Pride and dignity were not words usually associated with Charley, but she proved at that moment that nothing and no one could touch her, that dignity belonged as much to a magisterial potentate or haughty duchess as it did to the most abject, defeated, and friendless. I tucked Charley’s utterances away to turn over later, they hinted at more which, it seemed, Charley was not yet ready to reveal.
“I didn’t know you owned a racehorse.”
“Nor did I until fairly recently. At least, I don’t own Bronte. Montrose does. Bronte has illustrious bloodlines tracing back to Matchem—whose offspring, I’m told, are noted for their good temperaments—Herod, Eclipse (although I understand that most thoroughbred racehorses have Eclipse in their pedigree), Bend Or, and Selima, one of the foundation mares of t
