Penny nodded mutely to most of the chatter the man offered, patting her mare soothingly. She seemed no worse for the wear as far as she could see, other than a few scratches from the underbrush and the fact that she was still settling down from the fright of it all. Still, Penny was reluctant to mount and opted to lead her instead, at least until they were both calmer.
"I've heard of Madison's Pub," she finally managed, which was true enough. She'd heard talk about it about the grounds, mostly amongst the staff but also from her father and brother. She didn't doubt that her sister found her way there, too, on occasion, knowing her. She, on the other hand, had not had the privilege and decided it was high time she did. "I think it should do nicely," she added, leading the mare forward at an easy pace, her dog followed along at her heels.
When Gareth indicated toward her dog, she could only smile. "His name is Lucky," she said fondly, unable to resist patting the dog on the head as she mentioned him. "He was the runt of one of my father's hunting hound's litters and no one thought he'd make it. We showed them, didn't we boy?" The dog's tail wagged eagerly at Penny's words and she laughed softly. It was true the dog was a tad bit smaller than the average foxhound but he looked no worse for the wear. "That's Lucky and this," she added, patting the mare on the shoulder. "This is Copper. Father picked her out for me because he said we'd be a well-matched pair." She smiled, indicating toward the bright red chestnut color of the mare's fur. Talking about her animals as she walked seemed to calm her down quite a bit and she was looking less pale and shaken as they moved forward.