Page 14 of Invitation to Pleasure
She moved slightly sideways, the current streaming through her at just the touch of his shoulder against her arm, unsettling her. To her dismay, the colt was more than eager for Daniel's touch. She could understand the longing.
“Thank you for allowing me to come and see both Colton and Apollo. There is no doubt in my mind that father would've shot a lame horse, and he would've tried to sell Apollo again.”
“That's highly risky. It's fraud. If your father was caught the sentence would be severe.”
She looked away from Daniel's hypnotizing eyes and thought on what he just said. She bent forward and placed a kiss on Apollo's nose. “If I didn't love you so much, it would almost be worth taking you home and dangling you in front of father. But I can’t prove ownership. I could, however, let Lord Gaston know the horse he just bought is a hag. Father sold King Heron three months ago to Lord Featherstone.”
She sensed Daniel stiffened beside her. “He would be in a lot of trouble. You hate him that much?”
She choked up with emotion. “You don't know my father like I do.”
To her surprise Daniel reached out and took her hand in his. “Why don't you tell me? If he has done anything to hurt you, I would—”
“My father is a bully. He’s selfish. He is truly evil. However, I’m too precious to hurt at the moment.” Daniel remained silent understanding there was more to tell. She just didn't know if she could bring herself to trust him. “A handsome face, clever words, and a lofty title. The combination is hard for any young woman to ignore. Unlike myself, my mother couldn't see past a cleverly put together camouflage. She fell in love with my father and married him against her father's better judgment. My grandfather told me his desire to give his daughter everything she wanted, was her undoing.”
She should pull her hand free but she couldn't. For the first time in a long while she enjoyed the intimacy of his touch. Just knowing that someone was willing to listen and perhaps be her champion was enough to have her heart lower its defenses.
“I gather the marriage was not a happy one.”
She gave a choked laugh. “That would be an understatement. My father married my mother for her money, and for my grandfather's expertise in horse breeding. Things really got worse for my mother when I was born. My birth was not easy, and my mother was told she could have no other children. He blamed her and was so cruel.”
“Ah, that explains a lot. It explains why you have no siblings. It also explains why your father is more concerned with living a life of a certain standard with no regards to you or your mother.”
“He cares for no one but himself. I’m waiting for the day I wake up and he’s sold the estate from under us.”
“The estate is not entailed?”
“No. That’s the reason my grandfather set up a large trust for me. He knew what my father was like.”
Daniel seemed to consider that for quite some time. “When you marry, Lord Wentworth may well sell the estate. He doesn’t need a large estate when he has no one to leave it to.”
“In other words he's selfishly building a way to ensure he can live comfortably for the rest of his life with no regard to myself or my mother. If he had his way my mother would be in an asylum.”
Daniel swung her to face him. “That's his hold over you. He is threatening your mother? So I assume this great plan that Billy let slip is to give you enough money to escape and hide with your mother. Apollo is worth a lot of coin but not enough to live off for the rest of your life.”
She could not keep the tears from welling. “It's not just for my mother's sake that I need to escape. In eight months my trust becomes available to me. If my father gets his hands on my trust, which I’m in no doubt he will given that my grandfather is no longer around, he’ll find some way to steal it from me. I will have nothing to fall back on.”
“I'm sure I can help you there. There are lawyers to ensure your trust is not used without your approval. I could get Rufus to recommend someone. Or even better yet, you could appoint Rufus as your trustee.”
She wanted to lean in and hug Daniel. It was so kind of him to offer Lord Hascombe’s help, and it was a sensible solution. “You don't understand. He will use my mother to make me sign over every penny. He has threatened to throw my mother in an asylum, he already has two doctors ready to sign off, and there would be nothing I can do about it.”
“The bastard. Surely we can find two surgeons to dispute your father's findings.”
Georgiana shook her head as she brushed tears from her cheek. “There is nothing to dispute. My father's bullying, the degradation he put her through, has affected my mother. She no longer speaks. She has to be fed like a child. And she recognizes no one.” She pulled her hand from Daniel’s when she saw the look of horror on his face. “She is harmless, like a small child. And I will never see her sent away to one of those horrid places.”
Daniel pulled her back into a gentle embrace. “It would seem your mother needs to disappear, somewhere your father cannot get his hands on her.”
She nodded, her cheek rubbing against the roughness of his jacket drying her tears. “He owns my mother. I would have no say in what happens to her. So we have to be able to hide.”
She closed her eyes as Daniel gently stroked her hair. “That's not exactly correct. You don't have to hide, only your mother has to hide.”
She leaned out of the embrace to look up at his face. “I think I understand what you are saying. We only have to hide my mother, my father could never make me reveal where she was. If I am not there when she escapes, and I pretend to be upset, he might not suspect me.”
“Your father is not stupid. Hewillsuspect you, but what can he do to you? I’ll be here if he tries to hurt you in any way. Billy would send word.”
“Father won’t hurt me until I get access to my trust. Where could I hide her?” A smile edged at her lips but then slowly faded. “I don't have the money.”
“Silly girl. I do. I will pay you for Apollo.”
