I would not let you mount her until I had learned her by heart." They went out to the stables after lunch and visited the mare in her loose box.

She was a fine beast, and seemed as gentle as a child.
Captain Osborn asked questions of the head groom concerning her.

She had a perfect reputation, but nevertheless she was to be taken over to the Kennel stables a few days before Lady Walderhurst mounted her.
"It is necessary to be more than careful," Osborn said to Hester that night.

"There would be the devil and all to pay if anything went wrong." The mare was brought over the next morning.

She was a shining bay, and her name was Faustine.
In the afternoon Captain Osborn took her out.