The Earl's Secret by TERRI BRISBIN

Author:TERRI BRISBIN
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2007-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

He wanted to break something, but the glass, as it shattered against the back wall of the fireplace, was not nearly as satisfying as he’d hoped it would be. David thought to throw another, but knew it would not settle the anger and frustration within him.

When Lady MacLerie told him Anna’s whereabouts, he thought to have a bit of light conversation and apologize for being forward outside the theater. And perhaps to entice her to another outing before the next essay was published and hostilities increased. But from the moment he entered the room and saw her at work on some task or another, he wanted to remove the frown from her forehead and put the sparkle back in her eyes.

The sight of his article there, and knowing that she worried over it, took his breath away. David wanted to take her in his embrace and soothe all her concerns. He wanted to make promises to her that he had not thought to offer a woman before.

Bloody hell!

Every promise he’d made to himself about not being drawn into anything more than a gentlemanly concern for her was blown apart at the very sight of her in distress. As she opened herself to him, offering an explanation of her noble actions and intentions, David realized that the woman who so affected him would be horrified by the sins of his past.

The irony of it was not lost on him. The Earl of Treybourne, one of the most eligible marriage catches in all of society, one of the wealthiest men in His Majesty’s kingdom, had committed the one sin that the courageous Miss Fairchild would condemn him for out of hand, and even worse, he conjectured, it would be a far more grave offense in her view than the charade he was performing.

He had taken advantage of a housemaid.

A housemaid who became pregnant and was turned out for doing so.

A girl who then died giving birth to his child.

David reached for the whisky and filled another glass to near the rim. He drank almost all of it down in two gulps, letting the powerful brew burn a path to his gut. Penance, if nothing else, for his sins.

In spite of his efforts since then, in spite of the good he tried to accomplish, he could still feel the shame when the extent of his actions and their terrible repercussions finally sunk into his brain. Even now, with the whisky pulsing through his veins, he could not delude himself into thinking that Sarah had truly had any choice. As Anna had pointed out, girls like her would hardly be able to raise any objection without losing their position. Their living.

He’d liked Sarah. It wasn’t all about taking advantage, he could now think to himself. David enjoyed every moment he spent with her, whether enjoying her favors or her quick wit and humor. Perhaps that was what saved him and allowed him to realize the wrongness of his actions when he discovered her fate.

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