40
“Ah. I’m exhausted, Sheldrake.” Maud leant back in her chair and pushed her legs out straight under the table in the private dining parlour of the Riverside Inn. She would never have been so informal in the public bar. “And my legs are still aching, even though I’ve had a lie down.”
Sheldrake poured some more red wine into her glass. “You are quite remarkable, my dear, but thirty miles is a long way even for a horse that is used to being a horse, if you know what I mean.”
“If that dratted man doesn’t arrive soon, I will have dinner without him and go to bed.” She reached for another oaten cookie from a dish on the table and began to munch on it. “These are just what I need,” she gave a mischievous little smile, “for the equine side of me. But I could do with a good steak or a hearty
