Page 36 of For the Earl's Taking

One evening they were having dinner and Sarah decided to talk about something that nagged at her. “What happens if the Ton finds out about my humble origins?”

Hugh looked seriously at her. He had never given it a thought and he cared very little if it happened. “I don’t think they would.” He drank his wine. “Bourgeois families have the most varied origins, mostly from working classes.” The irony of the situation did not escape him. “You would not be a surprise, I reckon.”

“I would not like to bring negative attention on your family.”

“Thanks for your concern, but that’s unlikely.” He side-smiled.

Even though she’d been prepared to be Sir Alfred’s wife, Sarah did not feel very confident about performing the role of Countess of Hawkmore; not if she compared herself to Lady Adelaide. Hugh’s first wife represented the perfect countess in every social way. She had been stunningly beautiful, she had had excellent taste in clothes, irreproachable manners and she very keen in keeping her social life going.

Sarah tended to a more introspect side. An evening spent in the library much more appealing to her than any ballroom. She did not deem social life a chore, but overdoing not her being cup of tea. Furthermore, she had been Hugh’s…special maid, so to say, under the very nose of Lady Adelaide. Sarah had known they had led separate lives, she had heard the other maids’ gossips. Even being that the case, her and Hugh had slept together on a regular basis. It had been something she had not been able to help. He had had, still had, only to touch her and she would be lost to everything around. They shared an overwhelming attraction and, in her case, it went beyond. For her, that attraction represented fuel and consequence of her feelings for him. Feelings that had installed themselves in her heart almost the minute she had lain eyes on him, and got stronger, deeper by the minute.

Of course, Lady Adelaide must have known Hugh had some interest duelling in the servants’ quarters. It would be impossible not to, living under the same roof as him. When all of them lived under the same roof, actually. However, if the former countess knew her name or not would remain an incognito. How his then wife felt about it remained another mystery; maybe taken to her grave.

Did Sarah feel guilty about that situation? She did not feel sure. Everything had happened so fast and her days had been constantly busy. She had had little time to think about that. She had barely had time to sleep at that time, let alone think of the whole circumstance. Looking back now, though, she could not find any guilty traces in her. If anything, she felt sorry for Lady Adelaide for not having found a more suitable life partner.

Not that Hugh would be any suitable life partner. He demanded he was a lord; he was…oh, dear…searing. He probably did not love her the same consuming way she did. Her heart had chosen him, though, that lay beyond her to change.

Sarah thought it about time they entertained some guests. After talking to Hugh, he agreed to a dinner party at the Hawkmore town house. Sarah invited his sisters and their husbands, Lord Ashton and one of Hugh’s cousins, to even the ladies’ number.

Dinner became a success! Conversation rounded light and cheerful, the food refined and Hugh admired Sarah for her quick-witted and discreet behaviour. For him, there had never been a more perfect countess in the entire history of his centuries-old lineage. He could not take his eyes from her the whole evening. She wore a dark green dome dress lined with lace and a decent neckline. Too decent for his taste, but he would take care of it later. Her bony petite figure ramrod straight, she smiled mildly at the guests, as her soft curls dangled around her. No one would ever have the slightest idea of the…combustible woman he had in his bed every night; which seemed a good thing, she belonged only to him, well understood!

Time came that the men went for cigars and brandy in the library. Duncan approached Hugh. “Fallen again in the marriage trap, have you?” He held the brandy glass on one hand and a cigar in the other; he looked at Hugh with a boyish expression in his golden looks.

“Well, heirs are to be had.” He would not brag over his private life and even more private woman.

“You’re a lucky bastard, you know!” Duncan joked. “I had been thinking of making a move myself on the former Lady Wilkins.” He sipped his cognac. “Before you claimed her, naturally.”

Hugh would be inclined to kill any man who would dare to get near her, but he could not say this to his best friend. “Sorry, my friend, you’ll have to consider other options.

“That’s for sure. Any suggestion?”

“Not that I can think of.” He drank a little of his brandy. “But my cousin seems a little taken with you.”

“That she does.” Eleanor’s husband joined them and the conversation turned other ways.

“Oh, Sarah, what a fabulous dinner party!” Joana approached Sarah and Amelia, Hugh’s cousin.

“Thank you very much, Lady Hollingsworth.” Sarah smiled genuinely. She felt a tad apprehensive with her first social event outcome. She felt glad everything went smoothly, thanks to Hawkmore’s House competent staff. She made a mental note to compliment them personally next day.

“Please, call me Eleanor. We’re sisters now!”

“Sure, Eleanor.” Amelia excused herself and went to talk to Joana

“You know,” she came nearer as if she would tell a secret. “My dearest brother appears much happier now. And he looks definitely besotted with you!”

Sarah blushed. She could not deny Hugh’s desire for her, but from there to being besotted WASa long distance. “I’m glad to make him happy.” Much more than Eleanor could fathom.

“It’s not appropriate to talk about the dead, but Adelaide did not match him.”

“I believe everyone has their own abilities and challenges. Maybe, Lady Adelaide made her mark in the world her way.”

“Oh, dear! And the new Lady Hawkmore is modest as well!” Eleanor praised her.

When the last guest left, Hugh fell on an armchair. He felt tired, but satisfied. He hoped her fears about her origins could be overcome. “My sisters adore you, you know.”

Sarah smiled shyly. “It’s reciprocated.” She did not seat. “I think I’m going to-“

“Come here!” He ordered and pulled her to sit astride on his lap, her skirts ballooning around him. “You teased me all night with this prudish little dress!” He released her hair from its pins. “You’re not escaping so easily now!” His hand slid up her neck and brought her mouth close to his.

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