Surrender of Trust (First Volume of the Surrender Series) (22 page)

"Go on."

Lucien took a deep breath and appeared to
marshal his courage before raising his eyes defiantly. "I'm being
blackmailed for something I didn't do."

A tiny ray of hope surged within Chalifour
and he breathed a small prayer. He had inkling, and if he was
right, it could explain so many things. "By whom?" Chalifour
asked."I'm hesitant to say. He's a peer. It's my word against
his."

"Would it happen to be Lord Perdan?"
Chalifour hardly dared breathe while he waited for Lucien’s
answer.

Lucien's eyes widened in surprise. "How did
you know?"

"I didn't, but I suspected."

"But why? How?"

"I came into some information Lord Perdan had
demanded money from your sister for some debt of honor you
allegedly owe him."

"I owe Lord Perdan nothing, but I am still
having to pay the man." Lucien's voice carried a bitter edge.

"I tried to visit you on several occasions
when you were apparently unconscious. Miss Goodwin never let on as
to the extent of your injuries, only that you were not well enough
to receive visitors. On one such visit, Lord Perdan was here. I
sensed some friction between the two of them. I thought at first
perhaps I had interrupted a lover's quarrel. To be perfectly
honest, I detest the man and suspect he has participated in
cheating in some races and at cards too. I hoped Miss Goodwin was
not romantically linked with him. A relationship between your
sister and Lord Perdan would create potential problems for me with
respect to our business venture. I tried to question Miss Goodwin
about her relationship with Lord Perdan, or with you for that
matter. She was adamant it was none of my affair. I, naturally,
felt otherwise."

"I've got to find a way to stop this
blackmail."

"What exactly is Lord Perdan blackmailing you
with?"

"He's alleging I threw the races last year at
Newmarket. I raced poorly the first day and then won fairly easily
the next."

"Yes, I remember that. Go on."

"Lord Perdan says I cheated in a fashion
similar to what the Prince of Wales pulled some years back with Sam
Chifney. Sam Chifney was banned for life. I can't afford to have
that happen to me."

"But you said you didn't cheat."

"No, of course I didn't! But it's my word
against his. About the races and even about his blackmailing me.
Who would believe a peer is blackmailing me?"

"You have a point. What proof does he
have?"

"None, other than how the races turned out.
But he doesn't need proof. A whisper here, a whisper there. Lord
Perdan could destroy my reputation. I'd be ruined."

"We won't let that happen. We'll have to
devise a way to stop Lord Perdan, but my more immediate concern is
your sister and what she's up to."

"Tell me what you think. Why did Lucy forge
our contract?"

"It seems obvious Lord Perdan approached your
sister with the blackmail threat. With you being incapacitated and
your sister not being privy to the details, I think she assumed I
would be paying you a sum of money, so she forged our contract.
When she realized there was not going to be a transfer of money,
she tried to pretend she was you and race in the Oaks to win the
purse, presumably to pay Lord Perdan."

"Did she win?" Lucien asked.

"Of course not! I found out about it and drug
her off her horse before she could hurt herself."

"Sorry," Lucien said with a shamefaced
expression. Then a rueful smile crept onto his face. "It's just my
nature." A solemn look replaced the smile. "I suppose we need to
talk about that contract."

"I want to continue with our plans to breed
our horses. My mares are being transported here as we speak and
will likely arrive in a day or so."

Lucien's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"You've wasted no time."

"As soon as I knew you had agreed to my
proposal, or I guess to be accurate, I thought I knew you had
agreed to my proposal, I began to make the arrangements. I assumed
we would want to begin immediately to have the spring foals."

"Yes, of course, that would have been a
logical assumption. I've been so out of touch, I barely remember
what day it is. What do you intend to do about my sister? Will you
be pressing charges?"

"No, though I haven’t decided what to do
about her yet. After what you’ve told me, I can't tell you why I
believe this, it's simply a gut feeling, but I think Lucy is
looking after your best interests. Or at least trying to. For now,
I'd like our conversation about Lord Perdan to stay between
us."

"You mean you don't me to discuss the issue
of blackmail with Lucy should she bring it up?"

"I don't want her to know I am personally
aware of the blackmail aspect."

Lucien looked confused.

"I know my request doesn't make sense to you
at the moment, but rest assured, I have my reasons. So for now, I'm
asking you to keep my knowledge of the blackmail a secret. Can you
do that?"

Lucien shrugged. "Of course! You can
absolutely count on my discretion. After all, how can I possibly
refuse the request of the man who could put my sister in
prison?"

Chalifour sighed. "I have no intention of
placing your sister in prison."

"I know, and for that I am truly grateful,"
Lucien said.

"We'll speak about all of this again. We'll
have to devise a plan to deal with Lord Perdan, but that can wait
for the moment. The mares will be arriving soon, likely tomorrow,
and I need you to focus on getting them settled. For the time
being, I've got to return to Town. I have a dinner engagement this
evening."

"A dinner engagement?" A quizzical look
formed on Lucien's face.

"Yes. Your sister will be there."

The coach seemed to creep along the road on
the return trip to Town. Chalifour's impatience bit at him. He was
not accustomed to the feelings of confusion which plagued him.
Confounded woman!
Lucy brought out all manner of sensations
in him. It made him uncomfortable and cranky. Chalifour had to face
the fact. He was in love with the blasted woman.

Of all the women he had dallied with, why was
Lucy the one who captivated him so?

Chalifour had always viewed matters in terms
of black and white, right and wrong. In forging that document, Lucy
had breached his core values and code of ethics. Could he really
overlook the fact she had broken the law?

Lucy had certainly been placed in an
untenable situation. Left with no viable alternative, she had done
what was necessary to look after her brother. Lucy had even been
willing to jeopardize her own well being for the sake of love and
loyalty to her brother, admirable traits by any measure. But did
that absolve her of the wrong doing?

Faced with the responsibility of caring for
her brother, Lucy had been threatened with ruin from all quarters,
Chalifour rationalized. If she didn't pay the alleged gambling
debt, they would be scandalized and ruined. The situation must have
seemed hopeless when Lucy discovered the debt was actually a
blackmail scheme and her brother's good name hung in the
balance.

A small voice in Chalifour’s head whispered
to him.
Your mother impressed upon you the idea that actions
defined people, not their station in life.
His own station
afforded him the luxury of viewing morality through a rigid code of
black and white from the proverbial Mount Olympus. His title as
Marquis ensured him the freedom and ability to act freely based on
his own ethics. He had never had to worry about being a pawn in
someone else’s games. Instead, Chalifour had routinely judged
others who didn't measure up to his rigid standards of right and
wrong. Perhaps he had made a transgression in doing so.

Chalifour gazed out the window of the coach
and admired the rolling, green countryside dotted with clumps of
blooming colors. He had to make a decision. He could continue to
accept his own rigid view of morality, in which case he must reject
Lucy, even though the reasons for her actions were virtuous. Or, he
could recognize the fact life was sometimes comprised of unjust
situations which called for decisions tinged in grey. Those
decisions may be wrong under ordinary circumstances, but were
perhaps not necessarily wrong in extraordinary circumstances.

Continuing to stare out the window, Chalifour
contemplated Lucy's probable anguish in viewing her limited
options. Paying money for a debt they did not owe, face ruin and
disgrace, or become Perdan's mistress. Chalifour bolted upright at
his last thought. Rage boiled up within him at the very idea of
Perdan propositioning Lucy. Had that swine touched her? No, there
was no doubt. He was in love with the woman. But what was he going
to do about it? Could he truly get past the forgery and the lies,
even if those were lies by omission?

Chalifour drummed his fingers on his desk. He
loved the woman, but he still faced the same dilemma. Could he
reconcile Lucy’s actions? Lucy had performed illegal acts, albeit
she had done them with real justification. But did that excuse her
conduct? Chalifour had worked tirelessly to remove cheating and
corruption from thoroughbred racing? Didn’t this fall into the same
category? Wasn’t Lucy’s behavior and deceit part and parcel of the
same actions he had tried to excise from thoroughbred racing?

His mother’s words returned to him. Was Lucy
defined solely by her actions? Her conduct in and of itself, was
wrong, but her motives were pure. What about people who performed
acts of kindness for the most vile of reasons? Superficially, they
seemed kind. In reality they were anything but. When you delved
deeper, what was the defining aspect of a behavior? The action
itself, or the motive behind it? Chalifour rubbed his face. It was
a conundrum.

Chalifour tossed back his runner of brandy
and searched his heart, at war with himself. Could he excuse Lucy?
How were her actions any different than someone cheating at a race
or cards? His inner self responded. Oh, come on, man!
Come down
from Mount Olympus and join the rest of us mere mortals! What makes
you so morally superior? Would you fault a woman for stealing food
to feed her starving child?
Of course not!
Are you so sure
you would not have behaved in the same manner as Lucy if it was a
matter of saving your sister and your family name?

No, he wasn’t sure. Chalifour wasn’t sure at
all. Maybe that’s what was really bothering him. This mess with
Lucy had brought to light the deficiencies in his own moral code,
namely a false sense of self superiority and intolerance.

Chalifour twisted in his chair, uncomfortable
with the realization he would likely have done the same if he was
in Lucy’s position. So how could he continue to fault her or
question her? The answer was he couldn’t. He had erred in his rigid
views on morality, that was now clear to him.

Some things were not as cut and dried as they
appeared on the surface. Motivations were an integral part of
behavior and needed to be taken into account. Chalifour threw back
his head and laughed. A block of granite had lifted from his
shoulders!
Gad, but he’d been such a self righteous
prig!

Having come to terms with the fact Lucy’s
character possessed the qualities he wanted in a woman, Chalifour
now had to come to terms with what exactly he wanted from a
relationship with her. The answer came readily to him.

Chalifour wanted to be free to ride with
Lucy, travel with her, make love to her, protect her, comfort her.
Chalifour could have none of those things, however, if he couldn’t
gain Lucy’s trust. She needed to come to terms with him as well.
There could be no hope of a relationship without mutual trust. So
there was the crux of the matter. Tonight was the dinner at
Glenhurst Hall, and Lucy would be there.

Lucy began dressing early for dinner.
Glenhurst had invited every man he deemed eligible and suitable for
her and Monique. She sighed. She must appease Glenhurst and attend
his dinner party. She couldn’t afford to anger him. Her family had
benefitted greatly from his generosity and patronage over the
years. Not to mention she didn’t want to create any more trouble
for Monique. At least she would be free to leave tomorrow and
return home.

It was imperative she speak with Lucien. His
health had greatly improved and it was time to bare her soul and
beg his forgiveness. Chalifour had told her that his horses would
be transported to their stables soon. Her stomach turned. She could
not have those horses arriving without having spoken with Lucien
first.

Monique had already informed her Chalifour
would be attending this evening. Though Chalifour was considered
highly eligible, he had not attended the last dinner party Lucy had
been forced to endure. He had been at Chalifour Manor making ready
for her arrival. Lucy's cheeks grew warm at the memory of her visit
there.

If Lucy was honest with herself, Chalifour
would be a good match for Monique. A twinge of jealousy stabbed her
heart at the thought. Lucy tried unsuccessfully to brush her
feelings aside. She had no right to feel this way.

Lucy was not of Chalifour’s station and not a
suitable candidate for him. Even if she was, Chalifour would reject
her if he knew of the allegations against Lucien and what she had
done. If Chalifour knew of her forgery, it would only reinforce in
his mind the possibility those accusations against her brother
might be true. Not to mention Chalifour might even have her
imprisoned.

And yet, Lucy had already spent two hours
primping and still wasn't satisfied. Lucy had to ask herself why
she was so concerned with her appearance. It had never been
foremost in her mind before. Why now? Because Chalifour would be
here? To even admit the real reason to herself was more than she
cared to contemplate.