Harnessed Passions (17 page)

"Jeremy be quiet and sit down," Louise
scolded him. She looked at each occupant of the room then back to
Harold, who was near out of patience. "Please continue."

“
There’s more?” Daniel
snapped, his eyes narrowing on the man he called his
friend.

"Thank you Mrs. Turner," he sighed, ignoring
Daniel’s intent and angry stare. He knew the worst was yet to come
and he drew a deep breath to prepare for it.

"Victor does however, offer one way out of
this situation, at least for you Julia," he continued, glancing to
the man next to her. His turquoise eyes narrowed, as the frown
deepened the creased of his brow.

"The only way you can get rid of your half
of the inheritance, is to give it to Daniel," Harold told her.
Julia glared at Harold then turned an accusing eye to Daniel.

"You said it couldn't be given away," Daniel
stated, making note of the conditions Victor had made.

"I don't give a damn. Consider it done,"
Julia grunted, folding her arms across her chest in an attempt to
contain the seething anger building up inside her.

"Not so fast," Harold tried to continue.

"I don't want your damned land, Julia,”
Daniel argued. “I never wanted it."

"Daniel please, there's conditions attached
to her giving it to you," Harold's own tone warned that he was
nearing his breaking point. Once the room returned to silence and
the whispers in the hallway ceased, he continued his duty, but not
until he drained the coffee from his china cup, completely.

"The only way Julia can give you the land is
as a wedding present. She has to marry you in order to get rid of
her half of the stables."

"What?" Jeremy snapped, rising from his
chair again.

"Never!" Julia growled, standing in front of
the desk.

"Calm down, please," Louise pleaded
softly.

"Damn it, Harold, why didn't you tell me
about this?" Daniel sounded as hysterical and angry, as the woman
beside him.

"Don't try and push the blame off on him,"
Julia snapped, turning her anger back to the man, who only minutes
ago was holding her in his arms, begging her to remember how it
felt. "You knew my father, as well as anybody. If he intended to
play this ridiculous joke, you would have known about it from the
beginning. I wouldn’t put it past you to talk him into it."

"Don't you dare accuse me of being a party
to this," Daniel shouted back. "If you were more of a daughter to
the old man, he wouldn't have found the need to make that
ridiculous condition. You should have stayed home and acted like a
woman of your social standing, instead of running away before you
were barely out of diapers."

"You have no right to talk to my sister like
that," Jeremy argued, his own anger matching that of his
sister's.

"Shut up kid, you're just as much to blame
as she is. You rejected everything your father had to offer,
including his love. You can't blame me, when you've done worse than
what I'm being accused of."

"Enough!" Louise shouted, over the angry
voices. She glared at each of them in turn. "Sit down and shut up;
you too Daniel."

"Mother!" Julia snapped.

"You heard me, sit down and shut your damn
mouths." Once they did as she demanded, Louise stepped to Harold's
side and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Victor didn't intend to cause any
problems,” she continued. “He just wanted his children to be happy
and his family's land to be cared for. He knew you didn't want to
stay here," she said, addressing Jeremy. "That's why he gave you
the land in South Carolina and West Virginia. He knew I didn't want
to stay here either once he was gone. I couldn't live here, not
with so many memories haunting me; that was why he left me the
property in Europe. He had no choice but to give you the stables,
Julia. He knew you would hate him for it, but this land has been in
his family since this country began. He left half the land to
Daniel, because your father knew he would be able to keep it
floating and he felt he owed it to him for everything he'd done for
both of us.

"I don't know what possessed him to make
those ridiculous conditions, but it's apparent he wanted his
children to be cared for. Daniel had no idea what he planned or the
depth of his conditions pertaining to the land. He just didn't want
you to marry a man who would take your virginity and your money and
then leave you like a homeless tart, while he lived it up with some
little whore. He trusted Daniel, he told you that himself. He knew
there was no way to avoid you wanting to rid yourself of this
property. He only did it, because he loved you. He just wanted you
to be happy."

An agonizing silence filled the room and
Louise fought against the anguish and pain ripping at her soul. She
glanced back to Thompson who was ushering the staff out of the
hallway before turning to Harold and smiling sadly.

“
Don’t blame Harold for any
of this,” she told Daniel. “He had to keep quiet; it was his legal
duty to Victor. He told him more than once he didn’t like what he
was planning, but Victor refused to change his mind.”

Julia and Daniel remained quiet looking
neither at each other nor anything else in particular, while Jeremy
stood and quietly left the room. Eventually even Louise and Harold
left, allowing Julia and Daniel time alone to deal with all that
had just occurred.

Daniel stood and walked toward the veranda
doors, before turning to look at the young woman sitting in the
chair she had occupied the past several minutes. He could see the
pain and frustration on her delicate features and wanted more than
ever to pull her to him, to comfort her and offer her some sane
solution to this ordeal, but he couldn't do that. Hell, he couldn't
even think. He was shocked and full of anger, anger at the old man,
anger at himself, even at Julia. He wanted to curse her for not
believing him, he wanted to shout at her for accusing him, but the
only thing he could do was stare.

She was so beautiful and so innocent and
right now she looked lost. Her whole world had just come crashing
down around her and neither of them knew how to mend the broken
pieces. If only he could bring himself to offer her the only way
out her father left for her. He would marry her and cherish her the
rest of his days, but he knew she would never allow that. And in
all honesty, he didn’t want her like that; not as a bargain. If he
couldn’t have her willingly, he didn’t want any of it. It was all
or nothing.

Julia on the other hand, didn't want
anything to do with Daniel. He had lied to her, used her and made
her believe he was only interested in her well-being. He had given
her a false daydream of hope and love; but now there was nothing
left for her but the feeling of despair. She had thought he really
cared about her. She had discouraged and rejected so many men in
the past that she was beginning to think she would never find
anyone whom she would ever truly care for. Then she met him; the
British born horse breeder who made her believe in dreams, made her
feel hopeful, but it was only a game. What a joke! He had played
her for a fool and she had gone along with him willingly.

“
I’m very sorry about all
of this,” Daniel said softly, receiving only a deadly, cold stare
in answer. Julia stood and left the room, refusing to respond to
the man. She had done enough to embarrass herself over the past few
days, she refused to add anything more to her disgrace.

Daniel watched her leave the room, drawing a
deep breath to steady his nerves. How was he ever going to convince
her that he wasn’t responsible for her father’s actions? How was he
ever going to make her believe all he had said to her was real?

He looked up at the portrait of Victor
Turner above the desk and frowned.

“
Why would you do this,
Victor?” he asked the silent room. “How could you do this to
someone you loved? She’s your daughter and betrayed her. How is she
ever going to forgive either of us?”

Daniel left the room without another glance
to the man’s portrait, hoping a good night’s sleep would offer some
sense of sanity to this madness his world was just thrown in.

The next day proved more difficult to deal with then
the heat and humidity. The work was hard, but the stable hands were
joyful and happy for their inheritance. It was enough to make
Daniel feel like choking the life out of someone. He had managed to
avoid going into town to confront his partner, until he had better
control over his emotions. He knew Harold’s hands were tied and
that he was only doing what he had to do, but it didn’t resolve the
feeling of betrayal. If he had known what the old man had planned,
he could have tried to talk him out of it, or at least warned
Julia.

Two meals had passed him by and Daniel was thankful
for the work that had to be done. Victor had purchased two new
stallions the day before he died and they arrived that morning,
untamed and in desperate need of breaking. He was hungry and tired,
and his muscles ached from his hours of trying to control the pair,
but it did little to ease his frustrations. He would have to face
Julia eventually and he wasn’t looking forward to it.

When the sun began to set, he could no longer find
an excuse to stay at the stables. Several of the men were planning
on going to town to celebrate the windfall Victor had left them,
and were eager to clean up and quit working. With a reluctant eye
toward the house, Daniel slowly made his way back up to the old
mansion. He slipped quietly through the back door and up the
kitchen stairs to his room, before anyone could see him. He washed
up in the porcelain basin then changed out of his soiled clothes,
tossing them aside for Bridget to clean. He knew Louise would stall
supper until everyone was there; it was her tradition for the
family to be together at suppertime. Skipping breakfast and lunch
was one thing, but the evening meal was the only time the family
could spend together and she was determined to keep order to her
household.

He ran a comb through his long hair, silently vowing
to cut it and turned with a start as a soft knock sounded at the
door. Daniel was certain Thompson would be standing outside to
inform him supper was ready, but to his surprise it wasn’t the old
dark man at all, but rather Jeremy who stood on the other side of
the door. The look on the younger man’s face was stern and set,
much like that of his father’s, though Daniel would never have
mentioned it.

“
Mother said dinner will be ready
in a few minutes,” Jeremy said, receiving only a nod from the
taller man. “Could I speak with you for a moment?” Daniel should
have anticipated this, as he stepped aside and waved entrance to
his visitor. He was certain the time had come for the boy to stand
up to him as the man of the family, and order him out of the house
and away from his sister, neither of which he could or would
do.

Jeremy stepped through the threshold and waited for
Daniel to close the door before turning to look at the man through
the dimly lit room. He had grown to think of Daniel as a friend and
still thought of him as an honest person, but there were some
questions that had been eating at him since the contents of his
father’s will had been revealed.

“
How much of the will did you
really know about?” Jeremy asked straight out.

“
I knew about the money Victor left
the staff and I knew he was planning on leaving half of the stables
to me,” Daniel answered honestly. “I believed him when he said you
and Julia didn’t want the place. He asked me to keep it running
until you two either chose to take over, or until Louise passed on.
At that point, he hoped fate would take a stand and there would be
an heir to take his place.”

“
You didn’t know about that
condition he put on Julia?”

“
No I didn’t,” Daniel growled. “If
I had, I would never have agreed to help him in the first place. I
honestly believed him about you and Julia. He was a very convincing
man.”

“
Among other things,” Jeremy said
bitterly. “What are your feelings toward my sister?”

“
I’m not sure how to answer
that.”

“
I was under the impression, before
the will was read, that you had feelings toward her that had
nothing to do with the stables. Was I wrong?”

“
No,” Daniel answered. “I do care
for her, greatly. But I doubt there’s any chance of ever convincing
her of that now.”

“
My sister is stubborn and
temperamental, but eventually she will start to see reason. She’s
just very confused right now.”

“
Aren’t we all?” Daniel asked,
watching the smile cross the young man’s face.

“
He was right about one thing,”
Jeremy said. “I don’t want this place, but for reasons he made me
see. I won’t have this monster interfering in my family, the way it
did his. I don’t hold a grudge against you, Daniel. I know how
convincing the old man was and I believe that you didn’t have
anything to do with his decisions. Just be patient with the rest of
the family. She’ll come around sooner or later.”

Daniel smiled as the boy turned and left the room
without another word. At least there was hope for a relationship
with one of the Turner brats, he thought, even if it wasn’t the one
he wanted.

Dinner was served at six o’clock as usual,
yet those seated around the table hardly noticed the offering. Too
many thoughts were consuming their attention like demons riding
their backs. It just didn't seem possible that the past forty-eight
hours had existed, let alone taken the turn they had.

Louise glanced around the table and tried
hard to put into perspective all that occurred the night before.
She understood her husband’s reasons for what he had done, although
she could hardly agree with them. She didn't like the idea of her
children being hurt, and try as she might, she just couldn't accept
that any of this was going to prove harmful. She knew there was a
strong attraction between Daniel and Julia and she was certain
given time, they would be able to sort through the problems and
find that attraction again.