Highest Stakes (76 page)

  Robert had stood remote and emotionless as a column of marble while she slapped and pummeled. He had led her to believe a falsehood only that she might get on with her life. He would not cast himself as villain for his self-sacrifice. He caught her fist with one hand and wrenched it behind her back to subdue her. Drained of energy and emotion, Charlotte stood quietly, panting from her vain efforts to beat him into a senseless, bloody pulp.

  "Are you quite finished now?" he growled.

  Charlotte shook the hair from her face to see more clearly the man who wounded her so carelessly and transformed her love to hate. Fiercely meeting his glower, she asked, "How can you poison it all?"

  "How can you convince me otherwise? How can I believe that one of the greatest rakes of my acquaintance would fail to consummate his union with a beautiful woman, and failing consummation, would not have immediately sought annulment?"

  "So, you would wish to make a whore of the woman who loved you!"

  "Not I, madam. 'Twould be your husband who endeavored to make you a whore."

  Charlotte had never anticipated how her intentions might be misconstrued in coming to meet with Mr. Roberts. Heat rose up her neck in mortification at such naïveté, but she replied defiantly, "I am no man's whore and no man's possession! Now,
Mr. Roberts
, I wish you to the devil!" Flashing sparks of fury, she spun around to leave, but he could not let her go.

  "Wait, Charlotte," he cried. Swiftly, before she could resist, he closed the gap between them, blocking her path to the door. Her response should have been outraged resistance, but her flight instincts failed her; the magnetic pull between them was still irresistible.

  "I ask you again, why have you come? You did not know it was me, yet you came here. To what purpose?" Deep in his eyes, Charlotte finally perceived it, a brief glimpse into the soul of a drowning man.

  "I had wished to negotiate terms to save my stud. I explained as much to Mr. Lee. Surely you heard."

  "If what you say is true, then how do you mean to satisfy the debt?"

  "There is nothing, aside from my horses, but they are not negotiable."

  "But Lord Hastings has few viable assets outside of the stud with which to satisfy me. Without the dispersal of the stud, he faces certain ruin. Yet you find it so preposterous that I suspected his hand in your coming?"

  "But you passed this judgment solely upon Philip's character. What of my mine? Have you no faith in my integrity?" She whispered the last.

  Their eyes met, searching, questioning, each endeavoring to discern the truth from the lies. He was too exposed to her beseeching gaze, and her allure was too strong. He was weakening by the second but still unwilling to become vulnerable to hurt again. He had been deprived of everything once, nearly his very life, when he had sought to make her his. The price was too high.

  He froze; his reply was pained. "After all that has come between us, Charlotte, how can you expect me to trust? How can I ever again believe in love?"

  "But I've told you before, Robert, you cannot defy it. Try as you may, you can never defy love," she whispered.

  With a groan of defeat, he abandoned his resistance, conceding at last to her will, the will to love and be loved. Evincing no desire to turn back, they came together in a desperate embrace that melted away any remaining reservations.

  Finally, mutually, and completely, they released all doubts, abandoned all fears, unwilling and unable to deny this overpowering love.

  
By the time you receive this letter, I shall have boarded a ship for
America. Although ours was not a happy union, in our eight years of
wedlock, you provided for all my needs and were never truly unkind.
For this alone, I am indebted to you and feel you are entitled to some
explanation of what will soon become known as my truly scandalous
and reckless act.

  
As you are by no means a man of small intelligence, you may
already have deduced the true identity of the enigmatic Daniel Roberts,
but should this yet remain a puzzle, you need only reach back eight
years in your memory to discern the mystery shrouding the gentleman
from Virginia.

  
I count myself fortunate to have made this discovery before you, lest
I may never have found my old love and my new life.

  
With this letter, Philip, I finally absolve you of any further respon
sibility for me and set you free to seek annulment of our marriage.
Moreover, as to the debt of honor incurred to Mr. Roberts, his spirit
being moved by charity and forgiveness, he most generously grants the
following dispensation:

  
Firstly, he shall privately and discretely, to avoid any public knowl
edge, issue a lien against the Hastings Estate to the amount of twenty
thousand pounds, with the provision the debt be repaid in full within
ten years time.

  
Secondly, I leave in your hands the operation of my beloved stud, to
include all bloodstock, so that you should maintain a viable living until
your obligation to Mr. Roberts is met. Kindly take particular care of
my beloved Spiletta. I predict great things from her.

  
You should imminently be in expectation of several legal documents pre
pared by Mr. Philip Ludwell Lee in regard to all matters aforementioned.

  
Furthermore, I would wish you to know that although I obstinately
denied you any means of producing a legitimate heir, you have a son,
nonetheless, should you choose to seek him out and acknowledge him.

  
Lastly, I sincerely pray you discover peace and mayhap the measure
of happiness of which, while together, we were cruelly denied.

  
Yours in Earnest,

  
Charlotte Wallace

I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the following individuals, without whose support this book would never have been written:

  To my good friend, Diana Maynard, who first encouraged me to pursue such a ridiculous notion as writing a novel;

  To my sister, Michelle Nabors, one of the most discerning people I know, who was not only my best critic, but also my biggest fan;

  To my husband, John, and sons, Sean and Brandon. No effort of this magnitude can be successfully undertaken without the full support of a loving family;

  To my editor, Deb Werksman of Sourcebooks, who perceived a glimmer of promise in this "diamond in the rough";

  To my agent, Kelly Mortimer of Mortimer Literary, who helped to cut and polish said diamond;

  And special thank you to Thoroughbred trainers, Michelle and Casey Lovell, for providing insight into the fascinating world of Thoroughbred racing.

  Lastly, to God above who inspires all good things.

  Thank you!

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