He dismounted painfully outside the front door, staggering a little before he was able to stand steadily on his feet. One of the grooms had taken his horse by the reins and reached out to support him, but Sir Francis’s brushed him aside, but politely and with a smile. Then he turned and made his way slowly up the steps to the door, followed by one of his retainers carrying two weighty satchels of papers. Before he reached the top, his secretary Francis Mylles opened the door and bowed him inside. I rode round to the stable yard and slid down from Hector’s back. I was tired myself, more tired by the slow ride back to London than the wild gallop of the morning. I seemed to have been in the saddle for hours, as I suppose I had been, and my legs and back were stiff. Harry came to take Hector, followed by Rikki, who greeted me in his usual exuberant manner. Fortunately, Hector was well used to him by now and merely sidled away to one side, to avoid being jumped on.
