Page 22 of The Seduction of Lord Sin
He offered to escort her back to the house, but she shook her head. “I am going to the stable to collect Bella. Charlotte is way too soft-hearted when it comes to her dog.”
“Then I shall see you at dinner.” With that, Sin departed, but as he walked back to the house, his mind could not stop churning. What to do? What to do?
ChapterSeven
Charlotte wanted to go down to dinner as much as she wanted another fall from her horse. She hated the feelings one look at Sin sent rioting in her stomach and worse still, lower. She sighed. Lord Sinclair was such a vivid picture of masculinity imprinted on her mind. A lion among cats. Yet this lion was wounded, and it wasn’t simply a wound like a thorn in his paw. No, it was a slash so deep she doubted he’d ever recover.
Yet the only man she wanted to see tonight, to converse with, to sit next to, was Sin.
Just then, there was a knock at her door and Dharma slipped in. “I informed Cook that I shall join you for dinner.” At her frown, Dharma added, “It’s perfectly respectable, what with Flora and James present.”
“I think not. Besides, that’s not the point. The other men here… well, someone could talk.”
“Another reason you should toss them all out. How could you even consider such a man for a future husband if you think he will gossip?”
Why indeed? That thought had been the center of her mind for the past hour. “There may be a few men I shall ask to leave early.” She’d admit that. Hapley and Bann should never have been invited. The others she could abide.
Another knock and Flora entered. “James is with the men in the billiard room, so I thought I’d accompany you down to dinner.” Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “I wanted to hear how the outing with Lord Sinclair went before Bella got loose.”
Dharma and Flora looked at her like eager puppies.
“He was a perfect gentleman.”
“Oh, how disappointing,” Dharma cried.
“Is he looking for a wife?”
Charlotte shrugged at Flora’s direct question. “Yes. But”—
“Why didn’t you tell him your secret?”
“How do you know I didn’t?”
“I may have had a talk with him in the garden when overseeing the clearing up of Bella’s mess,” Flora replied, as innocently as Eve, with her apple.
Dharma frowned. “What secret?” she demanded.
Charlotte ignored her question. “Because it would not have made any difference. He’s looking for a business arrangement. Did you know how his wife and brother died? I didn’t. Lord Sinclair has no intention of ever giving his heart to another woman. I would at least like a chance to find true and deep affection for my next husband.”
“Affection? You deserve to find love. I just wish you’d see that.”
Dharma nodded at Flora’s comment. “What makes you think Lord Sinclair has hardened his heart? He might feel that now, if he loved his wife, but even Flora found room for more than one grand love, didn’t you?”
Charlotte pinched the bridge of her nose, while Flora calmly uttered, “He told you. He told you the truth about his wife and… My, you shared intimate feelings. It seems a waste that you didn’t share your secret in return.”
“What did he share? And what’s this about a secret? Someone please tell me or I’ll ask James and he’ll hate that,” Dharma pouted.
“Perhaps Dharma should know so that it never happens to her. They do not give us ladies enough information about the trickery of men.”
Flora’s argument was sound. If someone had told her more, would she have accepted Clayton’s offer? Looking back is hard because the what if’s could destroy you.What if I had married another? What if Clayton loved me? Or come to my bed? What if I’d never had another offer? What would have happened to her sisters? To Dharma?continuously played in her head.
She took a deep breath. “I never had relations with your father. He never came to my bed. He loved your mother too much.”
It didn’t take Dharma long, surprisingly, since she was an innocent, to understand the implications. “But that means… you can have children.” She jumped to her feet. “Stop this or at least tell”—
“Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t tell the world that my first husband never bedded me. It’s embarrassing and no one would believe me, anyway.”
Dharma sat back down.
