Page 14 of The Inconvenient Compromise
“My daughter,” Trimble corrected. “She was my daughter long before she was anything to you.”
“What came before does not matter. Only what occurs henceforth,” Lucien stated firmly. “We are wed. The marriage is legal, it has been consummated, and there is naught you can do to alter it. I suggest you make peace with it.”
“I’ll not settle a pence on her,” Trimble said.
“As you haven’t a ha’penny to your name, I did not expect that you would,” Lucian replied. “Be advised, sir, that your younger daughter will be residing with us as soon as we are set up in our own household. She will be launched into society by Fiona and myself when the time is right, and neither your debts nor your wife’s compulsion to lose it all at the gaming tables will taint her and ruin her chances. I have made a promise to Fiona that we would see her sister settled, and that promise will be kept.”
Trimble smiled then, his thin lips curling upwards in an expression that bore more malice than humor. “And what would you pay for the privilege, then?”
Lucien’s stomach turned at the thought that the man before him cared so little for his own children that he saw them only as an asset to be gained or sold depending on his needs and whims. “Fiona, go upstairs and get your things. Only what you need the most. We will purchase everything else you require. Your father and I need a moment alone to negotiate our terms.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze of encouragement. “It will be fine.”
At last, she nodded and then turned to exit the room.
* * *
Fiona left the study,her heart thundering in her chest and feeling strangely breathless. In all of her life, no one had ever stood up for her. Not her mother, not her sister, no one. She had taken the brunt of his bullying and boorish ways to spare Francesca, and she had no regrets about doing so. But now, with Lucian so fearlessly standing up to him, defending her—the rush of feeling it created inside her was positively terrifying.
She didn’t want to trust him. She didn’t want to need him. Relying on a man was a surefire way to have one’s heart broken irrevocably. And yet, she could not quash the burgeoning hope inside her—the hope that they might find some happiness together. Love was a myth, but passion and affection were very real. He’d shown her the former, and now he was well on his way to securing the latter.
Making her way upstairs to the bedchamber she had shared with Francesca, she gathered a few of her gowns and a few other items, placing them in her valise. She did not take everything, electing to leave some of it behind for Francesca. After all, it could take some time for them to be settled in a house of their own.
She couldn’t stop worrying about what might be transpiring in the study below. There was no doubt in her mind that her father would try to work the situation to be of the greatest benefit to him. It occurred to her then that she might actually be more trouble than she was worth.
TWELVE
Tuesday—night…
They were in the carriage. He hadn’t told her where they were going because he knew that if he did, she would balk. Given what he now knew—that someone had already gone to the seedier factions of London’s press with fabricated tales regarding their union—a public outing where she might come face to face with Charlotte Farraday would be the very last thing she wanted. So, to that end, he wisely kept it to himself.
They would not be without allies inside, after all. Lord and lady Ralston would be there. It was time to begin strategizing how they would topple Lady Bruxton from her position of power. He had an idea, but it would require more than simply himself and Fiona. They would need others. Others she had wronged. Others she had tried to destroy for her own selfish ends. It would be a collaborative effort and one that would require no small amount of cunning.
“I thought we were going to the theater,” Fiona said, her tone puzzled as she looked out the window of the carriage.
“If I told you the truth, I knew you would say no,” he replied. “We’re attending a ball tonight… the Hedleigh’s, as a matter of fact,” he answered flatly. “And yes, Lady Bruxton will be in attendance. But so will others who can be swayed to our cause.”
“We have no cause,” she insisted. “Surely, if we simply ignore Lady Bruxton and all of the trouble she could cause will simply go away.”
“Do you really believe that?”
Fiona looked away. She didn’t believe it, and they both knew it. “It was in the Lady’s London Gazette, Fiona. Not simply that we are married but that our marriage was orchestrated by you as a betrayal of your friendship withLady B. She’s set you up as the villain of the piece, and that is not a role you are cut out to play. And I will not simply sit by as you pay the consequences for her actions.”
“No one will believe us,” she protested. “Charlotte has the ears and sympathy of everyone in society—because no one would dare go against her.”
“Then the tide of sympathies will turn in our favor. Trust me, Fiona… I have a plan.”
She shook her head. “She will be two steps ahead. She always is. No one, Lucian, can outmaneuver a gifted manipulator like Charlotte.”
“We do not have to outmaneuver or out-manipulate her. We simply have to be certain that we have the proper people in place to witness her actions. We can make this work… but you must trust me. Help me, Fiona, to free you from her poisonous influence.”
“I do trust you, but it’s a mistake to underestimate her.”
“It’s a mistake to underestimate me as well. I can be a good man, Fiona… but make no mistake, there is villainy in me, as well. It’s important that you know that.”
“Are you trying to frighten me?”
“No,” he denied. “But I do not want you to be caught off guard when that truth becomes apparent.”
* * *
