Chapter 1114

• Mary wandered round Regent's Park in a daze; it was enormous, so much space to explore after the enclosed streets and crowded shops of the centre of the great city. The Queen, Her Imperial Majesty, Queen Victoria, had opened the Park to the public only a few years earlier, and it had immediately become a popular place to stroll and to ride: young bucks dressed in the finest riding habits pranced by on highly-bred horses, their horses tails swishing, their hooves held high. To Mary, a country girl born and bred, the Park seemed odd; the countryside tamed and cosseted, the animals pets rather than work-mates.
• But there was no denying the beauty of the gardens; the flowers were glorious, sensual arrangements of colour, the soft scents of the roses rising in the warmth of the summer.
• She was a little lonely without Jack. Despite the problems they had having, she would have felt better having him with her. But he was busy with the stables, and he was uneasy about coming to the city, his gypsy blood instinctively disliking the idea of permanence.