Page 45 of His Last Gamble

But why was Lucy acting so . . . diffidently? It wasn’t like her. Even as a child, whenever she’d done something wrong, or incurred the displeasure of an adult, she’d become cheeky and winsome, charming everyone with her aplomb.

But now she was acting . . . well, chastised.

What on earth had gone on between them to make Lucy, Lucy of all people, act like this?

‘Don’t be silly,’ Payne said urbanely. ‘You’re always welcome at the Palace. Let me get you a drink — champagne cocktail, right?’

And again Charmaine felt her mouth drop open in surprise and had to snap it shut before anyone noticed.

Of course Payne knew Lucy’s favourite drink, but why was he making it sound as if he barely knew her?

And then it hit her. It must be for her benefit!

When Jo-Jo had asked him for an extra invite for Charmaine’s sister, he’d probably thought nothing of it. But during the night he must have spotted Lucy, seen they were together and quickly added up two and two. Which put him in a mighty fix. How embarrassing to find that the woman you’d just proposed to was the sister of a former lover!

Charmaine looked at Lucy as she accepted the cocktail from Payne. Her sister still had that slightly wary, stiffly embarrassed look on her face.

Her heart ached for Lucy, and when Payne, with a long look at Charmaine, excused himself to go and see whether or not a French count, who was having a remarkable run of luck, was still riding high, she heaved a sigh of relief.

‘Lucy, we need to talk,’ she said urgently. She was determined to come clean before somebody else let slip about them. But Lucy wasn’t listening. Instead she seemed to be staring across the room at somebody.

‘What? Oh, yes, later, sis, OK? There’s someone I must see.’

‘Lucy, are you all right?’ Charmaine asked, reaching out to grab her arm and prevent her from taking off.

Startled, Lucy turned to look at her with eyes that Charmaine would have sworn looked genuinely bewildered.

‘What do you mean, am I all right? Of course. You’re the one who’s being weird,’ Lucy observed.

‘Look, about Payne,’ Charmaine began.

‘Oh, Payne,’ Lucy said, and smiled stiffly. ‘Yes, that is a bit embarrassing, isn’t it,’ she agreed, making Charmaine gape all over again. ‘But he’s a sport, isn’t he?’ Lucy swept on, once again looking over her shoulder to the other side of the room. ‘And if he’s not going to hold a grudge, then that’s more than I could have hoped for. Look, sis, I’ve just got to see this man. I’ll find you later, OK?’

And with that, Lucy pulled away and was quickly lost in the crowd.

But Charmaine wasn’t fooled. There wasn’t someone she was anxious to see — no man she needed to talk to. She just wanted to find a ladies’ room where she could cry her eyes out and collect herself.

Charmaine bit her lip and turned blindly away. So much for protecting her sister. So much for not stabbing her in the back. All that soul searching and self-denial was for nothing.

For the past day and night she’d been carefully holding herself back from thinking about Payne’s proposal. About what it might, about what it surely must, mean. After all, no man asked a woman to marry him lightly. But neither had Payne actually said he loved her. Not in so many words. Not in a way that left her in no doubt.

But still he’d proposed. And having seen him with Lucy tonight, it was clear his head would not be turned back in her sister’s direction.

Payne wanted to marry her! Her, Charmaine Reece. Not Lucy, not Jinx, not any of the other fascinating, beautiful, intelligent women of his past.

And oh how she wanted to accept. If she was brutally honest with herself — and now was probably a good time to be brutally honest — she wanted to marry Payne Lacey more than anything else in the world.

She loved him.

Oh, his lifestyle bemused her, and his cavalier attitude to luck and money still unnerved her. But after their talk at the picnic, even this failed to seriously worry her. Besides, if Payne lost all his money tomorrow on some reckless gamble, she could still support them both. Because of Jonnieeshe was a wealthy woman in her own right, and would always have the means of supporting herself.

No, only the thought of Lucy’s pain had stopped her from seriously thinking about his proposal of marriage. If she accepted, would her sister ever get over it?

Part of her was sure that she would. Nothing kept Lucy down forever. But Charmaine had never seen her so miserable as she was after their break-up. Obviously Payne meant more to her than any of her other conquests.

Oh it was all so impossible, she thought, wanting to scream and cry. For the last couple of weeks she’d felt as if she had been living her life on a rollercoaster — up and down, he loves me, he loves me not, I love him, no I don’t. Yes I can, no I can’t. It was enough to drive her to the brink of insanity.

And now . . . just what should she do now? Go to her sister? Or go to the man she loved and wanted and who had proposed to her?

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