Earl of St. Seville by Christina McKnight

Author:Christina McKnight
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: 0
Published: 2018-03-20T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Patience couldn’t help but smile, nor did she attempt to hide the bounce in her step as she alighted from her carriage and started toward the door to her family’s townhouse. There had been so many emotions—grief, loss, heartache—coursing through her when she arrived at Southlund’s House. She’d despaired at the thought of making it through an entire morning of training without breaking down in tears before the earl. However, she’d done it. The hours had flown by as if they were only minutes.

Caution had been cast aside as she was wont to do, and she’d taken a risk.

And, perhaps because of it, she returned home with a newfound sense of contentment. A weight had lifted from her shoulders. The pain of losing her mother still burrowed deep in her heart; however, something akin to…hope?...blossomed, as well. It was shocking that a few hours spent at Southlund’s House could cause such a transformation within her.

She’d faced a huge hindrance she’d avoided since her mother’s death—with Sin by her side, though he wasn’t aware of it—and she’d survived. Thrived even. Southlund’s House belonged to her and her family, and Patience had proven, even if only to herself, that she could return to the place her mother cherished, find meaning and understanding in the sport her mother loved, even if her goal in life was to end what her mother held so dear. She’d pledged to herself and her family that she would never venture into the building again, that she’d spend her life until her final breath, speaking out on the dangers of pugilism. If her mother had known the risks and ailments she faced, would she still have loved the sport?

Patience was uncertain. Her mother had always been a woman free from the oppression that many people were crushed under due to their social class—she’d been raised in the poorest area of London and taken up a career no society lady would ever dare. The Countess of Desmond hadn’t allowed anything to hold her back. Perhaps Patience was more akin to her mother than she’d realized.

If nothing else, she’d been overwhelmed by her mother’s presence in the large building. She’d even found that she still relished the physical activity pugilism demanded of her body. The give and take. The side-to-side movements. The exertion necessary to tire your opponent.

The hours had passed with a swiftness that surprised Patience as she and Daniels sparred, leaving Sin to stand at the edge of the ring and watch until it was his turn. And he’d been a formidable partner, to be certain, yet once she began her sparring with Sin, she’d found herself transported back to their time in his private chambers. The way his bare skin had rippled under her touch. She’d been as distracted as he claimed to be when she threw the crushing blow to his jaw. She hadn’t meant to injure him, and she’d been going easy with her jabs and punches the entire match. She knew he’d done the same, both frightened of harming one another.

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