It was a hunting county, and the ladies rode well; square
seat, light hand on the snaffle, the curb reserved for cases of
necessity; and, when they had patted the horse on the neck at starting,
as all these coaxing creatures must, they rode him with that well-bred
ease and unconsciousness of being on a horse which distinguishes ladies
who have ridden all their lives from the gawky snobbesses in Hyde Park,
who ride, if riding it can be called, with their elbows uncouthly
fastened to their sides as if by a rope, their hands at the pit of
their stomachs, and both those hands, as heavy as a housemaid's, sawing
the poor horse with curb and snaffle at once, while the whole body
breathes pretension and affectation, and seems to say, "Look at me; I
am on horseback! Be startled at that--as I am! and I have had lessons
from a riding-master. He has taught me how a lady should ride"--in his
opinion, poor devil.
The champing, the pawing, the mounting, and the clattering of these
bright cavalcades, with the music of the women excited by motion,
furnished a picture of wealth and gayety and happy country life that
cheered the whole neighborhood, and contrasted strangely with the stern
Spartan life of him who had persuaded himself he was the rightful owner
of Huntercombe Hall.
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