Heaving her five-foot-seven frame out of bed the next morning, Regina waited for pain to shoot down toward her thigh or up toward her shoulder, but after a few stretches, her back was vastly improved, only a slight twinge when she bent or twisted.
Regina’s amazement at her mobility continued throughout the day. Grace took first shift and rode several of the feistier mares Regina had pointed out. As she dismounted, she muttered, “I’ll pay for this time away with all the work waiting, but it was a nice change.”
“Ta, Grace. Helen said you both have been very busy. I appreciate the help.”
The administrator simply nodded and sped away.
Cecilia came bouncing down after lunch, always happy to help. Her eyes twinkling, she said, “Mistress, you look much…straighter.”
“Get on with you.” Regina swatted at her with the towel she’d been using to wipe down saddles.
“I am verra glad you are feeling better.”
“Hmph. Do not think you are forgiven for telling tales to the headmistress. I told you I’d ask for help if I needed it.”
“I won’t ask for your pardon.” The girl’s chin jutted out. “The beasties deserve our best, and this school is all about helping one another. Anyway, admit it. ’Twas nice to have some human company besides me around here.”
“Ha. Don’t you think I would have chosen a different type of work if I had wanted to be around people?”
“Do you not get lonely?” Cecilia asked.
“The babies talk to me, just as I talk to them. And my helpers are generally better-behaved than you.” Cecilia snorted and Regina grinned. “I can talk to people in the dining hall, but what do I have in common with teachers and the like?”
The student quickly replied, “Your love of this school and the principles it represents, for one. I’m sure I shall think of others.”
Regina shook her head, still smiling.
Cecilia grew serious. “Mistress, you lived in London before, didn’t you?” At Regina’s nod, she continued. “What is it like? Did you enjoy it?”
Cecilia was destined for the annual courtesan auction at the Earl of Mansfield’s theatre in London, and would likely be set up there by her first benefactor.
“Ah…” Regina saw the girl’s concern over an unknown future. “Given my aforementioned preference for horses over people, you will not be surprised to hear that I did not enjoy it. But that is not to say you shan’t. I am not one for parties, gossip, and the latest fashions. However, I can see you being the belle of the ball.” Regina smiled at the student.
“That sounds fun. Are there less pleasurable aspects?”
“The noise, the crowds, the smells.” Regina wrinkled her nose, remembering. “Those can be avoided for the most part, but gossip always has two sides. There are winners and losers, and courtesans walk a fine line on the edge of acceptance.”
“Would there not be more tolerance in a big city, where people are more sophisticated?”
Regina snorted, and a horse poked her head out of a stall to investigate the noise. “Not in my experience. There is far more acceptance here.”
“Choice, then? Do you not want to find someone to love?”
“Ah, the innocence of youth.” Regina patted Cecilia’s arm. “I prefer the open-mindedness here over the risks of London, even if I have to forego finding a lifelong partner.”
“But—”
“These beasties won’t exercise themselves. Get on with you.” Regina patted her again and smiled to soften her abrupt halt to the conversation.
* * * *
On the second day, she could not feel more than a pinch. She really owed Helen for this.
Perhaps I can pay in orgasms. She snickered then sobered when Helen knocked on her open door.
“You might be a saint, as whatever you did to my back was a miracle.” She gestured for Helen to set the breakfast basket and teapot on the table. Admiring Helen’s front then back as she passed, Regina’s mind flashed back to the feel of that luscious arse and thighs resting on her.
Helen grinned. “I’m so glad I could help. But—and this is an order—I insist that you ease into things.” She held up a hand when Regina frowned and opened her mouth to argue. “We shall see how you feel then.”
Regina gaped at her as they sat to eat. “Am I allowed to lead the mares out to the field at least?”
Helen narrowed her eyes. “I suppose.” She belied her hesitant words with a grin, the lines around her eyes deepening into creases that proved her good humor was lifelong.
Regina’s heart panged at how beautiful her employer was, especially when she smiled. “Why, thank you, milady,” she said with a mock curtsy.
Later that day, after she completed the few tasks the headmistress had allowed, she paused outside the stable door. She had a horse in hand and the sun on her face, two of her favorite things in the world.
If only she had that bossy delectable woman in her bed, her life would be perfect.
No, she argued with her fantasy. First, Helen preferred men or she wouldn’t have been married for twenty years. And second, this lovely lady was her employer. Even if Regina seduced her, she’d be out of a position if Helen regretted her actions. There would never be a place she’d feel as safe and happy than on the grounds of this school.
Not only was the school property men-free overnight, but it taught women to forge their own paths inasmuch as society allowed. And the acceptance of all sorts of sexual preferences ’twas heaven on earth. She wouldn’t lie to herself. She hoped to one day meet a life partner. But if she didn’t, it would not be the worst thing either. She was far happier here than she had been anywhere else.
Most importantly, any partner had to be someone suitable. And Helen Montague was not suitable.
Regina strode back and forth to the field with her charges, her mind in turmoil. To reinforce how lucky she was even without a lover, she reminded herself of the discomfort of her childhood. While she learned to sew and cook, her brother learned riding and repair work. After several years of frustration and too many unpicked stitches, she’d finally borrowed a set of his clothes, bound her budding breasts, and walked several neighborhoods over in their London suburb to hire on as a stable hand.
There, she’d discovered her love of horses. At first, she’d simply wanted to be outdoors rather than stuck in the kitchen with her mother and her friends, listening to them complain about their husbands and children. The physical exertion of caring for the horses appealed to her, and the beasts’ gentle nature and intelligence drew her in.
When she returned home with her wages to help the household, her mother stopped questioning where she’d gone, and better yet, stopped asking for her help with the cooking and sewing.
The other stable hands were friendly. They joked about girls they’d tupped, the figures of women who passed on the street, and everything else sexual. Regina found it all far more comfortable than listening to her mother’s friends discuss their husbands’ prowess.
She suspected she had far more in common with these boys than a sense of humor. However, she daren’t act on her feeling so close to home. To do so would bring shame to her family. So she left home, bouncing from stable to stable, finding a few girls willing to experiment and a few others who shared her interests outright.
She worked at a stable next to a London theatre and paused her duties one afternoon a week to observe clusters of women in daring dresses arrive and depart. She learned from one of the women, who drove a phaeton she paid Regina to care for, that the ladies were courtesans. The women came to meet a matron in the theatre who assisted them with saving their hard-earned funds.
On a spring day, a lady older than most of the others strolled over after many of the courtesans had gone their separate ways. Dressed more moderately, she had a kind smile and soft eyes.
“Hullo.” Regina nodded to her and resumed sweeping the wide doorway of the stables. Despite the other woman’s welcoming demeanor, Regina’s heart pounded. What did this stranger want with her? Her greatest irony was that she was often more comfortable talking to men than to women.
“Hello, dear. My name is Leah Godwin. I am so pleased to meet you…”
“Regina Carlisle at your service, Missus Godwin.”
“Oh, call me Leah, please. I often observe you lingering here gazing at the theatre. Are you perhaps considering a career on the stage?”
“Just enjoying the view, ma’am.” Regina winked, deliberately being outrageous so this lady would leave her alone and stop asking questions. There was a reason she worked with horses—they required less conversation.
“’Tis Leah, please. Right, then. I am glad we can be of assistance.” Leah smiled.
Regina gaped.
Within a month, she’d had tea with Leah several times and had come to love her. One afternoon, Leah described the school and offered her the role of stablemistress.
Now, she’d been here three years and was still a little in shock. Everyone here—literally everyone, or they were asked to leave—accepted her as she was. If she wanted to hack her hair off or wear men’s clothes as they were better suited to her role, fine. In the end, she was most comfortable wearing split skirts with broken-in stays. She kept the occasional day dress for when sponsors, mostly men, visited and she interacted with them to handle their mounts.
Their horseflesh, she amended with a chuckle. Here, “mounts” could be misconstrued.
Those few years before the school, she’d been lonely, feeling isolated. Sapphic relationships were frowned upon, if not illegal. Thankfully, the laws regarding women’s relationships were murkier than those around men’s. ’Twas perhaps the one area in which men had less freedom than women. Either way, it was difficult to find like-minded people to form friendships with, never mind intimate relationships.
At school, the staff were all friendly. Still unsure of what she’d have in common with women who were teachers, kitchen staff and housekeepers, she’d taken ages to sit with others at meals. But once she did, she quickly found a circle of women who she liked and admired.
Sure, she missed physical intimacy. There was the occasional liaison with a like-minded housekeeper, but those were few and far between. But she had a form of love here she’d never had before.
Having led the last of the older horses out to pasture, she cleaned and filled their water troughs, keeping watch for Helen’s return so she would not be chastised for doing too much. As Helen returned from exercising the third mare, Regina reached the only conclusion she could. Sex with the deliciously soft headmistress was not worth giving up her home and family. She must put this infatuation aside.
* * * *
Helen turned the last of the younger mares toward the stables. The sun’s heat stung her nose. Her hat’s narrow brim protected her forehead, but she’d look like she had a cold for the next two days. She could not bring herself to care. This had been a much-needed break from the never-ending administrative tasks awaiting her in her office.
On days like this, she was jealous of roles like Regina’s. On the other hand, Regina had fallen because her work was the same in much worse weather, when Helen had a lovely fire and a lap blanket over her as she worked.
As she rode into the stable yard, she again admired Regina’s strength and sleekness as she hauled buckets of water and food. Her fingertips tingled at the memory of pads of muscles against them, and she squirmed on the saddle. Now that she recognized her attraction to Regina, she could not see past it.
She had no business staring at a member of her staff, even one she’d seen semi-nude. However, it wouldn’t hurt to become better acquainted with Regina. She was one of the closest in age to Helen, after all.
The thought of age prompted Helen to recall her thickening waistline and graying hair. Just because Regina preferred the company of women did not mean she’d be attracted to an older, heavier woman. Helen was being conceited to assume otherwise.
No, better they stay friends.
“I thought we’d agreed to leave those heavy buckets for the man from the village?” she teased Regina.
Regina strolled closer to help her dismount with a grin. “I do not recall agreeing to that.”
Helen laughed, shaking her head. Slipping one boot out of the saddle, she held the pommel to swing the leg back and over to slide down into Regina’s waiting arms. She failed. Sitting awkwardly on the saddle, she made a distressed sound.
Regina walked around the horse’s head, holding a lower section of rein, to check what was wrong.
Helen blushed. “’Twas only that I couldn’t raise my leg high enough. I may have overdone things a tad.”
“Oh. Can I help?”
“No!” Helen’s response was quick and slightly horrified. “How embarrassing. And you re-injuring yourself would bely the point of all this exertion on my part.”
Regina stifled a giggle and came back around. “Right, then. I shall catch you if you fall.”
At that mental image, Helen almost wished to tumble off. However, she’d humiliated herself enough for one day.
Heaving her leg over, she felt Regina’s hand at her other ankle, ensuring it was free of the stirrup. Then hands were at her waist, holding her as she slid to safety on the ground.
“There. Perhaps not the most graceful dismount, but I did it. Thank you.” She turned, and Regina was so close she could feel the woman’s breath across her temple.
Helen clenched her fists, her stomach flip-flopping. She hoped for a moment like the day before, but Regina stepped back immediately.
“Ta, mistress. She’s the last of them for today. I’ll see to the saddle and grooming.”
Helen opened her mouth, but Regina raised a hand.
“I beg your pardon. I’ll have the ‘man from the village’—she pitched her tone higher to mimic Helen and finished in her own voice through a grin—“see to the saddle and grooming.”
Helen dared to reach for her hand and squeezed it. “One more day, so I don’t worry. Please?”
Regina’s tongue darted out to wet her lips at the last word, but she remained silent, nodding once.
Helen spent the rest of the day and into the evening forcing herself to concentrate on the many decisions awaiting her on her desk. When her thoughts strayed to the firm arms and engaging laugh of the stablemistress, she ruthlessly squashed them and tackled the next document. As was so often the case in recent weeks, she took her supper on a tray in her office.
Finally, she shoved her chair back, she decided her reward for her hard work would be to see how Regina fared. Only to need three attempts to gain her feet. There would be no walk across the grounds, she’d be lucky to make her own bed.