The Seduction by Laura Lee Guhrke

Author:Laura Lee Guhrke [Guhrke, Laura Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Romance, Historical, Victorian, Historical Romance
Amazon: B005JUPW0O
Published: 2010-02-14T08:26:30+00:00

13

They left Sora early the following morning. In addition to his usual load, Hadrian was given another burden—a burlap sack stuffed with all manner of food from Sophia's kitchen. Trevor told Margaret the Italian woman had packed them so much they could probably get to Algiers before they ran out of food.

Sophia and Gustavo had tried to refuse payment for their hospitality, but Trevor somehow managed to convince them to accept five hundred lire.

"So, what tall tale did you give them this time?" Margaret asked as Trevor turned the stallion onto the road south, where the tumbled blocks and broken columns of an ancient Roman villa lay scattered amid the brown weeds and new spring grass.

"Why, Maggie, what do you mean?" he asked innocently.

She wasn't fooled. "If we were beset by bandits, how did we have the money to give them?"

"Oh, that. Well, we did manage to escape on one of their horses, remember? The bandit just happened to have a bit of money in his saddlebags."

"How fortunate for us," she murmured dryly. "What a cool liar you are."

"It's a harmless lie," he told her as he stared at the road ahead. "They'll never know the truth of it, and they deserved the money. Are you saying I shouldn't have given them anything for their kindness?"

"Of course not. It's just that I'm continually amazed at how conniving you can be. I think you could convince anyone of anything if you set your mind to it."

"Not anyone," he countered wryly. "I didn't manage to convince you to marry me, did I?"

"You didn't even try. You just said it, as if it were a foregone conclusion."

"What should I have done? Knelt before you and asked for your hand, assuring you that my mummy approved of you, and waxing poetic about how much society would envy us?"

The vision of Trevor on bended knee prattling on like Roger was too much. She burst out laughing.

"I take it that wouldn't have worked," he said, laughing with her. "So, tell me, what would a man have to do in order to win you? What horrible ordeals would you put him through? Would you expect him to come charging in on his white steed, slay the dragon, and carry you off to his castle?"

She pretended to seriously consider that notion. "Well, yes, that might do the trick."

"No, it wouldn't. I've already done that, and I don't see you smothering me with affection as a result. But then, Hadrian isn't white, Emilio is a snake, not a dragon, and, as for your castle"—he gestured to the ruins around them—"it's not much, as castles go. The roof leaks."

Margaret's laughter faded into silence. She bit her lip and stared at his back, appreciating the truth of what he said. His motive might not have been a very chivalrous one, but he had rescued her. "I never thanked you for that, did I?" she asked, feeling contrite. "I'm sorry."

"Forget it. I don't want your gratitude."

She took a deep breath and asked the question uppermost in her mind.

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