THE KING'S HORSES
The days go by very quickly while I am at work, but the evenings are long. When the work is done, and I leave the gateway of the stables, I suddenly bethink me, with a rather unpleasant mingling of surprise and depression, that I am not going home, but to the hotel.
It is not a very large hotel. It seems to be filled with old-fashioned families from the country; but I am not sure—they may be Londoners, out of servants.
The Royal Stables are spacious, one on each side of the great courtyard. To the right are installed the eight creams and eight blacks, on the left are the carriage horses, fine tall bays. To-day was visitors' day, and before I left a great many people were strolling in.
The sires of these horses were given to the young Queen Victoria by the King of Hanover. They are stout, dimpled creatures, with pink faces and pale eyes. The coach was used at the coronation of King George III, about 1760. There should be a history of the horses in the offices of the stables, and I shall ask Captain Nicholas for it when I see him again.
It is a great business, this stable-keeping, for the King. An army of men look after the horses and coaches, and the place must be filled with their families. I hear the voices of children everywhere. *****
Yesterday I had almost decided to return to Warwick this evening, but to-day was clear, until late in the afternoon, and I worked on in the stables until nearly five o'clock.
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