Taking a Chance

[Lovely]

June 8, Year 1
evening


Chance Palmer stepped into the brothel, a cool smile and a near blush brightening his face. Those who knew him would never have thought him as one to set foot in such an establishment. Some folks went as far to say that he didn't even fancy girls, yet here he was, grinning politely as he tipped his hat from his head, watching the primped and preened beauties flutter about to offer him his afternoon's pleasures. He shook his head to each, having set his eye on a particular resident of the cat house. She brushed past him as he stood in the foyer and he finally spoke, offering an unusual greeting he hoped would capture her attention. "Oooo... sera bella... bella.. and evenin' ma'am... heh.. madame.. "

"Evenin'.." rolls her eyes and turns away.

"Awww... no way to treat a payin' customer is that?" He followed her through the small lobby.

Chuckles. "Who said your money was any good here?" licks lips, eyeing him.

"Then maybe I'll just start me a little line o credit... first in line, that is."

"First in line for what? You haven't even seen my girls yet.."

"Not them I came to see."

"well then.. what are you doing here if not to see the girls?... I don't have any boys..."

"I don't much care for girls, ma'am... prefer women... strong, daring...wise.. women.. if we understand one another.."

"I have to say.. most of my ladies are just that.. you won't be dissappointed."

"What if I had a specific request?"

"You have someone in mind already? A man who knows what he wants.."

He grinned. "That I do, ma'am.. that I do."

"Well then I suppose you ought to be telling me, who it is you'd like to entertain you, this evening."

His eyes brightened gently, piercingly without wavering as he nodded toward her, "The lady of the house, ma'am... if she wouldn't mind."

Her eyes narrowed, though she smiled sweetly. "The lady of the house is not for sale." She leaned toward him and kissed his cheek. "And you couldn't afford what I would charge.. if I were." She brushed past him and moved to pour some brandy. "Would you like a drink... and make another selection?"

[Lovely]

"Not asking to buy, ma'am... but borrow if I may... for a fancy dinner party if you'd be so obliged. And I'd be grateful for a drink if I may."

"Borrow?" She chuckled. "Here you are, now." She smiled handing him a glass, three quarters full and stepping around him. "A fancy dinner party?" She shook her head. "My dear sir... are you daft?"

"Daft? Fancy words, ma'am... foolish perhaps. Or wise... asking the prettiest girl in town to be on my arm for the night."

She laughed and shook her head. "Insane.. plum crazy.. that's what you are!" Her eyes danced and sparkled in the lights from the lanterns. "Take the madame of the wh*re house out for the eveining? And calling me the prettiest girl in town... Why aren't you asking one of those nice girls who giggle and skitter and blush when you walk by?"

"Told y'already, ma'am.. they's not who I came by to see," he sipped his drink, not taking his eyes off of her. "When was the last time you were taken to a dinner party in the city? Fine wine, pastries, chit chat and giggles yourself, hm?"

"I'd have to say ...." She turned and regarded him cooly, yet warmly... She was a mix of things, mysterious to most as her past was mainly unknown to folks around here.

She paused too long. "Then it's time, wouldn't you say? And the party itself will be Thursday, with time even to arrive and spend some time enjoying town if you'd like."

"Why?" She asked, watching him for his answer. "Why are you asking me? And why should I agree to it?"

"That's where the entertainment tonight comes in, ma'am... the rest of the story, but only if you're curious enough to agree now," he raised an eyebrow and grinned. "By train.. to the city and back...a room in a fancy hotel room... far from the smoke and purely indulgent in anything you fancy."

"If I were to agree.. what... services.. would you be expecting me to provide?"

"To share a private bottle of champagne... nothing more is expected."

Her eyes never left him as she considered his request. She chewed softly on her lower lip, eyes narrowed slightly. "Very well sir, ... I agree."

"Then you are entitled to hear the rest of the story," he grinned, taking her hand to his lip in a gesture common to very few out in these parts.

She gave a nod of her head and motioned him to follow her from the 'greeting' room towards her private rooms. She walked with a confidence few women were able to carry, sure of herself but not full of herself. She opened the doors inward and ushered him inside, closing and latching the doors behind them. "Now.. please have a seat." She motioned to the couch.

He followed her to the rooms, preferring to stand until given permission to be seated. He looked around the room, sipping at his liquor, curling a lip in at the burning. "Now, Miss Deneuve, I do apologize for my boldness just now, but I assure you, I'm a gentleman.. a man of honor, not of privelege, if we understand one another."

She nodded and slipped to take a seat beside him. She faced him and folded her hands in her lap. "Please continue."

[Lovely]

Chance grinned gently. "Why would I chose the lady of the cat house to escort, I believe you asked?"

"I did.. yes." She smiled, like a polite, genteel lady and awaited his explainations.

"Would you find it odd of me to say that I had no other intentions but that I'd seen you and merely wished to show you the city?"

"Yes. I would find that quite odd." She lowered her head as she laughed softly. "But why? You know what I am..."

He finished his drink and looked away a moment to gain the resolve he'd needed. His tone softened, showing more of an educated grace beneath the rough exterior. "I know what I think I see... what I believe you are. What you -do-, Miss Deneuve... is neither. I saw you when you came to this town and I've seen a little here and there, heard bits as well," he shook his head. "You're no ordinary lady."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out softly. "Thank you, for the compliment... but you would be wise to forget what you think you know."

He looked in the empty glass and set it aside, mulling a thought. "'Fraid I can't do that.. rather I won't," he grinned. "Didn't ask you to join me in the city to go and forget what I want to learn more about."

She lowered her eyes and licked her lips, tapping the tips of her fingers together. "Not much surprises me... but you do... why do you want to know me?"

"Why wouldn't an educated man want to know more about a lady of standing?" He lived up to his namesake, hoping his gamble was right.

Her head snapped up and her eyes narrowed on him, sharply, though briefly, before her face returned to composed and a bit aloof. "Standing?" She chuckled and shook her head. "You have been misled, sir."

"Have I?" his grin remained cool and his gaze on her as he nodded slowly. "I understand. My mistake, then, but that won't sway me from wishing to know more."

"There's really nothing to know." She shrugged. "What you see.. this is all there is." She moved to stand and gave him a slight nod and a smile. "May I refill your drink?"

"You may," he said, flashing a disarming smile, the effects of the first drink doing him the favor of keeping him calm. "If I may be bold, all there is showing is indeed.. mighty fine, ma'am, no denyin' that. But... if I may ask you a question...why do you place yourself so low?"

"It's where I was placed, not where I placed myself." She refilled his glass, using that as an excuse not to look at him for a moment.

She would find him suddenly behind her, supportive though she offered few details. "Whoever placed you then, was wrong," he whispered at her shoulder.

"I'm certain they would disagree." She turned slowly, his glass in her hands. She offered it to him with a slight motion and averted her eyes. She seemed more like a refined lady and less like a wh*re in that moment. The way she stood, the just so tilt of her head, polite, shy and respectful. She always carried herself with grace and dignity, she certainly did not seem like a girl who was raised in any sort of dusty town or harsh condition.

[Lovely]

"They.. whoever they are, miss Deneuve, are not in this room right now. I call 'em as I see 'em... and you ain't...pardon... are not... one of your girls," he said, stammering over the words, unable to use the word 'wh*re' in her presence.

Her chin lifted and her voice hinted at the stubborn drive that kept her going during times that seemed unbearable. "Of course I am... why else would I be here?"

"As a matter of convenience, I'd imagine, so as not to trouble someone in some place much finer and cleaner than this town? Sounds like, and maybe I'm wrong, but I believe you need someone you can confide in, miss Deneuve... someone you can trust to tell the rest of the story?"

"Some one I can trust.." She nodded. "That would be be something truly amazing in itself."

"Chance.. miss Deneuve...," he grinned, tipping his glass in salute to her. "Something... and someone you can always put your trust in."

"Is that so...." She nodded again, thinking for a moment and then looking up at him. "Chance is one thing I have never feared." She said softly. "It's not convenience... it's punishment."

"Can't think of any crime you could possibly commit to warrant punishment in a place like this, ma'am. Show me the jury that hung you here, hm?"

"Joseph and Christine Deneuve... my father and step mother." She replied flatly. "I am being punished for the crimes of my mother... for being the daughter of a woman my father grew to hate with a vengence."

"Crimes for the mother for being who she was? Foolishness," he scoffed. "Sounds more like freedom from a tyranny worse than words can say.. not a punishment."

"Your a man.. you would say that..." She looked at him with a slight fear and sadness in her eyes. "To be sold to the highest bidder.. is no kind of freedom." She squared her shoulders. "To be faced with starving and poverty.. and a mother who..." She bit her lip and shook her head. "It doesn't matter... this is where I am.. and what I've done.." She smiled sadly. "Or haven't done.. really does not matter."

"That ain't right you know," he shook his head. "Our wise President abolished slavery and here your own family sells you into it for the wiles and whims of... well, I would be a liar if I said I was any bit above them.. other.. men?"

"I don't know you well enough to call you a liar." She sighed and clasped her hands together. "They.. because I reminded them too much of her.. because they hated her so.. and because I reminded him of the pain.."

"I'll have to remember to thank them... for the opportunity to help and the blessing that is getting to know you, miss Deneuve," he grinned gently. "Not to make light in any fashion of your misfortune, but of all the laps to land in... so to speak.. you found mine."

"Whether I actively partake or not.. I play the part of a wh*re... Getting to know me is not going to change that.. nor will it change that there are few ways a woman can earn a living.. and with a tarnished reputation, it's not likely they'll be asking me to join the quilting circle."

"How are you with horses?" He asked like lightning from the blue sky, but something in the look he gave her meant he had a connection in mind to the topic at hand.

[Lovely]

"Horses? I am an excellent and established rider... and of course I know how to groom and saddle..." She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

He chuckled and took a sip from his refilled glass. "Not askin' you to join a quiltin' bee, I'll tell you that much. You handle a rifle?"

"Haven't much expierence with them." She chewed her lower lip and then curled her finger motioning him closer. Her hand slid under her skirt to the gun strapped to her thigh. "I'm much better with this." Her foot on the chair and her skirt pulled up for him to see her leg and the piece.

"My, my... I do declare..ain't seen such fine workmanship in a lady's hand before," he winked.

That earned a small smile and a light chuckle as she shook her head. "It suits it's purpose." She shifted the skirt back down and lowered her leg, glancing to him and then moving to sit on the couch. She patted the empty space beside her, inviting him to join her.

"I wasn't speaking of the gun, you know," he said, pausing before taking the seat beside her.

"No? Hmm then I simply do not know, what you were referring to." She had a slight grin on her face.

"Not my place to say such things in front of a lady, miss Deneuve," he smiled, glancing down to her knee, a slight pink in his cheek for a moment before he looked back.

She smiled softly, reaching a finger up to brush the back of her knuckle over his cheek. "Contessa.." She whispered. "You can say, whatever you like, in front of me." Her finger brushed lightly over his cheek again and then rested back in her lap. "And I already told you.. I'm not a lady."

His eyes closed to reopen with a firey gaze kindled by her touch and her soft voice as he found his hand on hers, resting on her leg. "If I say much more, I won't be the man of honor I claim to be mi...Contessa."

"Words don't make a man.." She spoke softly. "But if they are truthful, the words just let one know a little more about another."

He nodded and clasped her fingers gently. "A man of honor... wouldn't be thinking the thoughts I'm having at the moment. So either I'm not as honorable as I say, or you are... one extraordinary woman to make me break my own rules," he whispered, searching her eyes.

She chuckled and leaned closer, looking to his eyes. "Darlin'.. even and honorable man.. is still a man. Everyone has desires, needs, wants... and thinking about such things is perfectly natural.. and I might have to be insulted, if you didn't think I was pretty."

"I don't," he shook his head. "Dare I say beautiful, Contessa... since I first laid eyes on you."

"You are much too kind." She said with a gentle smile.

He chuckled, continuing to shake his head, "Not kind enough.. that's the rest of the story.You hear much about my family out here? The Palmers?"

She nodded and held his gaze. "A bit, here and there... Not too many talk to.. my sort openly.. it's more over hear things here and there... Even the men talk to me less.. since I don't entertain .. the way my girls do."

He made note of that. The more he decided to tell her, the less likely it was seeming that he'd need to worry about others hearing anything from her. "Good to know.. fewer myths to dispel," he grinned.

She looked at him a bit strangely, not knowing what he meant by his comment. But his smile was contagious and it tugged the corners of her mouth up more. "You're an interesting man."

"Also good to know... when entertaining these kinda thoughts," he winked. "May I?" He asked as gently as he moved, reaching a finger to her cheek, holding it there a moment before coming closer to her.

She paused for a moment and searched his face, then whispered. "Yes."

Placing his gamble again, he leaned forward to brush her lips gently with his own, lingering like a whisper. He sat back and pulled his hand to his drink, finishing the glass again.