Fascinated

body shuddered with its release.

The Master let his climax burst forth in a torrent of hot love juices. He could not, it seemed, stop coming, his big body jerking with the discharge until finally he shivered one last time. After a moment he said, 'My dear Lady Lucinda, I do not know when I have had a better fuck. You are indeed magnificent, my pet!' He rolled off of her and onto his back.

Leaning over, Lucinda whispered in his ear, 'Send John away. You and I need to talk, my lord.'

'I do not think talking is your strong suit,' he replied.

Lucinda laughed. 'Why is it that men think with their bodies and not their brains, sir? Send John away. Please.'

'You and the lads are dismissed for the night, John,' The Master said to the footman. 'I will call you in the morning.'

John rose from the bed, bowed politely, and left the room.

'Well?' The Master asked Lucinda when the door had shut behind the servant 'What are we to talk on, my lady?'

'Revenge, sir. Sweet revenge,' Lucinda told him. 'You do not appear unintelligent, and I have already ascertained you are a nobleman. You must certainly understand by now that I cannot be brought to heel like some animal you are training.'

The Master was silent, and so Lucinda continued.

'I will not under any circumstances wed any of the three gentlemen who tendered me offers this season. I love none of them. My late husband advised me to marry for love the second time.'

'Was it not love the first time?' The Master asked her, curious.

'No,' Lucinda answered him frankly, 'it was not.'

'You married him for his money, then?' How typical of a woman, The Master thought, half-angry.

'No, I did not marry Robert for his money,' Lucinda responded.

'Then, why did you wed him?' Now he was truly curious.

'My late father, Lord Worth, of Worthington Manor in Worcester, was a rich man at one time, but not a very rich man. He married for love. Mama brought him a small, but respectable dowry. Then they went and had seven children, all of whom needed to be provided for if they were to make their way in the world. My brothers, William and George, were first- and second-born. They had to be educated at Eton and Oxford. George, as you know, chose the church for a career, but William had always loved playing at soldiers, and so Papa purchased a commission in the King's Own Royal West Worcester Dragoons. Papa said providing for the boys was straightforward. It was when it came to his girls things grew more complicated.'

'What happened to your parents?' The Master asked her.

'Mama died when I was twelve. Papa shortly after I married Robert Harrington,' Lucinda explained. Then she continued on with her narrative. 'Finding husbands and providing dowries for five daughters proved to be more expensive than my father had anticipated. Each of my elder sisters went up to London for a season. The first three came back with a duke, a marquess, and an earl. It was when Julia went up to London for her season, the year she was seventeen, that Papa realized the difficulty of his situation.

'My sisters always stayed at Papa's aunt's home. She is Lady Dunstan and adored launching my sisters, as she so quaintly put it. But that year after Papa had provided Julia with her wardrobe and the other fripperies she would need, he discovered he had barely enough monies left for a modest dowry for Julia, and that there would be nothing left for me.' Lucinda sighed deeply. 'It was then,' she said, 'that my father did a most reckless thing. He took Julia's dowry and went to White's to gamble. And at first he won. His luck was incredible that night. Everyone said so, but then his fortunes turned. His friends advised him to take his winnings and leave the tables, but poor Papa foolishly gambled on. Finally he had lost my sister's dowry, and he was desperate. Julia had already met Lord Rafferty and was madly in love. While our great-aunt, Lady Dunstan, was against poor Rafferty because he was Irish, she and Papa knew he was going to ask for Julia's hand in marriage. He might be Irish, but he possessed a respectable fortune and was the best my sister would do. There were far too many very wealthy heiresses seeking husbands that season. Papa knew that Rafferty would accept Julia's modest dowry.

'Julia isn't like my three oldest sisters. Position means nothing to her, as it does to Laetitia, Charlotte, and George-anne. She was in love. He was in love, and that was good enough for our father. Now he had gone and lost her dowry. While I believe Lord Rafferty would have accepted her without one, it was a matter of honor to poor Papa that he provide his daughter with her portion. So my father did the absolute unthinkable.'

'He cheated at the cards,' The Master said.

Lucinda nodded. 'In one fell swoop he won back Julia's dower and a bit more. He thought that no one had noticed, and indeed he was congratulated all around for his skill and daring in playing that one last hand. He had even wagered our home as collateral because he had not had enough monies in hand. It was a terrible thing he did, but he was so desperate. As no one seemed to have realized what he had done, he took his winnings and bid his friends good night. The next morning Robert Harrington came to call upon my father.'

'Ahh,' The Master said. 'He saw what your father had done, eh?'

Lucinda nodded. 'Father had been playing against him alone. While Robert had more than enough money, and would have publicly exposed anyone else, he was curious as to why my father, a man of impeccable honor, had cheated. He spoke fairly and honestly with Papa. My father, of course, was overcome with shame, not just for the deed done, but thathe had been found out by his opponent. He told Robert the truth of the matter, and Lord Harrington was most sympathetic. Then he made Papa a most unusual offer.

'He told him that he should not expose him, and that Julia should marry Lord Rafferty. In return he said he wanted Papa's youngest daughter, namely me, for his wife. I was not to have a London season. Instead I would be married to Robert Harrington immediately after my seventeenth birthday. I had just turned sixteen when all this transpired. I was not to be told of this arrangement until three months before my marriage, and I would not meet Lord Harrington until the week before we were to be wed. My father, of course, quickly agreed. He had no other choice.'

'And so you saw your sister, Julia, married to her sweetheart, then went home to the country to dream of your own London season,' The Master said, smiling up at Lucinda, who was now leaning over him as she spoke.

'Precisely,' Lucinda replied. 'For over a year I envisioned how I would take London by storm. Then I should outdo my three eldest sisters by marrying not a duke, not a marquess, not an earl, but a prince!' She laughed aloud. 'You can only imagine my chagrin when I learned that not only was I not to have my longed-for season, but that I was to marry a man who was forty-two years older than I was! Oh, how I cried, stormed, and pleaded to be released from my father's promise. He would not tell me the truth of the matter, of course, but George did. And then my churchly brother went on to say it was my Christian duty as a good daughter to obey my surviving parent; to save Papa and the rest of the family from the disgrace exposure of his sins would surely bring.'

'And so you cooperated,' The Master said.

'Yes,' Lucinda replied, 'but I was very fortunate, unlike many girls put in similar positions. Robert Harrington was a wonderful man whose only lack was an heir of his loins. His first wife had never been able to successfully conceive and bear him a child. He loved her deeply, and it was a terrible tragedy for them. He had been widowed for a number of years when he decided he must remarry and attempt to father an heir on a young wife. No one really knew how wealthy Robert was, and his family is not of the first rank. He could not manage to contract another alliance with a young woman of his own station. Then when he caught my father cheating, the answer became obvious to him.' She ceased her narrative for a moment and, arising from the bed, crossed the chamber to pour herself a goblet of sweet wine. 'Would you like one, Master?'

'Yes.' He nodded. 'Then return, and tell me the rest of your fascinating tale, m'lady Lucinda.' He took the goblet she offered him, and she rejoined him to continue her story.

'Robert Harrington was a lovely man. When we first met he at once ascertained my anger and my fears. He attempted to allay them in that week before we were married. It was a simple ceremony, performed in our local church by our ancient vicar. I had no attendants, and my only witnesses were Papa, George, his wife Caroline, and the vicar's wife and elderly sister. A toast was drunk to us afterward at the house. Papa put an announcement in all the London papers. We returned to Harrington Hall immediately that very day.'

'Did your husband force your virginity from you that same night?' The Master asked her, curious.