Filled with anxiety and frustration, she began to show the strain she was under. There was a sharpness to her voice and a tight line to her mouth these days, but it was the dark circles under her eyes which revealed clearly that she had spent many a sleepless night of late. To Zachary's worried inquiries, to Etienne's gruff probings and to Frances' gentle questions, she returned soothing platitudes: "Why, no, nothing is the matter!" or "I didn't sleep well last night-an owl outside my window kept me awake," and "Good gracious, of course nothing is wrong! " Each accepted her word, but there were three pairs of very worried eyes that followed her about. She might try to hide it, but something was obviously very wrong, and they could not imagine what it could be.
All three had watched her face closely when the note from Dominic had arrived, and all three had noted the faint spark of hope that suddenly flickered in Melissa's topaz eyes. But when asked about the note, she had turned away, muttering some lame reply.
Melissa had never really expected Dominic to even answer her letter, and the fact that he had created another problem for her, one which she had to solve before he came to view Folly the next morning. She had deliberately not mentioned to anyone the possibility of selling the stallion, and with sinking spirits she wondered how she was going to explain to the others this inexplicable change of heart. Zachary was not stupid, nor were Etienne and Frances, and once they heard the amount she was demanding for Folly, she didn't doubt that one of them, if not all three, would guess that the voucher held by Latimer was behind her actions. But would they guess the alternative that Latimer had offered her? She didn't think so, but she was going to have to come up with a very good excuse for so suddenly deciding to sell the pride of their stable, their hope for the future. Lying in bed that night, she came to the dreary conclusion that she would just have to try to bluff her way through and hope that everyone would be too stunned to ask a lot of questions until it was too late.
Rising early the next morning, she dressed carefully for the coming interview with Mr. Slade, unconsciously choosing a gown of funereal black. After she viewed herself in the mirror, an unhappy sigh escaped her. She certainly looked as if she were going to a funeral, the pallor of her skin increased by the weeks of strain and worry, the severe hairstyle sharply defining the fine bones of her features, and the square-rimmed spectacles only bringing attention to the dark circles under her eyes. She made a face at her reflection; then, stiffening her shoulders, she marched from the room, feeling as if she were going to an executioner.
She put off telling Zachary and Etienne what she planned to do as long as she could. It was only after breakfast, as she accompanied the two men to the stables, that she said with a suspect airiness, "Oh, by the way, will you have Folly groomed and brought into the big box stall near the front of the stable?"
There was something in her voice that caused both men to look at her. Melissa could never tell a very convincing lie, and noticing the faint flush that stained her cheeks, Zachary asked suspiciously, ";Why?"
Melissa swallowed and looked away. "Mr. Slade is coming to see him this morning," she muttered.
"What? " demanded both Zachary and Etienne in unison, but it was Etienne who recovered first. His eyes filled with speculation, he asked more quietly, "Why?"
Melissa kept her gaze averted, and in a low voice she got out, "I'm thinking of selling him ... if Mr. Slade will give me a good price."
There was a thunderous silence, and Melissa wished miserably that she was anywhere but right there. She peeked at the two dearest men in her life, and her heart sank to her toes. Zachary's face was a mixture of angry disbelief, while Etienne stared at her as if she had gone mad.
It was Zachary who spoke first. "Don't you think we should have discussed this?" he asked in a deceptively mild tone, despite the clenched fists at his sides. "Folly is the entire basis of our stables. Without him we have nothing but a few brood mares-fine mares, to be sure, but none with the reputation that Folly has earned, and will earn. "
Hiding her own dismay, Melissa lifted her chin proudly and replied with apparent carelessness, "I wouldn't worry about it. We have bred all the mares to Folly, and with the money I intend to get for him, we should be able to set ourselves up properly." Bringing the attack into Zachary's camp, she added tartly, "Besides, weren't you the one who said that without money it didn't matter what sort of stallion we had-that our ramshackle appearance would scare off a prospective breeder or buyer?"
Sullenly, Zachary growled, "I didn't say that-Mr. Slade did!"
"Well, there you are!" Melissa said with forced cheerfulness, but the expression of misery and chagrin on Zachary's face twisted her emotions and she desperately sought some way to comfort him. Her voice very low, she mumbled, "Someday we shall buy him back ... once . . . once we are well established."
The look of scornful skepticism that Zachary shot her made Melissa even more grim, but she had no choice save to continue on the present course of action. Pasting a smile on her face, she said, "We'll come about, Zack! I know we will, and if selling Folly will help us right now, then that is what we have to do. I don't want to do it, but I see no other alternative."
"Strange, you've never mentioned it before," Zachary returned sourly. "I thought that things were going along well, and now, without warning, you tell me that we are going to sell the only thing of real value that we ownthe one thing that will make all our plans and dreams possible. A horse of Folly's caliber and speed doesn't come along more than once in a lifetime-and you're going to sell him out from under us!" It was obvious that Zachary was upset, but he clamped his lips firmly together to keep from saying angry and hurtful words. Spinning on his heels, he turned away from Melissa, saying tightly, "I'll go get Folly. Since it seems that I am not worthy enough to be consulted on major decisions, I must by rights be the errand boy!"
Dismay clouding her features, Melissa watched him stride furiously away. One slim hand lifted as if to call him back, but then listlessly she let it drop to her side. She had handled this all wrong, but she didn't see any other way she could have done it without alerting Zachary to Latimer's ugly plans for her. Straightening her shoulders, she glanced at Etienne, who still stood nearby.
With an edge to her voice she demanded, "I suppose you intend to take his side?"
Etienne slowly shook his head, his black eyes shrewd and kind. "Non, petite, I will not add to your burden, but I think that you have not considered what you are doing when you talk of selling Folly. He is indeed a most uncommon animal, and once you sell him, you have no guarantee that no matter how wealthy you may or may not become, no matter how successful, you will be able to repurchase him, as you so blithely told Zachary."
Melissa glared at him, but the anguish she was expe riencing was apparent when she said, "Don't you think I know that! And don't you think that if there were any other way, I would take it?"
Frowning, Etienne took a step forward. "Lisa, what is it? There is something that you are not telling us."
"I don't want to talk about it," she muttered grimly, frightened that Etienne might guess Latimer's involvement with her decision to sell Folly.
He started to say something else, but seeing the withdrawn, frozen expression on Melissa's face, Etienne gave a very Gallic shrug and walked in the direction that Zachary had taken. Through misty eyes Melissa watched him go, longing to call him back, longing to tell both Zachary and Etienne why she was acting in what must seem to them a foolish and contrary way.
A half hour later, her emotions fairly well under control, she walked into the barn, her heart a leaden weight in her breast. She stopped in front of the stall in which she had told Zachary to put Folly. With a mixture of pride and despair, she stared at the stallion as he whinnied and arched his neck. Moving closer to Melissa, he gently lowered his elegant head until it rested upon her shoulder, waiting for the scratching and petting he knew would be forthcoming. Fighting back an urge to cry, Melissa buried her face in his silky black mane, her arms creeping up a
round his long, powerful neck.
It wasn't just that she loved the horse and dreaded seeing him leave. He represented so many dreams for her; he was to have been the foundling sire of the grand stables that she and Zachary would build; he was to have made her and Zachary famous, his offspring adding to the luster of his name, bringing prosperity to Willowglen once more. And now she was going to have to let him go. Someone else would gain all that she and Zachary had hoped for. And for what? Her mouth twisted. So she could preserve her virtue?
Thinking of Latimer, thinking of what his perfidious actions were going to cost her no matter what she did, Melissa tightened her fingers on Folly's mane, and in a voice shaking with loathing, she cursed virulently. "Goddamn him! I hope he burns in hell!"
"Ah, I do trust that you aren't talking about me," Dominic said softly from behind her.
Startled, she spun around, her eyes widening when she saw him standing there, just inside the stable doorway. Trying to recover her composure, she nervously smoothed her full black skirt and sent him a small smile, not precisely a welcoming one, but not unwelcoming either.
Dominic was dressed very smartly, she saw as he stepped closer to her. A coat of dark gray superfine fitted snuggly across his broad shoulders, his long legs encased in a pair of form-hugging nankeen breeches. Above the nattily arranged white cravat, his face was dark and vital, a lock of unruly black hair persisting in waving across his forehead, a quizzical smile curving his mobile mouth.
Melissa thought that she had hidden her distressed state well, but Dominic had seen the sheen of tears in her eyes and had noticed the faint tremble of her lower lip. His own smile faded just a little, and all the sarcastic remarks he had planned to greet her with fled. He was left with only a curious need to comfort her. Quietly he said, "It is obvious from the scene I just witnessed as well as what Royce has told me that Folly means a great deal to you. I promise that if I do buy him I will take good care of him and that he will not be mistreated in any way."
A spark of hope flickered in her breast, and forgetting that, according to Uncle Josh, Dominic wasn't to be trusted, she asked breathlessly, "You mean you really will consider paying my price for him?"
Compassionate he might be, kind even on occasion, but he disliked being taken advantage of as much as the next man, and his moment of madness disappeared. "I rather doubt it! But I thought I should at least see what I am turning down."
Melissa's features fell and Dominic knew an urge to call the words back, to tell, her that he might be willing to meet her excessive price, willing to say anything that would remove the bleak, heartrending expression of defeat that had greeted his blunt statements. Angry with himself for this apparent weakness, horrified at this unexpected flaw in his character where she was concerned, Dominic reminded himself savagely that he had no inten tion of paying the exorbitant sum. He had not come here to comfort her, but to plainly let her know what he thought of her ridiculous attempts to rob him.
Stiffening his resolve, he stared at her dispassionately, wondering again what it was about her that stirred such strange emotions within him. God knew, it wasn't that she was a stunning beauty, he thought caustically as his jaundiced gaze traveled dismissively over the painfully severe hairstyle and the spinsterish spectacles. But his eyes lingered against his will on the curve of her mouth and the fragile bones of her jaw, and he was aware of a wild impulse to rip aside those spectacles and loosen the imprisoned hair and see for himself what might be revealed.
Suddenly conscious that Dominic was staring at her too intently, Melissa was instantly on her guard, her features automatically assuming the squint-eyed, pinchedmouth expression she wore in front of him. Determined to salvage her pride, if nothing else, she lifted her chin proudly and said frostily, "Very well, then, Mr. Slade. I'll show you the stallion."
Spinning around, she unlatched the lower half of the stall door, grabbed a lead rope hanging nearby and stepped inside. It took but a second to capture Folly's halter and to attach the rope. Squaring her shoulders and summoning up a careless expression, she gave the stallion a gentle pat and led him from the stall.
Folly was indeed a magnificent animal, his head finely formed, his neck proudly arched, the long, slender legs effortlessly carrying his elegantly proportioned body as he pranced by Melissa's side. Dominic eyed the stallion assessingly, privately thinking that he had seldom seen such a beautiful animal, but his face gave no sign of what was going through his mind.
Confidently he approached Folly, pleased that the stallion showed no signs of skittishness or nasty habits. With an expert touch, Dominic ran his hands along the straight back and down the strong legs. Folly stood quietly, his ears tuned to the soft sounds of Melissa's voice as she spoke to him, seemingly unconcerned about the stranger who moved around him. Even when Dominic checked his teeth, Folly remained calm and still, tossing his head only when Dominic let loose his muzzle.
Glancing at Melissa, Dominic said warmly, "He is quite the gentleman, isn't he?"
Forgetting just for a little while that Dominic represented an enemy, and proud of the stallion, Melissa smiled naturally at him. "Oh, yes! He has no real vices and has always been an absolute angel. Even as a yearling, he . . . " As she remembered why Dominic was here, her confidences stopped and her smile disappeared. Stiffly she said, "He is an excellent horse, as you can see for yourself."
Fascinated by the change the smile made of her features, Dominic stared at her for a long moment, thinking that she should smile more often, but seeing the pinched look that descended upon her, he sighed. He really must have had too much to drink that night-he could see no reason why she had affected him as she had, nor why it mattered to him that she not be unhappy. Shaking his head at his own folly, he said, "He is indeed a fine piece of horseflesh, but does he have the speed that I have been led to believe be possesses?"
Insulted that he should have doubts about Folly's abilities, Melissa glared at him, wishing that Mr. Dominic Slade were not quite so attractive and that she were not so very aware of him. But she was, and even though she was distressed and furious about the situation, she could not help be conscious of his tall, lean body and darkly handsome face. Reminding herself sternly that he was a rake and a trifler of feminine hearts and that his only reason for being here was to buy Folly, she replied icily, "If you will wait just a few moments, I shall have him saddled and Etienne can take him around our track."
Dominic nodded, watching with amusement and speculation as she marched away, leading the dancing stallion. When she returned, she had Zachary with her. There were a few moments of polite conversation, Zachary's dislike of the circumstances rather obvious from his tightlipped expression and abrupt contributions to the words that were exchanged. _
Thoughtfully Dominic followed the pair as they made their way to the track that lay just beyond the main stable. It was glaringly apparent that no one was happy about the prospective sale, and having seen Folly, Dominic could understand Melissa's reluctance to part with the stallion. The love and pride she took in the horse had been more than obvious, he thought slowly, remembering the way she had buried her face in the horse's mane in the stable before Dominic had made his presence known. So why was she willing to sell him-even at her ridiculous price?
His thoughts busy on the puzzle, he stared out over the crude track that had been set up, the conviction that Latimer was somehow connected to this turnabout growing with every moment. From what Royce had told him, he knew that in less than two years, or sooner if Melissa married-which he could not conceive of any man being foolish enough to walk into that trap-the Seymours would have a fortune at their fingertips, even after paying off the voucher owned by Latimer. So what was it that had changed her mind this suddenly? It could only be Latimer demanding his money or threatening her with some action that she could not abide. And that had to be either demanding the sale of her home or ... forcing his attentions on her. Dominic's mouth tightened and he glanced at her slender form in the shabby black go
wn. He could not understand it, but for better or worse, he seemed unable to banish Miss Melissa Seymour and her problems from his concern. He admitted disgustedly to himself that even if Folly proved to be tied at the knees and ran like a slug, he was probably going to pay the exorbitant price she had demanded. .
Shaking his head at his own idiocy, he wandered over to stand near the peeling white railing that enclosed the track. The next instant, his gaze was riveted as Folly, Etienne upon his back, suddenly burst onto the race course, the stallion's long legs a mere blur as he displayed the style and speed that were making him famous. Folly ran with an effortless stride, his power and grace eloquent with every movement, and whatever doubts Dominic might have held about the horse's potential were forever banished. The stallion possessed incredible speed, and it didn't take a glance at his watch to have it confirmed-this was indeed a horse in a million!
His face enigmatic, his gaze followed the stallion around the track while Etienne gradually pulled the animal into a gentle trot. Folly would prove to be an outstanding addition to his stables, and Dominic was extremely pleased at the prospect of owning such a splendid horse-until he happened to look in Melissa's direction and saw the expression of misery and despair on her face.
Not giving himself time to think, certain that the sun had forever addled his wits, Dominic was stunned to hear himself say, "He is worth much more than you are asking, but if you will sell me a half interest in him for the amount you mentioned in your letter, I shall consider myself to have gained a bargain."
If his words stunned Dominic, they left Melissa utterly speechless. Her eyes locked painfully on his, searching desperately for any sign that he was toying with her.
Dominic met her gaze levelly, noticing for the first time the long, silky lashes that rimmed her slightly almond-shaped eyes. In her astonishment, Melissa had forgotten her disguise and her soft mouth was not in its habitually prim curve, the fullness of her bottom lip suddenly attracting Dominic's stare. Once again he knew that mad urge to take off those spectacles and to loosen her hair from its ugly confines. He couldn't even guess at the color, so tightly did she have it pulled back into the spinsterish bun, but he found himself wanting very much to know precisely the hue and texture of it.
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