JAMES BRUSHED THE mare's mane as he waited for Vivienne to return. He could not believe his eyes when the lady arrived wearing her regular day gown instead of a riding habit. Even before she placed a single step into the stables, he sent her back to change in more appropriate clothing. He was sure the modiste must have left at least one riding habit prior to her departure, his aunt had hinted that much last night. James would not be held responsible for another incident concerning her.

He was still in quite some shock that Aunt Esme had given her approval of him teaching Vivienne. James thought for sure she would talk about the impropriety of them being alone but once he explained the reasons as to why it was beneficial for Vivienne to learn (not making a fool out of herself if a gentleman asked her on a ride of course) his aunt had agreed.

After told Vivienne Aunt Esme's response, she was ecstatic and for the rest of the night he'd viewed her smiling from time to time. However, James had a feeling she would be smiling less than she expected once her lessons began.

James had spoken to his grooms, and they had agreed to stay out of their sight for the duration of her lesson. The last thing Vivienne needed was an extra pair of eyes on her. James knew it was much more difficult to learn how to ride a horse at Vivienne's age rather than a young child because fear existed. Children did not fear much. They leapt at the chances, sparkling at everything that came their way. As one grew older, the possibilities of dangers grew more apparent, developing the seed of hesitancy in every task a gentlemen or lady took.

Vivienne's soft voice broke him out of his thoughts, "I'm back, Your Grace."

He spun around to see her in a dark blue riding habit, with a black hat securing her hair back. He cleared his throat, "Good," gesturing to the mare he introduced her, "this is Honeysuckle."

James watched as Vivienne hesitated to approach Honeysuckle and there was a brief instance of fear that crossed her eyes before she seemingly pushed it away. It hadn't crossed his mind that she might be a bit fearful of horses after her incident with Noir. He sighed internally; these lessons would be taking much longer than he expected. However, if the rest of the things went as planned, he would be able to pawn her off to another trainer to teach her everything else she needed to learn.

"She won't bite," James said gruffly and the look that Vivienne shot him made it evident that she did not believe him for a second.

James didn't have the patience to wait for Vivienne to warm up to the horse so instead he grabbed one of her gloved arms and guided it through Honeysuckle's mane. The slight gasp was the only sound evident from her as she didn't move away from his touch either. Once he was sure she wouldn't spook away, he swiftly removed his hand from atop of hers.

He watched as Vivienne continued running her gloved hand through the mare's mane, "I told you she was quite gentle."

A smile crept onto Vivienne's lips, "so you did."

James left her with the horse for a moment as he went to grab a mounting block for her. When he returned, Vivienne's gaze went straight to the object within his hands, "What is that Your Grace?"

James dropped the block beside her, and it hit the stable floors with a loud thump. It was a testament to how well-trained Honeysuckle was as she didn't even bat an eyelash at the noise.

"Now that we've gotten over your fear of horses, it's time for you to mount the mare."

James took the next few minutes explaining exactly how Vivienne would use the stepping block to mount the horse, "If anything happens, I'll be there to catch you," he promised.

Vivienne nodded before bravely stepping on the block but then she hesitated and looked back at him, worrying lining her eyes. "I'm scared of falling off Your Grace."

James shook his head, "You won't. Contrary to what you might expect, the saddle is strong enough and your weight won't effect the center of gravity."

He realized that it might have been easier for her if a lady had showed her how to get onto the horse first but nobody in his stables rode on the side-saddle. Indeed, he had purchased the side-saddle just for her. According to the stories, his great-aunt had been quite an accomplished rider, but James could not remember the last time he'd seen her ride. She was much more fragile than she looked, and James wasn't foolish enough to recommend activities to Aunt Esme that could result in injury.

Vivienne still looked hesitant and so James begrudgingly held out his arms. "If you fall, I've got you. You trust me, don't you?"

He waited with bated breath for her answer. In all honesty, he wasn't sure that she trusted him.

He almost sighed with relief once he heard her answer, "I do Your Grace."

"Very well then, it's time for you to get onto the horse."

A determined look entered her green eyes and they turned darker, almost the shade of the pine trees he occasionally saw on the countryside. He watched as it took her a few tries to summon her courage, but she got onto the horse.

"I did it!" she cried, in her excitement her balance tipped more towards the ground, and she wobbled but James quickly held onto her waist to secure her back. He placed her feet firmly on the planchette to ensure she wouldn't fall again.

They exchanged a look, "Thank you for not letting me fall, Your Grace."

"I am a man of my words, Lady Vivienne."

She smiled softly and gripped the reins tighter in her hands.

James grabbed the cane he had fashioned specifically for her earlier in the week, "This is what you will use to control the horse."

He went though the steps of how she could guide honeysuckle to move into a walk or stop. Next, he explained how the mare could be steered to the right and left.

James grabbed a hold of Honeysuckle's reigns and looked at Vivienne. "I am going to begin leading the horse slowly, it is up to you to stay on her back."

"I understand Your Grace."

His title from her mouth made his mouth twitch unpleasantly. He never knew how annoying it could be to hear the words Your Grace so often and before he knew what he was doing, James spoke up. "You can call me by my Christian name, James. Your Grace is getting to be quite a mouthful, wouldn't you agree?"

Vivienne's green eyes peered into his brown ones, and he saw the surprise within them. "Lady Torrington said Christian names must only be used by those closest to us and that gentlemen should not be calling a lady by her given name."

James smiled sardonically, of course his Aunt had drilled it into Vivienne's head that a gentleman should not become free enough to call a lady by her Christian name and vice versa. "I am simply exhausted by hearing the honorific Lady Vivienne. It is not anything else of significance. Besides, it saves time and words are a powerful tool that should be used sparingly lest they lose their effect."

Vivienne absorbed the knowledge and gave him a nod, "Then it is only fair for you to address me as Vivienne."

James did not tell Vivienne that he had dropped the lady title a long time ago. Instead, he dipped his head in agreement and slowly began leading the horse outside the stables. He turned back every few steps to ensure that Vivienne hadn't fallen off yet and to his surprise, she had managed to stay on thus far. Maybe these lessons would be able to end much faster than had had anticipated.

Once they had left the stables, James dropped the reigns. "I want you to try and move Honeysuckle forward."

Vivienne gave him a nervous smile and so he gave her some encouragement. "You can do it; it can't be more difficult then learning the steps to the quadrille."

A light sound of her laugher filled the crisp air. "Ah, but I wasn't able to quite master the quadrille."

James winced and said lightly, "Not my best words of encouragement."

"It would almost seem that you are out of practice, Your Grace."

"James," he corrected before his mouth uncharacteristically tilted up slightly. "I am usually in the company of gentlemen who do not expect sweet words from my mouth."

Vivienne laughed once again before her facial features morphed into something more serious. James stepped back realizing that she was ready to ride Honeysuckle on her own. She did not glance back at him for encouragement and instead, James watched as she slowly led the mare into a walk.

After she became more comfortable walking, James' demonstrated how she would use the cane to guide the horse to the direction she wanted to travel. The first few tries Honeysuckle refused to steer to the right even after Vivienne tapped her cane but eventually the horse and lady began to understand each other. He hadn't expected Vivienne to be such a natural rider after her lack of experience with horses, but it seemed that the lady had the golden touch with animals. James wasn't exactly surprised because he had seen the useless cat follow her around like some lovesick puppy.

The sun beat down on them as Vivienne continued practicing. Realizing that his great-Aunt might want her back inside for other lessons, he opened his mouth to halt her walking practice but something in the distance caught his eye. He lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the sun to get a better look. If he wasn't mistaken, two riders were galloping towards the stables at alarming speed.

He couldn't make out their faces, but his eyes went immediately to Vivienne. While he had been looking at the riders, she had ridden quite a distance towards the front of the manor. The riders were approaching from the left and he was sure she had seen them. He opened his mouth to warn her but then shut it. James didn't want to spook her lest she fall off the mare and injure herself—again. He picked up his pace and grabbed the horse's reigns instead.

Vivienne looked at him questioningly, "what's wrong?"

Before he could answer both riders galloped with a flourish and their horses stopped near Honeysuckle. The mare nickered but didn't throw off Vivienne thanks to his firm hands on the reigns. Vivienne's gaze immediately went to the riders, as did James.

It was the red-haired man who hopped off his horse first, grinning at James, "missed us, lad?"

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Hmm, who are the riders that just arrived? On another note, thank you so much for 1K reads on this story. It means a lot <3