Surrender Read Free Page A

protection.”
    “So I was given to understand.”
    “Oh, dear, you are angry. I am so sorry, truly I am, Vicky, but there was no help for it. Bertie promised he would say nothing about our plans, but apparently Stonevale tricked him into revealing all.”
    “Yes, I can see how that might happen. Probably poured hock down Bertie’s throat until the truth emerged. It is certainly a pity your brother could not keep his mouth shut, but don’t fret, Bella. I am determined we shall enjoy ourselves regardless.”
    Annabella’s sky blue eyes gleamed in obvious relief. Her fair curls bounced enticingly as she nodded her head and smiled. Annabella Lyndwood was held by certain high sticklers to be just the slightest bit too well rounded for fashion. But that tendency toward a full figure had certainly not put off her many suitors. She had recently turned twenty-one and had confided to Victoria that she would undoubtedly be obliged to accept one of the several offers she had received this Season. Annabella had gotten a late start in the marriage mart because of the untimely death of her father, but she had proven enormously popular when she had finally made her appearance in London.
    “What do you know of him, Bella?” Victoria asked quietly.
    “Who? Stonevale? Not much, to be perfectly truthful. Bertie says he’s respected in the clubs. He just recently acceded to the title, I believe. The previous earl was a distant relative of some sort. An uncle or something. Bertie mentioned estates in Yorkshire.”
    “Did Bertie have anything else to say about him?”
    “Let me think. According to Bertie, the family linehas almost died out. It came close to dying out entirely, I gather, when Lucas Colebrook was badly wounded on the Peninsula a year or so ago.”
    Victoria felt her stomach tighten in an odd manner. “The limp?”
    “Yes. It was the end of his career in the military, apparently. Still, that career would have ended regardless once he inherited. His first duty is to his title and estates now, of course.”
    “Of course.” Victoria did not want to ask the next question, but she could not resist. “How did it happen?”
    “The injury to his leg? I don’t know the details. Bertie says Stonevale never talks about it. But according to my brother, Wellington, himself, mentioned the earl in several of the dispatches. The story is that during the battle in which he was wounded, Stonevale managed to stay in the saddle and lead his men on to take their objective before he collapsed and was left for dead on the field.”
    Left for dead
. Victoria felt sick. She pushed the queasy sensation aside, reminding herself that Lucas Colebrook was not the sort of man for whom she could afford pity. Furthermore, she seriously doubted that he would welcome it. Unless, of course, he could figure out some way to use it to his advantage.
    It occurred to her to wonder if Stonevale had suggested the card game earlier so that he would not be obliged to endure a set of country dances. The limp probably kept him off the floor.
    “What do you think of him, Vicky? I have seen the Perfect Miss Pilkington eyeing him all evening and so have several other ladies in the room. Not to mention their mamas. Nothing like a little fresh blood on the scene to whet the appetite, is there?” Annabella teased lightly.
    “What a perfectly disgusting image.” But Victoria laughed in spite of herself. “I wonder if Stonevale knows he’s being looked over like a prize stallion?”
    “I don’t know, but thus far you are the only one he is looking over in return. No one could help but notice that it was you he coaxed into the card room.”
    “I suppose he’s hanging out for a fortune,” Victoria said.
    “Really, Vicky, you always believe men are after your inheritance. You are positively single-minded to the point of idiocy on the subject. Is it not possible that some of your admirers are seriously interested in you, not your money?”
    “Bella, I’m