Lady Sarah's Sinful Desires by Sophie Barnes Page B

alliance.”
    â€œWhat sort of alliance?”
    â€œTo be blunt, my father has a particular fondness for horses, and Mr. Denison, it appears, is in possession of some fine ones. Crossbreeding will prove financially beneficial to them both, and since I’m not getting any younger, I have decided to help Papa achieve his goal and accept Mr. Denison’s offer when he asks.”
    â€œYou say he’s not your first choice though. Might I ask who that fortunate individual would be?” Christopher asked. For reasons he couldn’t explain—­simple curiosity, no doubt—­he needed to know who had captured her heart and why the man had not married her.
    â€œIt’s inconsequential.”
    The words were spoken so bitterly that they brought Christopher to an immediate halt. “I don’t believe that,” he said.
    â€œThen believe this,” she told him, her blue eyes shimmering like pools of water, “the man I loved was not the man I thought him to be. Who I marry no longer makes a difference.”
    Thoroughly surprised, it took Christopher a moment to gather his wits. He hadn’t imagined meeting someone who’d suffered a similar situation as he had, let alone a young lady. Intrigued and feeling strangely linked to her now, he longed to question her about her experience—­to ask her how she’d survived the ordeal—­but it was obvious that the confession had been a difficult one for her to make, so he chose not to press her.
    â€œThen we have both survived the pain of a broken heart,” he told her instead, feeling the need to share a little of his own past with her, and to make her aware of the similarity between them. She would understand, better than his family did, for they found it impossible to comprehend why he’d continued to pine for a woman who’d never existed.
    He hadn’t been able to help it though, in spite of his anger. To his way of thinking, it was almost as if Miss Hepplestone had murdered his one true love and he had helplessly mourned her for well over a year. When he’d finally decided the time had come for him to move on, his parents and sisters had taken it upon themselves to throw as many eligible young ladies his way as possible. If that wasn’t enough reason to regret venturing back out into Society, he wasn’t sure what was. Of course, the more eager they’d been to help him make a proper match, the more determined he had become to thwart their attempts. He was stubborn that way.
    The same ought to be true of Lady Sarah, especially since his mother had given him an ultimatum that offered no reprieve from wife hunting during his stay at Thorncliff. He ought to leave. Against his better judgment, Lady Sarah stopped him from doing so. At first, he’d recognized in her the same reluctance to trust others that he had felt in the wake of Miss Hepplestone’s departure from England. Now, after what Lady Sarah had just told him, he wanted to know more about her.
    They continued to make their way through the maze, twisting and turning in an effort to find the exit. There was something addictive about the woman at his side, he realized, perhaps because she was so apprehensive at times that the moments she smiled were to be cherished.
    â€œWill you tell me who broke yours?” Lady Sarah asked when they arrived at the end of the maze.
    They’d shared a companionable silence for several minutes, so the question was one he hadn’t expected. “Only if you will reciprocate.” Christopher found himself holding his breath as he waited to see how she would reply.
    Glancing about, she raised her hand and waved, and Christopher saw that his sisters were seated in the shade of a tree, waiting for them. Lady Sarah started in their direction with measured steps, her gaze slightly lowered. “I fear I’m not ready for that yet,” she said. “It’s possible I never will