#((yeah; throw the whole man out! to paraphrase john mulaney:))

[theheadlessgroom]

@beatingheart-bride

"I liked it," Dorian shrugged affably as he drained the last of his glass as he continued to tuck into his shrimp etouffee, admitting, "Probably one of the few lessons I actually enjoyed, if only because it got me outside for a bit, and that I quite liked my horse, very sweet girl named Lilac. Father took it all very seriously, of course, but I much preferred to go on slower, more leisurely rides, especially since the lessons were so early in the morning."

"I envied him fiercely," Elizabeth confessed with a little grin, saying, "I loved horses growing up, I loved taking care of them in the stables, and I sincerely wished I could have learned to ride too. Lilac was the sweetest of all the horses the Gracey's had, she loved me-even if she did have the naughty habit of sticking her snout in his pockets in search of sugar cubes!"

"You think those ghost horses out in front of the house would mind being taken for a ride? Might be a nice change of pace from being hitched to the hearse," Randall asked curiously-while said horses appeared invisible to the mortal guests, they were ethereal, skeletal mounts to the ghosts of Gracey Manor, tethered to the foreboding-looking hearse outside of the Mansion (Dorian's own funeral hearse, actually). They seldom got a chance to stretch their legs, and might welcome the change all the same.

And Dorian agreed, nodding a little as he smiled, "That might not be a bad idea! You just might get that chance to learn after all, Emily."

"Count me in too!" Wilhelm grinned, a little delighted at the idea of taking lessons alongside his daughter-in-law, while June smiled happily for her husband, before turning to her parents, asking, "What about you, Mother, Father? Would you be interested in learning?"

"Ah, no, thank you," August smiled shyly; spotting Lon and Erika's quizzical looks (especially Erika-who wouldn't want to learn to ride a pretty horsey?), Josephine elaborated, "Your granddaddy got spooked by a horse once, when we were courting."

"Spooked?" Lon echoed, as his grandfather elaborated, "Yes, your grandmother and I were out one afternoon in the park, and she had left to feed some of the birds congregating there, while I stayed back, I'd been thinking of buying us something to drink and, uh, a horse came up from behind me, very quietly, I have to say, leaned over my shoulder, and, uh...ate the carnation I had in my lapel."

"The poor dear fainted!" Josephine recalled, squeezing her husband's arm adoringly as she thought back to that day: The horse had eloped from its job ferrying young lovers around the park in a carriage and decided August's carnation would make a lovely snack, startling her beau so badly that he dropped like a sack of bricks. When he came to, his head was in Josephine's lap as she gently fanned him with her handkerchief, relieved to see he was alright after yet another tumble.