"Ahh," The Master said. "He saw what your father had done, eh?"
Lucinda nodded. "Father had been playing against him alone. While Robert had more than enough money, and would have publicly exposed anyone else, he was curious as to why my father, a man of impeccable honor, had cheated. He spoke fairly and honestly with Papa. My father, of course, was overcome with shame, not just for the deed done, but thathe had been found out by his opponent. He told Robert the truth of the matter, and Lord Harrington was most sympathetic. Then he made Papa a most unusual offer.
"He told him that he should not expose him, and that Julia should marry Lord Rafferty. In return he said he wanted Papa's youngest daughter, namely me, for his wife. I was not to have a London season. Instead I would be married to Robert Harrington immediately after my seventeenth birthday. I had just turned sixteen when all this transpired. I was not to be told of this arrangement until three months before my marriage, and I would not meet Lord Harrington until the week before we were to be wed. My father, of course, quickly agreed. He had no other choice."
"And so you saw your sister, Julia, married to her sweetheart, then went home to the country to dream of your own London season," The Master said, smiling up at Lucinda, who was now leaning over him as she spoke.
"Precisely," Lucinda replied. "For over a year I envisioned how I would take London by storm. Then I should outdo my three eldest sisters by marrying not a duke, not a marquess, not an earl, but a prince!" She laughed aloud. "You can only imagine my chagrin when I learned that not only was I not to have my longed-for season, but that I was to marry a man who was forty-two years older than I was! Oh, how I cried, stormed, and pleaded to be released from my father's promise. He would not tell me the truth of the matter, of course, but George did. And then my churchly brother went on to say it was my Christian duty as a good daughter to obey my surviving parent; to save Papa and the rest of the family from the disgrace exposure of his sins would surely bring."
"And so you cooperated," The Master said.
"Yes," Lucinda replied, "but I was very fortunate, unlike many girls put in similar positions. Robert Harrington was a wonderful man whose only lack was an heir of his loins. His first wife had never been able to successfully conceive and bear him a child. He loved her deeply, and it was a terrible tragedy for them. He had been widowed for a number of years when he decided he must remarry and attempt to father an heir on a young wife. No one really knew how wealthy Robert was, and his family is not of the first rank. He could not manage to contract another alliance with a young woman of his own station. Then when he caught my father cheating, the answer became obvious to him." She ceased her narrative for a moment and, arising from the bed, crossed the chamber to pour herself a goblet of sweet wine. "Would you like one, Master?"
"Yes." He nodded. "Then return, and tell me the rest of your fascinating tale, m'lady Lucinda." He took the goblet she offered him, and she rejoined him to continue her story.
"Robert Harrington was a lovely man. When we first met he at once ascertained my anger and my fears. He attempted to allay them in that week before we were married. It was a simple ceremony, performed in our local church by our ancient vicar. I had no attendants, and my only witnesses were Papa, George, his wife Caroline, and the vicar's wife and elderly sister. A toast was drunk to us afterward at the house. Papa put an announcement in all the London papers. We returned to Harrington Hall immediately that very day."
"Did your husband force your virginity from you that same night?" The Master asked her, curious.
"Nay," Lucinda said. "It was several months before Robert made me a woman. He wanted me to enjoy the sensual experience. He was very skilled, I believe. He said while I might not ever come to love him, he did want our time together to be pleasureable for us both."
"And was it?" The Master queried.
"Yes, it was," Lucinda answered him frankly. "And to my surprise I did come to love him. Not in a wildly passionate way, but in a quiet way. I also respected him for the kind of man he was. Thoughtful. Kind. Generous. I am very sorry I could not perform the only task he required of me, which was to give him an heir. We had been wed several years when he became ill. I nursed him with as much devotion as I could. When he died, no one was more surprised than I was to learn he had left me his entire fortune! The estate itself was entailed upon the next male heir, who also inherited his title."
"Why have you been living with your brother?" The Master's fingers reached out to wrap a hank of Lucinda's thick chestnut hair about his big hand. His gaze was direct.
"There was no dower house at the hall. Robert's nephew, Percy, is a child. His mama, Lady Blythe, was very angry the lad received none of his uncle's monies. She had been counting upon it heavily as she is a widow and, being prone to extravagance, always in debt. Had she allowed me to remain, I would have happily borne the expenses of the estate. In her disappointment she accused me of cajoling her brother into disinheriting her son, and she said it to any who would listen. The lies she told were dreadful. I had used my body in lewd ways to influence Robert. I had stalked him until he had wed me. There are always those willing to listen to such nonsense, of course. I was glad to leave the hall. The bitch even searched my luggage before I went to make certain that nothing belonging to the estate was secreted among my possessions. She is really quite an awful woman. Robert disliked both her and her odious brat intensely, but he could not save Harrington Hall for me unless I had a child of his body, and I did not."
"So you came to London to find another husband, eh?"
"I came to London to buy a house of my own," Lucinda said bluntly. "I was forced by convention to live with George and Caro. They dragged every eligible bachelor in the county into my presence; but I am not yet of a mind to remarry, and they refuse to understand it. After I had refused everyone they could think of, Caroline suggested we come to London for the season. I agreed not because I wanted a man, but because I wanted my own home. I have just purchased a delightful little place on Traleigh Square."
He was fascinated by her recital. This was not at all what he had expected to hear from her. She was not in the market for a man. He had been given to understand that Lady Lucinda Harrington was a proper little cock tease, deserving of a lesson in manners, who must be brought to heel. And when she had been, she would be compelled to choose from among her three worthy suitors. But she didn't want to choose.
"You have offended three important gentlemen," he began, "who seek to compromise you so that you must take one of them in marriage. I do not know who they are, for that is not usually important to me. I am employed to do what I do for the Devil's Disciples, and nothing else is of interest to me in these matters. However, they have never put a lady in my charge as you know. The story you tell me is vastly different from what I was led to believe. Who do I trust in this matter, madame?"
"Common sense should tell you that, sir," Lucinda answered. "For your own information, I shall tell you the gentlemen I have offended who I believe are responsible for my being here. The Duke of Rexford, the Marquess of Hargrave, and Lord Bertram. I suspect, too, that my brother is also involved in this. The others would not dare to have me kidnapped otherwise. Had I really been meant to go to my sister Julia's in Ireland, a hue and cry would be raised when I didn't arrive. Those villains know that. Therefore I must conclude that my brother stands with them. But then George is a fool, too, I fear."
The Master laughed aloud at her candid remark. Then he grew serious "You have not objected to your treatment at my hands, m'lady. I do not know what to think of it."