Parental Guidance
"Papa, may I ride your horse?"
It was such an innocent request. One that delighted Robert, if he was honest. Of his three daughters, Mary was by far the most adventurous. Well, perhaps Sybil would grow into that trait, but she was only two and other than her sweetness, she'd not shown much distinct personality so far as her father could tell. Edith tended to be quite fearful, but Mary was fearless. She liked to climb trees and run away from the nanny and explore anything and everything. She always wanted to know what was going on and be a part of things around her. If she had been a son, Robert's firstborn would have the makings of a brilliant future earl. As it was, Robert was just pleased that his eldest child seemed to be interested in Robert's own pursuits.
And so it wasn't much surprise when Mary, just before her sixth birthday, came to see her father preparing for the hunt and asked to ride his horse. The grooms were fitting the other horses and wrangling the dogs, so there was plenty of time before the horn was blown to begin the day.
Robert dismounted the horse. "Where's Nanny, Mary?" he asked, wondering why his daughter was standing by the stables unsupervised.
"Edith started crying and Sybil fell in the gravel. I wanted to come see you," she answered. Her dark eyes looked up at him adoringly.
He was quite weak to her persuasions, he knew, and did not even try to resist it. "Alright, come over here," he said, gesturing to his little girl.
Mary came bounding over excitedly. Robert steadied the horse and then lifted Mary up and placed her in the saddle, her little legs barely spanning the horse's back.
"When you get bigger, I'll make sure you learn to ride, if you want to. You'll sit sidesaddle like a proper lady," Robert told her. "For now, just hold on tight to the saddle."
He led the horse in a small circle in the space in front of the stables, avoiding the people busy preparing for the hunt. Mary was absolutely enthralled.
A loud gasp behind Robert startled him into turning sharply. Cora stood there with eyes wide and jaw dropped. "Robert, get her down from there!"
Robert frowned. His wife was not known to nag; if she ever scolded him, it was usually because he was acting badly and they both knew it. He wasn't sure what could possibly be bothering her now. But he also knew better than to pick a fight with her in front of others.
He went to lift Mary off the horse, much to the little girl's chagrin. "Papa, why can't I ride?"
"We'll ride again another time," he assured her. "But go with your mama for now."
Cora held out her hand for Mary to take. She shot Robert a very angry glare, which absolutely baffled him. Robert watched his wife and child walk back to the house. When they were out of sight, he went back to his horse and continued his own preparations for the hunt.
But a minute later, Cora had returned. "Get down from there," she said sharply. Her voice was thankfully quiet, not attracting attention of the staff who were bustling around them.
Robert did not like being given orders by anyone, but he did begrudgingly dismount his horse once again. "What on earth is the matter?" he asked, keeping his own voice low as well.
"What the hell were you thinking!?" she hissed.
Her language was quite startling. "I beg your pardon?"
"Mary is five years old! And you put her up on a horse!? She doesn't know what she's doing, what if she had fallen!? What if the horse had gotten spooked and bolted?!"
Cora was getting quite overwrought, and Robert was still quite confused by the whole thing. "I was holding the reins," he explained, trying to stay calm and to calm his wife. "She was just sitting up there for a minute. She was perfectly fine."
"She's so little, Robert," Cora said weakly, her eyes filling with tears that she tried to blink away.
And then Robert understood. Sybil's birth had been quite dangerous for Cora and Sybil both, and there had been fear that their youngest daughter might not survive. She had been born too early and nearly too small. Sybil had been just fine, but Cora had been quite shaken by the whole experience. She had been a wonderful mother to Mary and Edith both, and the pregnancies and births had been without concern. But ever since Sybil's birth, Cora had become more protective over all three of their children. It was as though the possibility of losing baby Sybil had opened Cora's eyes to the dangers that could potentially threaten all the girls. Until this moment, he had not realized fully how worried she had become.
Robert ignored the people around him and he pulled his wife into his arms. "Mary is just fine, Cora," he murmured softly. "She asked to ride my horse, and I was with her every second. I wouldn't let anything happen to her. To any of them. I think we'll get a small pony for her, if she wants to learn to ride, and that way she won't be so high up and on such a spirited animal. How does that sound?"
Cora's face was pressed to his neck, but he could feel her nod.
"Good," he whispered, turning to kiss her temple. "Now, why don't you go be with our girls, and I'll come by so you can all wave me off on the hunt?"
She pulled back, sighing in relief. "Yes, alright. I'm sorry for getting cross."
"I understand, darling," he said.
Cora looked around furtively and then gave him a swift kiss on the cheek before hurrying off. Robert grinned to himself as he went back to his preparations.