Above the curving hem of the corselet, the tight waist-band doubled as part of the securing harness which made pony-girl and car one unit when running. To this the long, tight wrist cuffs were attached by three secure stud fastenings, so that there was no movement between cuff and corselet, the pony-girl's forearms thus being held completely immobile at her waist. The difficulties of running without using the arms for balance was immediately obvious, and in response to a remark on the subject from her fascinated niece, Lady J. confirmed that this was what contributed in large part to the stiffly erect, elegant gait of the pony-girl, even when running at speed. The thighs were lifted high partly by training but partly to compensate for the loss of the use of arms. It was this erect, high-steeping gait, the torso held rigid, which emphasised the movement of the breasts, exaggerating their bouncing action. Lady J. added that the unavoidability of this exaggerated bouncing was another reason why the brassieres were used in training, although not in racing, to prevent the breasts from being slackened by continual, daily heavy use in this manner.

The shafts of the lightweight car clipped to rings at the sides of the corselet above the hips, so that the tethered arms rested on the upper sides of the shafts, helping balance the two-wheeled vehicle over its single axle, A broad stomach strap ran across the pony-girl's middle through rings stitched to the front of the tight waist-cincher, and thence to rings on the inside of each shaft just behind her hips, being then led back to secure on another set of rings further back on the shafts and it was primarily by this means that she pulled the car. This part of the harness had a refinement the precise purpose of which - other than to make life uncomfortable for the pony-girl - was less immediately obvious. In the middle of the corselet, just above the lower edge, was a large D-ring and from this was led a much thinner strap, vertically down the lower belly and across the bare swell of the hairless pubic mound, back between the thighs and up between the buttocks to a similar D-ring sewn into the lower edge of the corselet just above the base of the pony-girl's spine.

The strap was pulled tight between the girl's sex-lips, disappearing into the top of the cleft between the close-held thighs. Jayne squirmed in sympathy, knowing the feeling: the pony-girl's understrap was a clear and close relative of the uncomfortable understraps her devoted but demanding aunt more than occasionally required her to wear herself.

The smooth, rounded lips of the hairless sex swelled plumply round and over the thin strap, devouring it completely.

'It is a regular part of the harness' replied Lady J. to her niece's question on the subject - 'and is not merely a punishment, although naturally there are punishment versions, some of which can be acutely uncomfortable.' The aunt laughed, smiling indulgently at her niece. 'But then I need hardly dwell too long on such a subject to you my dear.’

She paused, and Jayne blushed deeply. While not having been required to wear a crupper strap herself today, she knew that the tight corset she was wearing was already fitted itself with two such rings. She knew also that her aunt would have brought with her at least one such strap, and might have at any time required that Jayne raise her dress, part her thighs and submit quietly to the imposition of the uncomfortable discipline for as long as her aunt deemed appropriate.

Jayne's momentary lapse into reverie - the very thing for which a session wearing the diabolical strap pulled tightly under her, its hardness cutting tight up between her body lips, would have been decreed - was cut short by the realisation that her aunt was still talking to her, dispassionately discussing the function of the strap as used on the pony-girl.

'It is in fact an integral part of the way in which the driver communicates with the girl' Lady J. was saying 'and in particular an important means of regulating her speed. Watch carefully.’

Lady J directed her remarks to the diminutive driver, who throughout had sat as still and immobile as the girl had stood while the two carried out their inspection.

'Be so kind as to demonstrate, while I explain.’

She turned again to Jayne. 'The vehicle is very carefully balanced, the balance being adjusted for each pair - by which I mean each pony-girl-driver combination. And I assure you that the racing requires very much as much skill on the driver's part as mere speed on the part of the pony-girl. Just as in horse racing or trotting races a bad driver can hamper a fast horse or pony, so here.

'If the driver leans forward' at Lady J.'s nod, the driver complied, matching his actions to her words 'the upwards tension in the crupper-strap - for such it is called, rather crudely in my opinion - is slackened, and the girl runs freely. So when he wants speed, he leans forward in his seat - which action also, as you see, causes the shafts to tilt downwards and changes the centre of gravity of the car, so that - again as you can see - it actually exerts a forward pressure on the girl, again helping her run.’

At this the driver leaned fully forward and the shafts, linked to the heavy hip pads of the harness corselet, pulled forward. The pony-girl, pushed by the car and trained to obey its every nuance, took a walking step forward, at which the driver leaned back, pulling on the reins and giving at the same time a gentle voice command: 'Eeee- zy', The girl immediately stopped, to stand again stock still, but not before Jayne had seen, vividly, how the reins when drawn back firmly by the driver pulled downwards across the breasts, flattening the swelling mounds while at the same time, by means of the rings through which they were led, pulling firmly on the long nipples, bending them noticeably downwards. As the pull on the reins was released, the tension came off the rings and the nipples sprang elastically back again to their normal position. The amount of movement of the girl's nipples, as much as the movement of the breasts themselves, came as a surprise to the intrigued young woman, and again she commented to Lady J.

'Oh yes' her aunt confirmed 'once she is rigged in the harness, her nipples are worked constantly by the reins.

‘Because of their sensitivity they are the prime means by which the driver imparts his wishes to his charge. At first, of course, she finds such continual tugging and pulling rather sore - there are usually tears during the first few days in harness after the nipples have been ringed - but she quickly becomes used to it, while the nipples themselves soon toughen. When she is new, her groom will massage her nipples at least twice a day with either liniment oil or salt so that they begin to thicken and toughen, ready for the rings. Sometimes a small, stiff brush, not unlike a tooth brush, is used, to assist with the toughening process. If she cannot not take this, get used to it I mean, she will not even be pierced and ringed.

'In addition the nipples are often artificially lengthened once they have been pierced, sometimes simply by regular stretching, sometimes using special nipple trainers. Once the new piercings have sufficiently healed, two small circular plates, each with a concentric hole, can be fitted over the end. The plates are joined, one on top of the other, by small, adjustable screws threaded through the outer plate but not through the inner plate, against which they press.

‘Once the plates are in place, either a restraining bar or a new ring is fitted through the piercing, across the outer plate, to keep both plates in place. The screws can then be adjusted to force the plates apart, so that the inner one presses against the breast itself and the outer draws the end of the nipple outwards by pressing against the cross-bar or the back of the ring, whichever is being used.

'Gradually, over a period of perhaps six months to a year, the nipple is stretched outwards, along with part of the aureole. In addition the piercing itself is stretched and enlarged, using thicker and thicker rings or barbells, until a ring the thickness of that you see on Marietta can be worn quite comfortably. There is some discomfort, of course, at each new stretching, either of the nipple or of the piercing - but it quickly wears off.

'Once properly toughened, though, the girl finds the continual stimulation not unpleasant, while the nipples themselves continue to stretch and lengthen. This girl's are - what? - half-an-inch in length, as well as being rather thick. By the time she is a two-year-old - that is to say, of course, in her second season of training - they will probably be all of an inch long - and I have seen pony-girls with nipples almost an inch-and-a-half long, and as thick as a cheroot.’

'Suppose she has very small breasts and nipples - what happens then?' asked Jayne, adding 'many woman athletes are of very slight build - some almost flat-chested.’

'I confess' said Lady J. with a light laugh 'never to having seen a flat-chested pony-girl.' Treating her niece's question more seriously, she continued: 'As you will readily appreciate, an aspiring pony-girl needs strength and stamina as much as mere speed: the sport, if one may so term it, better suits the all-round field athlete than the specialised track star. And they all seem to have fuller figures.

'But yes - to begin with she will need to have nipples which will be big enough to take the original piercing and either rings or training plates, although the size of the breast itself will be more or less immaterial. It is the nipple which does the work.

'I imagine, although I have never really thought about it, that it is one of the items checked when she has the initial full medical, before being accepted for training. And certainly, no matter how slender or tender her nipples when she first comes here, a woman would have to accept from the outset that an inevitable consequence of becoming a pony-girl would be that, by the time she had finished her career, her nipples would be greatly increased in size from whatever their original, and would be toughened greatly. The toughening is both metaphorical and literal: toughened in the sense of being able to withstand a great degree of manipulation and even rough handling, but toughened also in the matter of their texture and appearance. The girl I referred to a moment ago with the "cheroots": her nipples are as tough and resilient as car tyres - and any time-served pony-girl's nipples will be left greatly thickened and permanently semi-stiffened, even without the rings, and have a leathery appearance. It's a mark of the profession - like ballet dancers' feet. ' Lady J. turned her attentions again to Marietta's driver, while the girl herself stood placidly stock still.

'There is one more aspect of the driver's control to demonstrate' said the obviously highly knowledgeable guide. 'The brakes.’

At this the driver, leaned back slightly in his seat - and immediately the niece saw the crupper-strap tighten, pulling upwards across the pony-girl's well-padded but hairless pubic mound. There was an intake of breath from the otherwise immobile girl, and the tightening strap cut visibly more deeply into the cleft wherein it was lodged, the girl's sex lips swelling more conspicuously round it.

'The message conveyed by the strap is immediate and unmistakable - and its effect you have seen, if you recall the very high, prancing gait of the two girls as they slowed and stopped earlier. Now you know why it is quite so exquisitely high and prancing. And of course, the strap is used also in dressage movements'.

At a nod from Lady J. Marietta's driver straightened his bent legs, pushing himself bodily backwards in the small seat while at the same time drawing firmly on the reins. The pony-girl's nipples again bent under the tightening reins while, drawing taut across the breasts themselves, the reins served also first to flatten then indent deeply the swelling mounds. At the same time the rising shafts and cutting crupper-strap caused her to rise on her toes, and she began to step daintily, almost a-tiptoe, backwards, raising her knees and thighs not merely high but curving the knee wide in, as Lady J. so accurately described it, a high, prancing action which displayed the deeply cleft and depilated sex. It was just the action Jayne noticed as the girls were drawn to a halt at the end of the race.

Then, at the distance of the length of the indoor school, the glimpses afforded between the girls' thighs revealed little of detail. Now, close by and with the high, arching gait action being carried out with balletic grace and slowness each step the pony-girl took put the full length of the sex slot - rendered even more uncovered by the complete absence of body hair - blatantly on display. Hanging down from the very centre of the girl's body, apparently attached somehow to the crupper strap which at that point had all but disappeared up between the heavy folds of the bald labia and bouncing conspicuously with each jumping step she took, was what appeared to be a single link of heavy chain.

'What is that?' the niece immediately enquired.

Lady J. held up her hand, and the driver eased on the reins and leaned forward again in his seat. The girl stopped, now several paces away from Lady J. and her niece. A soft breeze from the open door at the far end of the indoor ring stirred the flowing skirts of Jayne's light summer frock, rippling lightly the edge of the exquisite broad-brim of her hat. As if inspecting a runner at Ascot, the pair walked towards the once again immobile pony-girl. Standing before her, Lady J. dropped to one knee, signalling to her niece to do likewise. and reached out to tap lightly on the inside of the girl's left thigh. Recognising the signal, the silent pony-girl moved her feet apart, even flexing her knees, lowering herself a little as she did so, to display her sex.

Jayne gasped. What she thought was a link of chain was in fact a single heavy ring, oval rather than circular.

It was suspended not, as she first imagined, from the crupper strap of the harness but from the girl's own living flesh, driven - there was no other word for it - through both the thick outer sex lips, low down on the cleft, close to the lower junction of the smoothly bald labia deep between the pony-girl's straddled thighs. The crupper strap appeared to be threaded into the cleft behind, rather than through, the ring which was actually - and again somewhat ostentatiously - welded closed. The thickness of the rod from which the ring was made caused the bald lips to bulge over the metal where it passed through them, while its obvious weight pulled the captured labia downwards and together. Whatever else the ring's purpose, Marietta's sex had been most effectively and obviously closed tight.

'A pony-girl's sexual status is variable' explained Lady J. to her niece. 'She may be generally or selectively available for sexual use, or not available at all, either at her own or her sponsor's wish, depending on her category. In whatever case, since she is not permitted to speak save under particular circumstances, her status must be readily discernible by means other than merely asking her. A pony-girl who is not freely available will have her sex marked in some way. Even if she is a Licence, but wishes to exercise her right to chose to whom she makes herself available, she must consent and submit to having her pudenda or if necessary vulva marked appropriately.

'Depending on the limitations which are either placed upon her or which she has chosen, some means of making this physically obvious must be found: labia rings with a padlock, for instance, to which the trainer or even the girl herself will hold the key. Such rings might be passed through either the outer or the inner labia, depending upon the girl's physical conformation. A pony-girl reserved for the exclusive use of her sponsor will sometimes have instead a tattoo or even a brand on her mons veneris, for example, or on the inside of her thigh - occasionally the tattoo or even the brand, although the latter is of course acutely painful for her to undergo, will actually be placed on one or even both of the labia majora themselves - which makes it obvious that her use in that regard is reserved for the owner of the mark.

'In Marietta's case her sponsor has obviously decided that she is not to be used sexually at all, and so her labia have been pierced and firmly sealed with this single permanent ring. It is a particularly heavy piercing, of the type done with an instrument not dissimilar to a leather-worker or saddler's punch rather than merely a needle. In fact the piercing tool used is identical to that used for punching rivets into the harnesses the pony-girls wear. Whereas with a normal piercing if the ring or sleeper is left out for any time the hole itself will disappear, the hole made by the punch is permanent. It will not close, even after the ring has been removed. The ring itself, unlike those through her nipples which are required to be as light as possible, is made of soft iron, highly malleable but quite heavy, which is why it hangs as it does.' Lady J paused to allow Jayne fully to contemplate the uncompromising finality of the mark placed in Marietta's soft flesh, then continues.

'Although I am not completely familiar with Marietta's particular circumstances, the nature of the piercing and the ring's size and heaviness, its very sternness if you like, makes me think there may be some punitive element. ' 'It certainly gets its message across' concurred Jayne, tentatively reaching forward to test the ring's weight - but being shyly careful not to touch the flesh of the still lewdly-posed pony-girl. 'It cannot be very pleasant having it fitted. It looks as if it might be quite a tough thing to have to go through. I assume no anaesthetic is used - when the holes are made in her labia, I mean.’

'No indeed' replied Lady J. 'no anaesthetic of any kind - she must endure the operation of being pierced fully conscious. And in fact the ordeal is even more stern than you might think.' She paused, then at Jayne's upraised quizzical eyebrow continued: 'The ring as you see has been forged closed. The weld is crude, which shows that a simple heat torch has been used rather than some form of instant electric-arc technique. Simple physics will remind you that iron is a facile conductor. The ends of the ring have to be heated brightly red hot before they can be forged together to form this single link - so the rest of the ring, already threaded through Marietta's labia, must inevitably become almost red hot itself. It is not a very comfortable process. She would have to have been secured tightly and gagged, especially for the welding.’

'Goodness' gasped Jayne, genuinely shocked. 'You mean... but how awful. It sounds unbearable. Surely she would faint, having such a thing done to her?' 'Some girls do faint' concurred her aunt '- though you must remember that here, toughness and hardihood are both highly prized and highly developed.’

Lady J. rose, her niece following, and nodded with a smile to Marietta who gratefully - the bow-legged pose, knees bent and turned outwards, being not a little strenuous to maintain for long periods - straightened her bent legs and placed her feet once again demurely together, hiding once again the heavy closure ring between her long thighs.

Moving slightly away from the immobile pony-girl and her driver, Lady J. went on.

'Although I wasn't here for Marietta's ringing, I have seen it done in this fashion on another pony-girl. A piercing and ringing of this nature, so low on the sex and then involving hammering the ring closed against a striker, has to be carried out initially from the rear, with the girl bent forwards. It is easiest done over an anvil.

'Here at Estancia Don Estanio a girl who is selected to have her sex - the term used in the stables is "her vent" - welded closed is taken to the blacksmith's shop for the procedure to be carried out. Since coercion forms no part of even a punishment here, there is a little ritual involved which demonstrates she undergoes the procedure of her own free will - or at least accepts what has been decreed for her without lasting dissent. Before being taken across to the smithy, she is divested of her harness completely, and thus is entirely naked save for her calf-length leather boots. She herself carries the ring to be used, and hands it over to the blacksmith who will fit it for her.

'Having handed over the ring with which she is to be fitted, she is required to place herself astride the anvil, then bend forward so she lays along it with her feet and ankles widely spread and her knees pulled forward, to permit unhindered access to her vulva and labia. If she is not already kept permanently depilated, she will first have been specially shaved for the ringing by her groom.' Lady J. Paused briefly, as if to check she still had the attention of her niece. She had, and thus continued her dissertation.

'The blacksmith marks the girl's exposed sex on either side, to ensure that the piercing will be even and the ring once inserted will sit correctly. The reason the girl sits, or more correctly lays, astride but face down is to permit easy access to her vulva at its lower part. Since the object is to seal her and prevent sexual intercourse, rings placed in the more usual siting, higher up the labia so as to be more readily visible when the wearer is standing up, would not be so effective. Lower down they are truly preventing access to the sexual orifice, so she cannot be penetrated. At least, not vaginally.

'When each lip has been marked, the first lip to be pierced is tightly clamped with a pair of locking forceps and drawn fully away from the body, to allow the punch to be placed so that the piercing can be made as close as possible to the base, close to the body. The pad, as it were, of the forceps, has a circular hole each side, through which the punch will be driven. Because of the weight and thickness of the ring the hole is always made through the thick outer lip rather than the more delicate inner labia, even though piercing the thicker lip is, obviously, more painful. To make the hole, a rubber block is placed against the inside of the lip, and the punch placed into the hole in the forceps on the outside, pressing lightly against the flesh. While the blacksmith holds block, forceps and punch steady, his assistant taps sharply on the striker with one of those ball-ended engineers' hammers and the slim hollow spike of the punch is driven clean through the lip in one swift stroke, removing a tiny core of flesh and leaving a neat, round hole. There is usually little or no bleeding.

'The other labium is then clamped, drawn outwards, held and punch-pierced in the same way. When holes have been made in both labia and the ring pushed through both, the lips are pushed together and using a large press rather like a bolt-cropper, the two ends of the ring are closed so that they lock.’

Lady J. again paused in her narrative, testing the level of her niece's interest in the minutiae of how the heavy closure rings were fitted. But Jayne had been listening avidly, compelled by a mixture of horror, fascination and even a frisson - more than a frisson - of sexual thrill at the thought of such a demanding, intimate ordeal, to be endured so stoically, and in public.

'But the welding' asked the niece 'how is that carried out without actually - not to say literally - spit roasting the sex lips. The girl, her labia at least, must be quite badly burned, surely?' 'No, she is not burned, and the sex is not damaged' replied Lady J., gratified that her niece wanted to know more 'unless of course you describe the piercing and ringing as damage?' 'Well' said Jayne, lightly 'that's a moot point, I suppose - but no, I would not call that damage. Modification, perhaps - but the point is surely that - at least you said this - it can be undone. The ring can be removed, when her contract ends or when her circumstances change. She can go back, if she wants, to being normal. Indeed, did you not say that the pony-girl can at any time withdraw, if for some reason she no longer finds the regime something to which she wishes to commit herself?' 'She can indeed' replied Lady J., but then added 'in most circumstances, and unless she has made a separate contractual or other commitment to - for example - her sponsor. But I am gratified at your equanimity at seeing all this. I was a little worried that it might be so far beyond your experience, indeed imagination, that you might be repelled either by the concept or by some of the more exacting disciplines associated with the life the pony-girls lead.’

Jayne gave a brittle, nervous little laugh. 'On the contrary, Aunt: I find it fascinating. Certainly indeed beyond anything I have ever heard of or indeed imagined - and as you know by now' the niece added with a smile 'I have a most fertile imagination. But you were telling me about how the sealing ring is fitted and closed. The girl is over the anvil, her labia are pierced and the ring fitted, then closed with the metal press: what then? How is the actual forging carried out - especially how is it carried out without driving the poor pony-girl crazy with - as they say in medical circles - acute discomfort - and causing real and permanent damage?' 'Right. The girl now rises' continued Lady J., seamlessly resuming her description 'and reverses her position, so that she is sitting again astride the anvil, but this time leaning back against her arms, facing the blacksmith, gripping the anvil with both hands, for support. She has to turn and face this way to bring the ring flat on to the anvil surface, so that the ends may be forged together. There is a flat wooden frame with two short but stout vertical poles, and this is now slid into position along the floor at the end of the anvil which the girl faces. The floor-frame fits either side the anvil, the uprights fit against the inside of the girl's knees. The frame is then hooked to a pulley and drawn further along the floor, so that the girl's knees are forced very wide apart, fully and completely exposing the sex again and once again giving full and easy access to the ring.

'A leather pad is slipped inside the ring, so that it lies over the lips and the cleft of the sex and is tucked underneath, and a further small apron placed around the area to protect the sex, the shaven mons veneris and inner thighs from the intense heat of the torch flame, and from flying sparks when the metal is hammered. This is also why the girl, if she is one who has been allowed to retain her pubic hair, will have been shaved: the hair, especially long hair, could easily quite literally catch fire during the forging.

'It is at this stage that the girl is given her gag, and tightly secured if that has not already been done while her labia were being pierced and ringed. Her hands and wrists are tied back to the anvil behind her, broad leather straps passed around her thighs and pulled back to rings set on the side of the anvil for just this purpose. There is also a hip strap which goes across her lower belly, over her hips and is again secured back down to the anvil on either side.’

'That's certainly secure' interjected Jayne: 'and presumably needed if only to stop her squirming about and doing damage to herself. But I though you said this is never done to a pony-girl against her will?' 'Quite so' confirmed Lady J. ' And indeed most girls being ringed like this regard it as a matter of pride to submit to the piercing itself - which of course they know is a necessary part of the procedure - without having to be tied despite the very taxing nature of the method used. Having accepted what must be done to their labia before the ring can be fitted they place themselves voluntarily and remain in position for that part of the operation unbound and often, indeed usually, without crying out.

'But for even the toughest this next stage is too difficult to endure without the assistance of firm bindings.

The girl herself will not only agree to being bound, but will wish for it - and as tightly as possible, so that she does not shame herself by flinching, or moving away from her ordeal when the iron is heated. The bonds assist her to remain immobile, which is the ideal demeanour for which each girl strives.

'Using a blow torch and working as swiftly as possible, the closed ends of the ring are next heated red hot.

While an assistant uses a long-handled T-bar pressed downwards against the ring just where it enters the flesh (he is thus actually bearing down hard on and dragging downwards on to the anvil the sex lips themselves) so as to hold the ring firmly flat against the flat surface, the blacksmith uses a traditional blacksmith's hammer to beat the ends firmly together, using the torch occasionally to keep the ring at that point brightly red hot, until the link is fully forged. Then the leather protection is removed and cold water is doused over the ring - and of course the girl's sex - to cool the metal quickly.

'Needless to say the leather slip, while keeping the direct heat off the girl's sex and inner thighs, and catching any sparks that do fly, cannot prevent the metal of the ring itself from heating. This is why the tight bindings and the gag are essential. Iron being such a good heat conductor, the entire ring - while not quite glowing bright red hot the whole way round - heats sufficiently to cauterise the holes in the flesh through which it is threaded. Medically speaking this, though perhaps a little drastic since no anaesthetic is being used, is entirely desirable, preventing as it does both bleeding and infection - but of course no girl would be able to hold still and quiet while having an iron rod already threaded through the flesh of her labia heated to almost red heat. She has to be firmly secured.’

Lady J. paused, and Jayne with fascinated horror found herself irresistibly drawn into imagining herself being required to submit, tightly secured atop the unyielding, impersonal anvil, to having her own sex, already threaded with the heavy iron ring, welded closed before her wondering peers. To her surprise, the idea did not fill her with the revulsion she might have expected.

'Interestingly' concluded Lady J., drawing the dissertation to a close 'Marietta's sponsor is a woman - perhaps she discovered Marietta being unfaithful in some way and decided an exemplary punishment is required; or perhaps she - or maybe even she and Marietta together - is merely making a statement.’

Lady J. rose, the niece following suit, and walked to the side of the pony-girl, where she unconcernedly laid a hand on the girl's rump, high on the firm buttock. 'There is one more thing to show you: observe'.

Tiny raised weals had been left by the whipcord tip of the long leather-wrapped coaching whip, where the driver had applied half-a-dozen stinging flicks across the tops of the pounding buttocks to encourage her at the finish of the impromptu race. The flicks were obviously intended to sting rather than punish, for the marks were already fading to pink. But under Lady J.'s hand Jayne saw something else: the unmistakable outline of a butterfly, whiter than the white skin of the buttock and seared smooth and slightly shiny, where the rest of the skin, outside and inside the drawn outline, had a normal pattern.

'Each pony-girl carries a brand, either that of her sponsor, or her own if she is Licensed: this is Marietta's. It is placed upon her in the traditional manner - that is to say, with a heated iron - when she begins her training, and will remain with her throughout her time as a pony-girl although it will slowly fade: when she races, however, the buttock is rubbed with a special dye which highlights the brand so that it is clearly visible.’

And turning away from the tall, still beauty Lady J. absent-mindedly - exactly as one might when saying farewell to an admired horse or pony - gave Marietta a loud, flat-handed slap on the bare buttock.

'So there you are' she said to her niece, nodding the while to thank and dismiss the driver in one economic gesture 'something the existence of which, I imagine, you have until now been wholly unaware. The Pony Fancy, as it is euphemistically called by its followers and participants.’