“Thank your Master for sending me these horses and tell him I found them very easy to handle and an outstanding pair.”
“He’ll be pleased to know that, m’sieur,” the groom said, “but they can’t compare with the chestnuts owned by the Comte de Forêt.”
“Where did you see those?” the Marquis asked him.
“Outside the house you’ve just left, m’sieur,” the groom replied. “I didn’t think you’d miss them.”
The Marquis stared at him.
“Outside the Vicomte’s house?” he enquired as if the groom must be mistaken.
“That be right, m’sieur. I knows his coachman, and he tells me Monsieur le Comte only bought the chestnuts a month ago.”
The Marquis grabbed the reins back from the groom’s hand.
“Get in!” he ordered him curtly.
Turning the horses, he drove back the way he had come, going a great deal f
