Lucky Logan Finds Love Read Free Page B

disastrous, something that struck her with terror even before she had heard it.

Chapter Two
    THE door opened and Bates came in with the champagne on a silver tray and he put it down on a table in the corner of the room.
    He poured a glass of the sparkling wine from the bottle.
    As she watched, Belinda realised that the ice bucket was missing and she had the idea that her stepfather had taken it back to London with him.
    Bates offered the glass of champagne to D’Arcy Rowland and he drank it down as if he were very thirsty.
    When the Butler had withdrawn, Belinda asked,
    “Tell me what is wrong, Step-Papa. I know there is something you have to tell me.”
    D’Arcy Rowland turned from the window when he had finished the champagne and without speaking, he walked across the room to fill his glass again.
    Then, as if he had to answer Belinda’s question, he cried out,
    “I am finished! Completely finished! I have not a penny left in the world!”
    Belinda could hardly believe what she was hearing.
    Then, because her legs felt suddenly as if they could no longer support her, she sat down rather heavily on the sofa.
    “W-what do – you – mean?” she asked.
    “Exactly what I have just said,” her stepfather replied. “I told you the last time I was here that things were difficult. Now they are so bad that it means I shall be sent to prison.”
    Belinda gave a little moan.
    “I cannot – believe – it! How can – this have happened? Where is the – money we always – had?”
    “It has all gone,” D’Arcy Rowland replied in a hard voice, “and a great deal more besides.”
    Belinda clasped her hands together, trying to remain calm.
    She felt that her brain was whirling.
    She drew in several deep breaths before she stammered,
    “I suppose we have – something in the – house you could sell?”
    “The house has gone too!”
    Belinda stared at him.
    “Gone? H-how is – that – possible? It belongs to –
me!”
    “I know,” D’Arcy Rowland retorted, “but I pledged it at the bank with its contents and – ”
    He paused for a moment.
    Then, as if he forced himself tell the truth, he added,
    “I said that you understood the situation and I forged your – signature.”
    “But – how could you
do
such a – thing,” Belinda gasped.
    Her stepfather did not answer and she said,
    “Could I not – somehow – claim it back and say it was a – mistake?”
    “If you do that, I shall be arrested for forgery in addition to other things for which I am being dunned,” D’Arcy Rowland replied. “I think the penalty for that is penal servitude!”
    Belinda wanted to scream.
    Instead, she was silent until in a trembling voice she asked,
    “What can – we do – if the house has – gone and we have no money – we have – nowhere to go!”
    There was silence until her stepfather muttered,
    “I suppose I should apologise to you, but words are hopelessly inadequate. My only excuse is that I loved your mother as I have never loved another woman.”
    Now there was a little warmth in his voice as he went on,
    “As I expect you know, there have been dozens of women in my life. But your mother was different. When I lost her, I thought I would go mad!”
    There was an agony in the way he spoke that Belinda did not miss.
    “In fact, I
did
go mad,” he continued. “I went to London and tried by every means in my power to forget what I had lost. I gave parties that cost money and presents to women who made me sick because they were not your mother.”
    He looked at Belinda for a moment, saw her stricken eyes, and added,
    “I suppose I should not be telling you this, but you may as well hear the truth. I indulged in every depravity available, simply to try and cure the ache in my heart. But I failed.”
    “I-I think I – understand,” Belinda murmured.
    “It is only now that I realise I have not only destroyed myself, but you,” he said. “The duns are waiting to take me before the Magistrates, and the