They had been going for nearly an hour before Thunderbolt responded to the curb and dropped from a gallop into a trot and then at last Serena could turn her head and look behind her.
As she had expected, there was no sign of the groom.
“He will catch up with us,” Serena said aloud and Thunderbolt c****d up his ears as if in surprise at the voice.
She bent forward and patted his head.
“Take a breather, old boy,” she urged him. “You will tire yourself out and we have a long way to go as yet.”
They were passing through some wooded country and she was thankful that Thunderbolt was content to go a little more quietly or she might easily have been swept off his back by the low-hanging branches. He was still inclined to be playful. A pile of potatoes in the corner of a field would cause him
