All for the Love of a Lady
Introduction
‘All for the Love of a Lady’ reflects a more traditional time when life had a slower pace. It was written by my mother, Norah Carr, in 1993. Sadly, she died in 2008 and I have only recently found this amongst papers. I thought it worthy of publishing on TCE, as a tribute to a lovely Mum who was gentle, fun (we giggled a lot!) and had many attributes. Not only was she a talented pianist, she excelled as a seamstress, could paint and draw, and enjoyed writing from time to time. This story is typical of her style – gentle humour with a little twist. I hope you enjoy it.
All for the Love of a Lady
(a short story by Norah Carr)
Hector had a problem. Escorting Hilda home across the park, he was wishing he had more dash, more the air of the debonair, something that would really impress! He knew she greatly admired the heroes of the silver screen. During the film they had just seen she had grasped his arm and sighed,
‘Oooh, Hector, isn’t he marvellous?’, as the pianist played thundering chords and sweeping runs in an exciting crescendo, and Rudolph Valentino boldly grabbed the reins and stopped the runaway horse galloping away with the carriage in which sat the heroine, wide-eyed with terror.
Hector was unimpressed.
‘I expect he had to practice it a lot,’ he said. Hilda was too immersed in the film to notice.
‘I loved the way he handled the horses,’ she said as they came out of the cinema. ‘He did it so easily!’
Hector was silent for a moment, then,
‘I can handle a horse,’ he said.
‘Can you really?’ she asked, looking at him with renewed interest.
‘Yes. Before we moved here my father had two horses.’
He dared not tell her that the only time he had been in charge of such creatures was when he was much younger. He had helped his father with the two gentle mares that pulled the cart from which his father ran a small but profitable greengrocery business.
As they walked through the park, Hector thought about her admiration for the dashing Mr Valentino and an idea came into his head. In those days a fellow couldn’t drive up to a girl’s home with a jaunty ‘toot-toot’ from a spanking new MG and invite the light of his life to go for a ride out in the country; or zoom to a halt beside her as she walked along the road and offer a lift on the pillion of his motor-bike for the rest of the way home!
Casting caution to the wind, he said,
‘How would you like to go for a picnic in the country on Sunday afternoon, if it’s fine?’
Hilda hesitated a little, then said,
‘It’s always so crowded on that little train. Everybody goes out of town on it on Sunday afternoons, and it’s such long way to the station.’
‘Ah, but I have a better idea!’
‘Tell me!’
‘It’s a surprise!’ said Hector, more prophetically than he knew.
‘You’ve bought a tandem bicycle!’ exclaimed Hilda.
‘No,’ he replied, ‘I said it would be a surprise! I want to take you for a special treat, and I’ll call for you at two o’clock. Please say you’ll come?’
‘Oh, all right,’ said Hilda, sounding, he thought, as though she was already losing interest in the idea.
The next Friday evening Hector walked the two miles out of town to the old stables. They were on the edge of a large field and housed a few horses, kept there when they retired from their working lives. Some were hired out occasionally to pull a little pony-trap, particularly at the Annual Carnival in the park.
The invitation to a Sunday outing in a pony-trap was not quite the same as the vision he had of himself as the dashing horseman riding for My Lady’s favour. Even so, Hector was sure that Hilda would be impressed by the way he handled the animal. He made sure, however, that he chose a gentle-looking creature!
Sunday was a lovely sunny day, and sporting a new straw boater, Hector arrived at the stables in good time to collect the pony-trap and mare. Hilda’s home was on the main road into town, and he calculated that if he left the stables just before quarter-to-two, at a steady trot he would arrive there to meet her on the hour.
As he climbed into the seat of the trap he suddenly felt quite nervous, but now there was no turning back. Hilda would be waiting for him, and he hoped she would be suitably impressed when he saw the confident way in which he controlled the mare.
Remembering how his father had taught him to hold the reins and the necessary words of command, Hector gave a soft ‘gee-up’ and a light touch on the reins, and sure enough she moved off and clip-clopped on her way.
Another gentle command, and she broke into a steady trot. Hector relaxed and began to enjoy the ride, looking forward to the afternoon with Hilda beside him, and to her admiring glances as she noticed his expert horsemanship.
When they turned into the main road and were nearing Hilda’s home, he saw she was at the front gate talking to two of their mutual friends. Straightening his tie, and adjusting his boater to a rakish angle, he prepared to stop and help her aboard.
But something was horribly wrong. Hilda waved and moved forward to meet him, Hector pulled on the reins shouting ‘Whoa there!’, but the old mare kept up her lively pace. Looking neither right nor left, she trotted straight past Hilda, past friends now standing open-mouthed, past the Church, Post Office and Police Station, as if remembering a well-loved and well-trodden route.
With a toss of her mane and a happy defiant air, on and on she went, keeping a steady course, and the awful embarrassing, crushing reality dawned on Hector: this horse would trot, come what may, as she had trotted for years – straight into the horse drawn tram depot at the far end of town!
(NC, August 1993)
For more works by Ann Carr see Ann Carr on The Creative Exiles.
https://www.creativeexiles.com/author/ann/
You can also read more works by Ann Carr on Hubpages.
https://hubpages.com/@annart
‘Take a Word…’ is a self-publication of stories and poems, designed to encourage others to write creatively, to project their own voice, even create their own words. ISBN: 9798754336476
I'm a member of HubPages (hubpages.com/@annart) which has helped me hone my writing skills.I have published an anthology of stories and poems on the subject of 'words', entitled 'Take a Word!', designed to encourage writers to stretch their boundaries when choosing words.
It's exciting to be a part of a community which has the same passion for writing.
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- The Ravenscar Raven - January 23, 2024
I hope you enjoyed this story. It reflects my Mum’s gentle and humorous character and is a refreshing outlook in this somewhat more troubled world.
I’d be delighted to receive your feedback.
All the best to everyone!
Ann