"I'm wagering there may be one." He met her gaze. "Fair play, Cassie. You don't like to be bound by it any more than I do, but you can't turn your back. I'm giving a great deal, including Kapu, and asking very little."
If she did as he asked, it would be a way to be close to him without returning to that sensual underworld. She might be able to learn something that would help Papa. She felt a scalding rush of emotion at the thought. Betrayal. Betrayal of Jared.
Dear God, she should not be ashamed to think of her father at this moment. Why else was she here? "It's not going to change anything. Papa…"
He knew at once what she was trying to say. He smiled mirthlessly. "I didn't think it would. I'm not trying to seduce your soul, only your body. You claim the two are separate, don't you?"
"Yes." Yet in those last days on the ship she had begun to have doubts and had broken the bond. What he was offering now was time spent in a sunlit world. Surely it was the coupling that had been dangerous, the pleasure intoxicating. It was the blending of the darkness and the sunlight that she had feared. "I suppose we could… ride together."
"Not a splendid concession. It's difficult to seduce a woman on a horse." He pretended to think about it. "Though not impossible. And what shall we do if the weather is inclement? Never mind, I'll think of something."
It had seemed a small concession, but she was suddenly beset by doubts. "Perhaps I shouldn't…"
"Come on," he interrupted. "There's a cliff just ahead. Don't let Kapu veer off the path, or you'll find yourself falling a hundred feet onto some very sharp rocks."
"Kapu isn't stupid enough to fall off a cliff. I'll just show him the edge and he'll avoid the danger."
"Ah, how I envy those splendid instincts. But sometimes the thrill of dancing on the edge is worth the danger." He changed the subject. "You met Josette last night. What did you think of her?"
"It doesn't matter what I think." She paused. "Did you tell her why I'm here?"
"Yes. I could hardly keep silent when you told her to ask me. I didn't mention our intimacy on the ship, but I told her all about you and Lani… and your father."
"What did she… never mind. I don't want to know."
He answered her anyway. "She was shocked, of course. She was little more than a babe when I brought her to Morland and has only a vague recollection of her parents."
She veered away from the thought of the doomed Compte and his wife. "She said she was a comptesse."
He nodded. "Thanks to the terror, there was no one else to inherit. However, the revolutionary government confiscated the estate, so she has only the title."
If Papa was to blame for her parents' deaths, then he was also to blame for Josette's loss of her birthright.
If? The thought had come out of nowhere, and yet she knew it must have been lying dormant. It was the first time she had ever questioned his innocence, and she must not do it again. All she had to sustain her was her trust. "I'm sure you'll make certain she wants for nothing."
"We try." He grimaced. "But Josette's needs are for more than food and shelter. It was easier when she was a little girl running about Morland, caring only about the horses and her boat."
"Boat?"
He glanced at the vast gray ocean. "In case you didn't notice, we live by the sea. Josette has had a small sailboat since she was old enough to handle it. When she's not on a horse's back, she's sailing."
"She seems to spend more time penned up in this Lady Carradine's school than doing either."
His lips tightened. "It was necessary."
"Because you didn't wish to modify your lewd actions to make a home for her."
"Who told…" He shook his head. "Bradford."
"You should not have made her your ward if you wished to fornicate with all those women."
"I suppose I should have left her alone in France," he said sarcastically.
"I didn't say that. You told me once that every action has a response. Perhaps in some instances action also requires adaptation."
"Bradford and I didn't know anything about raising a young girl. We did the best we could."
"By letting her run wild and witness your debauchery."
"She did not witness-" He stopped, thought back, and modified the statement. "Much. And it did no harm when she was a child. She was happy. It was only later that I realized-Dammit, I was only a boy. I didn't know anything about being a guardian."
"You're not a boy now, and your conduct in Hawaii and shipboard was carnal in the extreme. I see no sign that you've changed your ways."
He scowled. "I'm not a monk. Nothing I did away from her could have affected Josette." His eyes suddenly narrowed. "Why are you so passionately concerned about my behavior? You ran wild yourself as a child, and in your philosophy coupling is of no importance. Isn't that right?"
"That's right." She wasn't certain why the idea of him in bed with those other women had so upset her. She had been irritated when Josette had casually mentioned them the night before, and Bradford's confirmation had added salt to the wound. She pounced on the first reasonable answer that occurred to her. "But Bradford says that such unfettered conduct is condemned here. Condemnation can hurt, and to cause pain to another is never good."
"I don't believe that Josette's pain is your entire reason for attacking me." He smiled. "But I won't pursue the matter, since I'm not sure you're aware of it yourself." He reined in and gestured to the path. "Here we are, you can let Kapu go now. Stop at the forest. The ground becomes rough there."
Hiding her relief, she carefully nudged Kapu past Morgana. "Aren't you coming?"
He shook his head. "I want to watch him run. Even if I can't time him, I'll be able to judge his speed."
"I don't see why it's important. You saw him run the first night I met you."
He smiled. "But I wasn't able to concentrate on the stallion. I was definitely distracted."
She could feel heat rise to her cheeks as the memory of that night came back to her. It had been no mere distraction for her. He had walked out of that thatch of trees into her life, changing it forever.
She bent over the stallion's neck and loosened the reins. "Go, Kapu!"
It was the only invitation he needed. He streaked like an arrow down the path. Cassie clung to him, gripping with thighs and calves.
Wind whipped her cheeks and snatched away her breath.
Kapu's stride lengthened until he scarcely touched the ground.
Sea, sky, and earth became a blur.
"That's right," she murmured. "Run!"
He ran! She could hear his labored breathing as the pace increased and then increased again.
Dear Lord, she had missed this almost as much as Kapu had.
She felt as if she were floating, anchored to the earth only by the thunder of the stallion's hooves.
They reached the edge of the forest too soon for either of them. She reluctantly reined him in and turned back toward the castle.
Jared met her when she was halfway back to the stable, his eyes blazing with excitement. "My God, he's wonderful."
"Yes," she said simply. Contentment flowed through her as if he had praised her child. She was too filled with sheer joy to feel antagonism or wariness for anyone in the world. "It was a good run. He feels better now."
"And so do you."
She nodded. "Maybe this England isn't completely bad. The wind is sharp, but battling it causes a certain exhilaration." She patted Kapu's neck. "We enjoyed it, didn't we, boy?" She glanced at Jared. "Well, did you judge his speed?"
He blinked. "No!"
"Why not?"
"I was watching him and, dammit, I forgot all about it."
She burst out laughing. She had never known Jared not to be in control, and now he looked like a cross little boy.