"I don't see what you have to complain of," said Mrs. Elroy. "You said he rode a bad race in the St. Leger, jeeringly asked him if he'd like the mount on Tearaway in the Cup, when he replied he would. It appears he took you at your word and accepted the mount when it was offered him; I think he's on the winner."
"Do you indeed?" he said crossly. "I hope if you back her you'll lose your money."
"How very disagreeable you are," she said. "Men with diminutive minds always appear to lose control over their tempers, and forget their manners."
Rupert Hansom found another jockey in Crosby, a very fair rider.
There were seven runners for the Cup, fields had been stronger than usual at the meeting.
Rita looked supremely happy. She knew what was coming; Picton had more than hinted at it. Before she left Haverton he would ask her to be his wife; she knew what her answer would be. She loved him, had done so from the first time they met, and she was quite sure he loved her.
Dick Langford also guessed what was about to happen; it pleased him to contemplate Picton as a brother-in-law.
"I'll give him The Rascal as a wedding present," he said to himself, laughing.
Before they went to the races on Friday he said to Rita: "Picton's having a great week—the Leger, the Cup to-day, a wife before the week's out."
She laughed as she replied: "That's a treble—better than his double on The Rascal."