Page 24 of The Seduction of Lord Sin
She wanted to marry Devlin.
No. Surely not.He was a man who wanted money.You have money.Her dowery was considerable.Tobin would welcome the match. As would Rosemary. It could save Devlin’s estates and family.
Her mouth would not move, because deep inside, she wanted more.
“You’re exquisite, you know.”
His soft words sent heat through her already on edge body. “That’s the drink talking. Or is it you are changing horses mid race? My step-mother is not to your liking, so the step-daughter with the very large dowry will do instead.”
He rose unsteadily to his feet. “I hope I remember that excellent suggestion in the morning.” And without another look at her, he weaved across the room and out the door. Dharma listened to him stumbling up the stairs.
She slowly moved to close the doors out onto the terrace and stood looking at the moon.
What a mess. She could save him. Rosemary would welcome Dharma marrying her brother. But Dharma would not marry a man who only wanted her dowry.
But even though Charlotte could save Rosemary’s family by marrying Devlin, she would do everything she could to make Lord Sinclair fall in love with Charlotte.
As she made her way back to her bedchamber, she refused to look too closely at why she preferred Lord Sinclair for Charlotte.
ChapterEight
Charlotte allowed herself to sleep in. She told herself it was because of the stiffness from her fall, but really, she needed to pace herself with the time spent in Lord Sinclair’s company. She didn’t want to see him today if she could help it.Liar.She pulled the pillow over her head.
Lord Devlin was the man she should focus her attention on. She’d had her plan to spend time alone with him, thwarted by Dharma yesterday. Lord Devlin was supposed to win the archery contest. Today’s game of Pall Mall—well, any of the men could win. How could she get Lord Devlin alone, especially when she had to hobble everywhere?
On a troubled sigh, she threw the pillow off and sleeping Bella took this as a sign it was time to wake and play. She jumped on Charlotte and licked her face.
“I know. You love me. I love you too,” and she buried her face into Bella’s fur. Bella gave her hope. Bella had once been unwanted and thrown away, but had found someone to love her. Perhaps Charlotte could too. But could she find love with any of the men present was the question? She hated the fact that she wanted more than a woman like her should achieve. She’d had no suitors when a debutante, mainly because of her height, lack of social status, and lack of large dowry. Her husband never grew to love her, so why should these men be any different? Perhaps Flora was right. This is not how she wanted to find a man to spend her life with.
She rolled onto her back and Bella plonked on top of her, asking for her belly to be scratched. As she ran her fingers over Bella, she thought about the past six years and the loneliness she’d endured. If she married again, and it wasn’t a love match, could she endure loneliness even with children? The nights were the hardest. This vast bed and only a dog for company. No passion. No tenderness. No—love. Tears welled, and she furiously blinked them away. At least she had money and a beautiful home. Often, women were left with nothing. Like Mrs. Mason. Why could she not get that woman out of her head?
A knock sounded and she bade her maid to enter.
“Can you let Bella out to do her ablutions? Go on Bella, go outside, then go see Cook.”
When Bella left the room, she truly felt alone.
She waited for her maid to pull the curtains before sitting up and talking herself into getting dressed to face her guests. At least the sun shone and it would be nice to sit in the oak tree’s shade once again, while the men used their mallets to hit the round wooden ball through the hoops.
Could Devlin win today? Somehow, she’d ended up sitting between Lord Devlin and Lord Sinclair last night at dinner. Flora must have had something to do with that and she would talk to her today. The last thing she needed wasbothDharma and Flora ganging up and trying to destroy her carefully laid plans. Lord Sinclair was not here for a wife. He had Mrs. Mason waiting for him in London.
Then why did she take such care with her appearance today? She wore a lighter and more feminine frothy gown of deep emerald. It brought out the blue of her eyes, especially with her auburn colored hair, or so Flora said.
Not yet feeling up to company, she hobbled her way to the kitchen for tea and toast. Bella needed a run. Normally Bella ran beside her on her morning rides, but on the morning of her fall Bella had rolled in something dead and was being bathed, and then yesterday Charlotte was too sore to ride and she’d forgotten to ask the groom to walk Bella. Her mind was too full of a certain duke. This is why Bella was so excited. She needed her energy deflated by a good run.
With her ankle still two sizes bigger than normal, too sore to take Bella far, and with her walking stick, she could only manage a hobble. “Cook, is John around? Bella needs a good run, but my ankle is still not up to it.”
“I could oblige,” came the voice she’d heard in her dreams all night.
She slowly turned around. Sin—that is—Lord Sinclair. Dressed in his riding gear, he looked magnificent—hewasas tempting as sin. “Have you already ridden?” His hair looked ruffled from the wind. She refused to contemplate that he looked as if he’d just risen from his bed. Suddenly, Bella saw him too and came racing over, jumping up for attention.
He crouched down to pet her. “I have. I was coming to sneak one of Cook’s scones before my bath, but I’m happy to go back out to take Bella for a walk. I’d love to see more of the grounds.” He stood, and she’d forgotten how tall he was. It was a pleasant change to look up at a man.
“Bella, down. You don’t have to do that. I can get John or a groom to take her.”
“Bella, you’d like to go for a walk with me, wouldn’t you?” At the word walk, Bella barked and headed for the door, tail wagging madly. “See. We shall be fine.”
“There’s a path to the right of the drive. It leads through the woods to the church and loops round and back to the stables. That should be sufficient.”
