“I don’t know. I will not be sure until the day I die.”
He kissed her fingertips. “We will face that challenge if and when it occurs.”
“You’ll be the laughingstock of London. The Forties will never see you again.”
“What a pity.” He ran his thumb along her lower lip. “Then you will marry me, rogue though I have been?”
She smiled almost demurely, though the emotion in her eyes gave her away. “Isn’t it customary to ask a woman’s father or guardian for her hand?”
He stared at her. “Your father? But—”
“Or guardian.” She put on a prim expression. “Guardians, as the case may be.”
“You don’t mean…You don’t intend that I should go to those dragons, and ask their permission?”
“Those ‘dragons’ are my friends,” she said. “Surely you aren’t afraid of a few retiring widows?”
He snorted, feigning far more confidence than he felt. “If that is what you wish…”
“I do.”
He leaped up. “I shall see to it immediately. And you are to rest.”
“Yes, of course.”
“I shall send a maid to sit with you.”
“If you insist.”
“I do.”
She lay back meekly, permitting him to fuss with the blankets and pillows until he was quite certain that she was comfortable and safe. He lingered by the door, afraid to leave her, disgusted with his own reluctance to beard the lionesses who waited below. After all he and Nuala had been through…
He nodded sharply, turned on his heel and walked out the door. The doctor stood immediately without, poised on his toes as if he were prepared to break the door down.
“Lord Donnington!” he cried. “What has happened?”
Sinjin wondered briefly how much of his battle with Makepeace had been audible to those outside the room. “Lady Charles has recovered,” he said.
“Recovered? But that is…How…?”
“You may see her if you wish.” Sinjin stood aside, and the doctor hurried into the room. Sinjin sent one of the maids to Nuala’s chamber with water and plain biscuits, took a deep breath and descended the stairs.
The Widows and Ioan Davies were gathered in the drawing room, sitting or standing in tense silence. They started when they saw him. Deborah rushed forward.
“What in God’s name has been going on?” Lady Selfridge demanded. The dowager duchess stood at her shoulder like a forbidding goddess, and the others circled Sinjin in the manner of a wolf pack eager to bring down its prey.
“Everything is all right,” Sinjin assured them. “Lady Charles is fully recovered.”
The women murmured in disbelief and amazement. “How can that be?” Lady Orwell cried. “She was so very ill….”
“Nevertheless, she is no longer in any danger. The doctor is with her. If you would all be so good as to be seated….”
None of them moved. Sinjin clenched his teeth.
“There is a matter I must discuss with you,” he said.
“What matter?” Lady John Pickering asked. “We are all ready to assist Lady Charles in anything she may—”
“I beg your pardon,” Sinjin said. “I have chosen an inopportune moment. Rooms have been prepared for all of you, and a simple dinner will be served at eight.” He bowed and was ready to flee when the former Duchess of Vardon called out behind him.
“You had something to say, Lord Donnington.”
He turned. “Nothing that cannot wait, Your Grace.”
“I think you ought to say it,” Julia Summerhayes offered from her place at the rear of the gathering.
Sinjin gave her a long look. The young woman was serene, almost smiling.
Damn it.
“Very well,” he said. “I wish…I wish to ask…” He met the women’s gazes one by one. “It is my intention to marry Lady Charles.”
Someone, perhaps Lady Meadows, squeaked a giggle. Lady John raised her brows. Lady Selfridge made a moue of disgust, and Lady Orwell clasped her hands in an attitude of beatific joy.
“What makes you think you are good enough for her?” Lady Selfridge asked.
“We have seen no indication that you have done anything but make her life a misery,” the dowager duchess said.
“She wasn’t ill until she came here,” Lady Riordan murmured with a distracted air.
“But how could Lord Donnington make her ill?” Lady Meadows trilled.
“Lord Donnington is not to blame,” Mrs. Summerhayes said, drawing all attention to her. “It is not for us to determine how someone should be happy.”
No one spoke, though many glances were exchanged. The resistance was palpable.
“We will speak to her,” the duchess pronounced, “when she is well enough.”
“I am well enough now.”
Everyone looked toward the door. Nuala stood on the threshold in her dressing gown, vitally alive, her face aglow with good health and unmistakable happiness.
She stepped forward and stood beside Sinjin, though she didn’t touch him. “As you see,” she said, “I am quite far from death’s door.”
Deborah held out her hands. “Oh, Nuala! I am so glad!”
“As am I, Lady Charles,” Ioan said, genuine pleasure on his usually sober face.
As one, the widows crowded round, exclaiming and examining Nuala from top to bottom.
“Ladies,” Sinjin said, “she must not be overtaxed.”
The women fell back with obvious reluctance. Lady Selfridge fixed her intimidating stare on Sinjin again.
“Lady Charles,” she said, “Lord Donnington has said he wishes to marry you.”
“And I,” Nuala said, “wish to marry him.”
“How wonderful!” Lady Orwell exclaimed.
“How very interesting,” Lady John said.
“I shall provide the flowers for the wedding!” Lady Meadows gushed.
“And I shall want to paint you both,” Lady Riordan said, pushing wild ginger hair out of her eyes.
The dowager duchess merely looked down her nose at Sinjin, while Lady Selfridge continued to glare.
“Are you quite certain, Nuala?” she said. “After all he has done…His reputation…”
“You can’t imagine what I’ve done to provoke him,” Nuala said.
“Someday you must tell us the whole story,” Lady John said.
“Yes,” Nuala said. “Someday.” She looked up into Sinjin’s face, nudging him with her arm.
Sinjin cleared his throat. “Am I…May I assume I have your permission?” he asked, addressing the room at large.
“We must put it to a vote,” the dowager said. At an unspoken signal, the ladies clustered in the corner of the room, speaking in hushed voices and casting frequent glances in Sinjin’s direction. He found that his palms were wet when the women finally broke apart and formed a line facing him, standing shoulder to shoulder like the Trojans at Thermopylae.
“We have decided…” Lady Selfridge began. Her grim expression eased. “We have decided to bestow our blessing.”
Nuala linked her arm through Sinjin’s and smiled broadly. “You see?” she murmured. “I told you they were my friends. Perhaps, someday, you may prove yourself worthy to be their friend, as well.”
Sinjin cleared his throat. He bowed to the ladies. “Thank you,” he said. “And now I think it best that Lady Charles return to her bed. My house is yours as long as you choose to remain.”
He bustled Nuala from the room before his nerve broke entirely.
“You have won the battle,” Nuala said. “Two battles. You have been very brave, my love.”
“Hardly brave. After what I did to you…”
“We can only go forward, Sinjin, remember?”
“If I could give back what I have taken…”
She stood on her toes and kissed the side of his mouth. “Perhaps you can. Perhaps a time will come when some part of my magic will return. And you will help me to use it wisely.”
“When have I ever been wise?”
“We are all of us fools, Sin. The question is whether or not we can learn from our mistakes.”
His throat tightened. “You really ought to go to bed, my dear.”
“Only if you come with me.”
“You’re not…”
She silenced him with a most passionate kiss, and he knew then that this was one spell he had no hope of breaking.
Cast of Characters
The Widows’ Club
Nuala, Lady Charles, wife of the late Lord Charles Parkhill. Formerly known as the maid “Nola.”
Deborah, Lady Orwell, wife of the late Lawrence, Viscount Orwell
Tameri, Dowager Duchess of Vardon
Frances, Lady Selfridge
Lillian, Lady Meadows
Margaret “Maggie,” Lady Riordan
Julia Summerhayes
Clara, Lady John Pickering
Related Characters
Victoria, Dowager Marchioness of Oxenham, Nuala’s mother-in-law
Christian Starling, Nuala’s first husband
Ioan Davies, a Welshman, Deborah’s friend from Whitechapel
Bray, a Whitechapel troublemaker
Mrs. Simkin, a wisewoman of Suffolk
The Forties
St. John (Sinjin Ware), Earl of Donnington
Felix Melbyrne, Sinjin’s protégé
Lord Peter Breakspear
Harrison, Lord Waybury
Achilles Nash
Sir Harry Ferrer
Ivar, Lord Reddick
Related Characters
Leo Erskine, second son of the Earl of Elston, Sinjin’s best friend
Adele Chaplin, Sinjin’s mistress
Jennie Tissier, Felix’s potential mistress
Various Ladies Sinjin Considers “available”
Mrs. Laidlaw
Lady Winthrop
Lady Andrew
Various Gentlemen at Lady Oxenham’s Ball
Lord Manwaring
Mr. Hepburn
Mr. Keaton
Mr. Roaman
Lieutenant Richard Osbourne
Other Ladies
Lady Rush
Lady Bensham
Mrs. Eccleston, matchmaking mama
Miss Laetitia Eccleston, unfortunate daughter of Mrs. Eccleston
Servants
Bremner, Nuala’s coachman
Stella, Deborah’s maid
Booth, Nuala’s maid
Harold, Nuala’s footman
Jacques, Deborah’s footman
Hedley, Sinjin’s butler
Babu, Tameri’s footman
Shenti, Tameri’s footman
Ginny, a scullery maid
Characters from the Past
Pamela, Lady Westlake, Sinjin’s late lover
Lady Shaw & Sir Percival Shaw, Deborah’s late parents
Aunt and Uncle Turner, Nuala’s late aunt and uncle
Sally, Nuala’s late cousin
Comfort Makepeace, a witch-finder
Martin Makepeace, his son
Mariah Marron, former Countess of Donnington (Lord of Legends)
Ashton Cornell, also known as Arion, King of the Unicorns (Lord of Legends)
Giles, late Earl of Donnington, Sinjin’s elder brother (Lord of Legends)
Cairbre, a lord of the Fane (Lord of Legends)
Brief Glossary:
Aesthetic: Movement of the late 19th century, dedicated to the arts, literature, decoration, and architecture. Aesthetic dress was unstructured, flowing and light, dispensing with stays, bustles and other encumbrances.
Donbridge: Principal estate of the Earls of Donnington, in Cambridgeshire
Fane: A race of immortal Faerie-folk, also known as the Fair Folk
Gladstone: British Liberal Party statesman and four-time Prime Minister
Salisbury: British Conservative Party statesman and three-time Prime Minister
Tir-na-Nog: Home of the Fane, the Blessed Land
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3878-1
LORD OF SIN
Copyright © 2009 by Susan Krinard
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
Brief Glossary:
Lord of Sin Page 28