for her to continue, wondering what she would say next in explanation.
But then, so did she. Yet the only way was forward, into the lie that might just save them.
“Mr. Shaw bought Midnight from me as a foal. He purchased Midnight based only on the records of his dam and sire because he knows not just the best techniques for training a horse but also the importance of bloodlines.”
The crowed exchanged uncertain glances while Shaw coolly raised a brow at that whopper of a lie. She was the one who had bred and raised the colt, who had spent weeks researching the bloodlines and finding the right matches, all the way back to the Byerley Turk, the first of the great three stallions. But none of that mattered compared to finding a way to be with Shaw. And this was the only plan she had…wild, outrageous, desperate.
“He’s been training Midnight for the race, too, right alongside his colt Ghost, a fabulous horse in his own right. You all saw how the two battled it out today.”
The men in the crowd grudgingly nodded. Yet they weren’t quite won over.
“Mr. Shaw had a hand in the colt’s rearing, too, by giving specific instructions to my father’s grooms for how to raise and handle him until he was ready to race. And I’m sure,” she said, her mind whirling to find a way to interest the crowd in Shaw’s training services, “he could do the same for all of your stables, too, whether horses for racing or for giving your wives and daughters slow trots through Hyde Park.”
Both of his brows nearly shot off his head at that. But the crowd around him chuckled as they warmed up to the idea of hiring England’s best horseman to direct their own stables and train their horses. More whispers and quiet conversations rose among the crowd, but all of them now saw Shaw in a new light. Before, England had seen him as little more than a glorified groom. Now, they looked at him with the admiration and respect he deserved as the winner of the Derby.
But the man himself said nothing and patiently waited to see where in the world she was leading him.
“I pretended to own Midnight,” she explained, “so that the black colt could run a strong race against Mr. Shaw’s gray and show the world that he’d trained not just one champion but two—and today’s champion is one that he trained under a whole new system. A system that could work for your horses as well as it did for my father’s, and you all know how seriously my father takes his horses.” A deep breath burned in her lungs as she added, “So if you want to buy Midnight, then please direct your offers to Mr. Shaw, not to me.”
The fickle crowd ignored her now to surge around Shaw, pressing in and calling to get his attention. New offers for both colts were shouted out, each offer higher than the last in an attempt to outbid each other in the impromptu auction that had sprung up.
Shaw kept darting his gaze in disbelief at Frankie. She couldn’t tell if he was happy with her for doing this, or if he wanted to throttle her. Either way, she didn’t care.
She’d done it because of love.
“That was very ingenious of you,” Uncle Jonas commented quietly as he sidled up to her. “And very generous. He’ll be able to keep the farm now.”
“Yes.” Her eyes never left him, despite a new stinging in them. One born of utter happiness.
“But no one will ever know that it was you who bred and raised that colt.”
“True.” But the loss of that recognition was tempered by the hope of a future with Shaw.
“What will your father say once he hears about this?”
“I don’t know. And I don’t care.” She’d just sacrificed everything for love. Not even fate could be cruel enough to snatch it away from her now. “Midnight won. Papa will hold to his word, even if he doesn’t like it.”
Uncle Jonas didn’t argue. He simply placed a kiss to her cheek and walked forward to congratulate Shaw by shaking his hand. Then, in true Jonas style, he drew the crowd away from Shaw by inviting everyone to beset the refreshment table in the rear of the owners’ box, much to the delight of the crowd and to the dismay of the owners and their wives who were all promptly pushed aside in the rush for