26th June, They are upon the road

"No matter, I have some. My aunt Sellingham insisted I take some along - she must have known that I'd meet you here."

"I'm quite ready to believe that your aunt is a paragon of accomplishments, but I doubt she is an oracle. I believe the smelling salts were for the ladies you were to going to smite with your buckskins." Hunter snorted at the image.

Edward smiled. He was reasonably proud that he could wear a pair of buckskins to good effect.

"Since she insisted on warning me on all those loose women I would meet here and delighted in imparting quite horrendous stories about their ploys and the poor officers who fell into their traps and married them ... I can only conclude that the salts were for my benefits. I wonder that none of your realtives had had the same thought - after all, an ADC is much more likely to move in circles where one would encounter females, whether loose or otherwise."

"My only close relative is my mother and she is good enough to have enough trust in my judgement. She preferred giving advice over smelling salts." Hunter smirked.

"She must be an admirable woman then! Will she be in London during the season?"

If yes, he would ask his own mother to make her aquintance - if she didn't know her already. As his mother had not much use for smelling salts either (except at a few memorable occasions in the past, where she had substantially supported her husbands work by judicious bouts of headache or fainting), she might get along rather well with Hunter's mother, he thought. And he was quite curious as to Hunter's family, he had to confess.

"I am not sure. It is likely that she will be, but she may decide to travel to see her father this summer and if she does, she will probably miss most of the season." Hunter smiled. "Her name is Lady Maria Hunter."

Edward tried to recall whether he had ever met her, but had to shake his head.

"I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure to meet her yet. Will she have to travel far?"

He stole a glance at Hunter. If his father wasn't considerably less English than his position indicated, his cheekbones came from his mother's side, which, given Napoleon's stated desire to rule all of Europe and beyond, could mean a rather dangerous journey for a woman alone.

Hunter threw a glance at Torrington, then turned away and spoke: "All told? Just under two thousand miles by land. My grandfather's estates lie about thirty miles east of Saint-Petersburg." He paused. "I rather think she will try and secure a passage in a ship, however."

Edward raised an eyebrow.

"That is indeed quite a journey. So your mother's family is Russian? Has your father met her on a diplomatic mission then?"

"My mother's family, well, there is only my mother and my grandfather, the are Polish, but my grandfather rose to a rank of general under Catherine the Great and is quite the loyal subject of the Tsar." Hunter shifted in the saddle. "My father met my mother, when he was working in the British embassy in Saint-Petersburg. My grandfather, as you may imagine, was not overjoyed." Hunter grinned.

"The grandfather a general - you come from quite a militaristic family, Hunter."

Edward grinned back.

"No, marrying a junior diplomat is not the done thing - my father always said that it was only his future claim to the title that safed him with my mother. I hope your grandfather has forgiven your parents, however. Have you visited him there?"

Hunter decided that he was not ready to share that his grandfather would probably have killed his father, if his father didn't have the decency to die first. "I have indeed. Although not in Saint-Petersburg. He used to have a small estate in Polish lands. He has sold it since. I spent four rather happy years there as a young lad."

Edward raised his eyebrows.

"Then I expect you speak the language?"

Hunter grinned. "I do indeed. Russian though, my Polish is very middling."

Edward grinned.

"And you tell me I should be working for the foreign office!"

He recalled, however, that Hunter had mentioned something about his father being a pariah, so perhaps there had been too many broken dishes there. So instead of pressing on, he changed the subject.

"There, we are back on level ground again ... shall we see how the bridge holds up under a gallop?"

Hunter nodded and put Firebird into canter first, then asked her to gallop. It was a very quick crossing.