Sweet Temptation by Leigh Greenwood Page A

like that. She still loved him, at least she thought she did, but she also knew she felt an attraction to him that had not existed before, and that the attraction was physical. From the little she had learned about Gavin, she knew their physical relationship would be essential to any other relationship they had. After last night, she had a nagging suspicion that it could become true for herself as well.
    But what if he wouldn’t come back? What if he was content to enjoy his mistresses for the rest of his life? Hadn’t he married her only to please his father and provide his mother with a grandchild? How was she going to recapture his interest? Recapture! How was she going to gain his interest when he had so emphatically stated he was not, never had been, and never would be interested in her?
    Sara’s eyes misted as she stared at her veil. It was so beautiful and had looked so pretty on her. Gingerly she settled the headpiece on her hair and smoothed the lace veil around her. She almost looked like a bride again. Now her eyes filled with tears. She would never be a bride again, but would she ever be a wife?
    For a moment, Sara’s back stiffened with pride. Why should she bother herself with a man who didn’t want her, she asked? She had done nothing to deserve his scorn or earn rejection. If he didn’t come to her, she would simply ignore him. But Sara rejected the thought almost before it Was complete. She had too much to lose by turning her back on her marriage after just one bad experience, no matter how horrifying. There must be something she could do.
    She felt an overwhelming sense of despair, but she couldn’t cry. Her tears had run dry during the long hours of the black night. Now she sat dry-eyed, knowing her best weapon was the marriage contract. Gavin was tied to her just as firmly as she was to him; he could not ignore her forever. She would have to be patient, and if he didn’t come back, she would have to go to him. Sara didn’t want to think about that just yet. There were too many terrifying possibilities yawning before her timorous feet, but she was fighting for the rest of her life. It would be foolish to balk at anything that might save her marriage, when the only bar was fear of embarrassment, or fear itself.
    Carefully she took off the veil. She would have Betty pack it away. One day she would put it on again, but not, she vowed, until her heart could swell with happiness at the memory of the years gone by.
    Sara sat in her chair with stiff formality while the Earl responded to condolences from yet another pair of visitors. In the last two days, Sara had met more people than she had met in her eleven years at Miss Rachel’s. Surely everyone in London had come to Parkhaven House to express their sorrow at the Countess’s death, and extend their sympathy to her family.
    As much as she was made unhappy by the Countess’s death—she had looked upon her as her only friend and ally—Sara was relieved that the Earl had something else to occupy his mind besides her own failure as a wife. At least he would have if there hadn’t been the continuing worry over Gavin’s whereabouts. The Earl made no secret of the fact that he held Sara responsible for Gavin’s absence of nearly a fortnight.
    “It looks bad,” Olivia, had remarked at dinner the night before.
    “And it’s damned hard to explain,” added the Earl. He was endeavoring to do that very thing right now to a fawning mother and her simpering daughter. Sara might be naive and inexperienced, but she could tell they had nourished hopes of Gavin themselves. The knowledge that, even with her freckles and strawberry blonde hair, she was much more handsome than the haughty Miss Dorothea Burroughs gave her vanity a much-needed boost.
    “It’s so unfortunate that Lord Carlisle should be away from London at just this time,” Lady Burroughs was saying.
    “And him just married, too.” This from Miss Dorothea who cast a smirking glance in Sara’s