no doubt, that you had sought my protection?”
“No, there was no need; Cecy will tell him that!”
“What a fortunate circumstance, to be sure! I hope you meant to contribute a handsome wreath to my obsequies?”
“Certainly! In the nature of things, it is likely that you will predecease me.”
“If I survive this adventure there can be no question of that. Your fate is writ clear; you will be murdered. I cannot conceive how it comes about that you were not murdered long since!”
“How odd! Charles himself once said that to me, or something like it!”