Prologue

    On the day Aubrey Langland died, the weather was perfectly dreadful.  April in London is usually a soggy affair, but in the Year of Our Lord 1817, the showers reminded many of nothing so much as the Great Deluge.  The rain had been coming down for more than a week without ceasing, thoroughly soaking the hesitant spring vegetation in Hyde Park.  The gray skies and relentless damp had discouraged almost all of the fashionable traffic common in the afternoons which was why more people were not on hand to see Aubrey's neck snap.
    It had been a bad day overall for his lordship, Viscount Asquith. In the wee hours of the morning he had gambled away his quarterly allowance in entirety.  And as it was April and he had only just received it, this put him in a black mood from which, unfortunately, he would never recover.  Stumbling home at daybreak, he had barely managed to navigate the stone steps leading up to Langland House, falling twice and chipping his right front tooth slightly on the second time down.  Once inside he had mistaken his wife's bedchamber for his own and had tumbled on the bed and onto her sleeping form fully clothed and reeking of spirits.  She had awakened in horror and, taking in his disheveled clothing and unpleasant odor, had looked at him with undisguised revulsion.  This put Aubrey further out of sorts, and poor Genevieve was saved from his temper only because he chose that moment to pass out.

    When he came to a few hours later she had thoughtfully vacated the bed and the room.  Good, he thought. The one thing that stupid girl does correctly is anticipate when I want her gone.  He immediately put any further thought of her out of his mind, and he spent the day nursing his hangover and resting up for the challenge he faced.

    Last night when he had been deep in his cups and losing rather badly to his friend  Martin Everingham, talk around the table had turned to the subject of horseflesh.  Ev, it seemed, had purchased a pricey new Arabian stallion, barely broken in, at auction the day before. 
“It’s good of you, Aubrey, to help me pay for the beast,” Ev joked, holding up Aubrey’s vowels.  “He cost a pretty penny.  But worth every cent, if I do say so myself.”  Aubrey had smiled weakly but not replied, feeling rather sick and increasingly irritable over the way his luck was running.

    Ev had gone on to brag endlessly about Titan and his own equestrian skill, making claims Aubrey knew to be patently false.  He had acted so annoyingly superior that Aubrey had finally snapped, "For God's sake, Ev, we all know you couldn't sit that horse if he were hobbled and drugged.  If you ride him, you'll kill yourself.  You can barely keep your seat in a carriage."

    The others around the table had fallen quiet at the insult.  But to Aubrey's surprise, Ev had only given him a measuring look.  “Ah, the master horseman speaks,” he said, his expression becoming unpleasant.  “I’ll tell you what,” he continued, “I’ll give you a chance to show off your skills and redeem yourself at the same time.  I'll pay all of tonight's vowels if tomorrow you can race Titan both lengths of Hyde Park during the fashionable hour.”  He continued a little snidely, “Let’s hope you’re a better rider than gamester."

    Aubrey had, of course, taken up the bet.  If the insult hadn't motivated him, the money certainly would have.  Damn Ev's luck, he thought.  Rich as Croesus and always winning more.  Well, he won't be smiling when he forks over the blunt for this night's fun.  Here was an easy way to redeem himself, for Aubrey really was quite the horseman.  If all went as planned, his little money problem would be solved by the afternoon.  And his father, the Earl of Thorncombe, would never learn of his losses.

    Before he left the house, he checked himself in the hallway mirror and nodded in satisfaction.  His clothes were in the first stare of fashion, every hair in his fashionable Brutus cut was in place.  There was little physical evidence of his hangover.  He patted his lucky watch and strode out the door.

    Despite the weather, a small crowd had already gathered by the time Aubrey rode up to the Park's entrance.  Everingham was there, of course, along with a few friends he had brought along for a more potent humiliation.  The morning’s drizzle turned into a  sheeting rain, and Aubrey's head began to quietly throb in response to the rain's steady onslaught.  He took a swig of brandy from a flask in his greatcoat to ward off the headache until this business was done.  There, that's better, he thought as the liquid slid down his throat and into his stomach.  I'm warmer too.

    Ev's animal was certainly a nice piece of horseflesh.  Dark brown and glossy with a proud and haughty bearing, he would make a fine mount when properly trained.  But now he was straining at the reins and looking entirely put out at having to stand so long in the downpour.  There was a wildness about him, the look of an animal that preferred to remain untamed.  Aubrey was unconcerned.  He'd successfully trained and ridden many a wild horse, and this one didn't intimidate him.

    After greeting the spectators and throwing an arrogant smile at Ev, he walked up and examined the beast.  Titan’s gaze revealed intelligence and willfulness in equal measures, but this did not bother Aubrey.  He preferred an intelligent animal.  He moved to the horse’s side, continuing his inspection and his approval rose higher.  Titan was well fed and well muscled; healthy and sleek.  Aubrey ran his hand over his left flank, and stepped back quickly as Titan shied away.  He waited a moment for the horse to calm and then stepped forward again.  Murmuring reassurances in a soft but firm voice, he mounted the horse and swung himself into the saddle.  His motions were graceful and smooth, but even so, the horse reacted to the new weight on its back by attempting to rear.  Titan was strong, and it took all of Aubrey’s skill to settle him.

    Aubrey held the reins firmly and squeezed his legs against Titan, asserting his authority while getting the feel of the animal beneath him.  The horse resisted again, and Aubrey adjusted his movements accordingly.  For several moments Aubrey and Titan waged a silent battle for control.  Aubrey lost track of his observers as he concentrated fully on the task at hand, and his concentration eventually paid off.  When it became apparent to Titan that he would be unable to evict his rider, he moved forward in the right direction, walking steadily.

    Ev is going to lose this bet, Aubrey thought with complete conviction.  Even his sodden condition and the hail that had begun to fall could not lessen his elation at the prospect of winning.  And it wouldn't be difficult, even.  He could hardly credit his good fortune.  Aubrey admired the power and grace of his mount as he took the horse the length of the park, controlling him with firm, decisive motions when Titan became edgy or restless. I bet Ev doesn’t even appreciate what he has in this horse, he thought as he reached the end of the path and turned Titan around.  As they began the journey back toward Ev's crowd, Aubrey sat higher in the saddle and reached up to adjust his riding hat to a jauntier angle.  He thought he saw the frown on Ev's face deepen and harden, and he relaxed a bit.

    Which was a mistake.

    Titan felt his relaxation and, recognizing an opportunity to gain his freedom, broke into a trot and then a gallop. Energized by this new freedom, the horse moved wildly in no fixed direction, running in and out of trees, off the path and then back on.  If his route was not clear, his goal was: unseat Aubrey.  Aubrey felt him begin to buck.

    Still, though Aubrey knew that he had lost the advantage, he remained more irritated than panicked.  He had overcome more difficult obstacles than this.  He tightened then relaxed the reins, trying to gradually signal the horse to slow, while firmly attempting to draw Titan back onto the path.  But the jerking only incensed the animal further.  His anger forced him forward, forward, faster, faster.

    Titan was becoming more dangerous with each step, and Aubrey was finding it more difficult to focus.  The rain made visibility poor, and his headache was coming back.  The jolting of the horse's gait only made it more agonizing.  He could picture in his mind Ev's smug smile of victory.  The horror of losing to Everingham compelled him to try even harder to regain control of the animal beneath him.

    "Damn you, Titan, behave!"  Aubrey said and yanked the reins violently, pushing the full force of both knees into Titan's sides.  Titan slowed for a moment, and there was a pause, a second's worth of time, in which Aubrey let go of his pent-up breath.  In that moment Aubrey saw himself riding triumphantly up and palming graciously his many vowels.  He had that time—that second—to enjoy Ev's squirming defeat.  Then the horse screamed and reared and bucked with an almost supernatural force.  And Aubrey saw the stream of red bubble and begin to flow from the horse's mouth.  Too late he loosed the leather and struggled to balance on the fury beneath him.

    Titan ran the remaining distance until he was within ten yards of Ev and his friends.  He sped, stopped abruptly, and bucked with all of his great strength, and Aubrey, more confused than anything else, flew from his back.  He hit the ground head first, and the last thought to pass through his mind was, Damn, Ev won.

On to Chapter One