Read Online The Sinner by Madeline Hunter - Free Book Online Page B

marriage suited him because it left him free. That dark edge had bared itself this morning on the way to the church. No doubt he had been contemplating the potential restrictions on his pleasure if she did not behave as promised.
    An alien pain stabbed at the thought of those hands on another woman’s face. Soon, she had no doubt. She scolded the silly jealousy away. She had no right to it, and succumbing would only make her ridiculous.
    Still, she had experienced something in that church that she had not expected. She had been given a taste of what some other women knew on their wedding day. She had felt a glimmer of the consummate intimacy that the true joining of two hearts and bodies could create.
    She suspected that she would lick at the sweet memory of that moment for a very long time.
             
    When they arrived in Newcastle they took a late luncheon in the Versailles’s elegant restaurant. While Fleur nibbled her cold beef she kept looking past Dante’s shoulder curiously.
    “Does that dark-haired man back there know you?” she asked. “He keeps glancing our way.”
    Dante twisted to see a man his age reading a newspaper while he worked his way through a plate of cakes. “That is Ewan McLean. We were at university together. His estate is north of Berwick.”
    “Why hasn’t he greeted you?”
    Dante knew why. “Excuse me, while I go speak with him.”
    He walked over and took a seat at his friend’s table. “Are you giving me the cut, McLean?”
    McLean’s black eyes twinkled. “Just trying to be discreet, Duclairc. If you came all this way north, I assume that the lady does not want to be recognized.”
    “Not discreet enough. She noticed you noticing.”
    McLean’s face broke into a roguish smile. “Very lovely. She looks familiar but I cannot place her.”
    “Fleur Monley.”
    The smile fell in astonishment. He peered Fleur’s way more obviously. “
No
. I’ll be damned. You devil. If you are discovered it will be your undoing. I should upbraid you for corrupting an innocent, but instead I am moved to admire your audacity.”
    “Miss Monley and I have just been married.”
    McLean displayed genuine shock. “Say that you jest. You have no business getting married, and you damn well know it. We simply are not the type, Duclairc. Not to mention that if you have tied the knot, my visits to London promise to be considerably duller. I had planned one in a week, but if you have been domesticated there is no point in going.”
    “Your heartfelt congratulations touch me.”
    “Forgive me. Of course I am delighted for you. She is quite a catch and I only wish for your happiness. You must excuse me if I see this in symbolic terms that do not bode well for me, however. It is one of those watershed moments of history, like the Vandals conquering Rome. An era of pleasure is ending before my eyes.”
    “Well, compose yourself and come meet her. You are the first to know, by the way.”
    “You eloped? Stupid question. Of course you did. Even independent women have someone looking out for them that the likes of you and I would have to dodge.”
    He brought McLean to Fleur and introduced them. The Scot showed more tact in congratulating her.
    “You are on your way back to London?” McLean asked, making himself comfortable in a spare chair and sending for his cakes. He pressed one on Fleur.
    “We had planned to stay the night here at the Versailles first,” Dante explained. “However, they are full, so we will find another hotel.”
    “I would say that is unlikely. Haven’t you noticed how crowded the city is? A huge wedding is to be held tomorrow. The joining of two great coal families. Everyone in the north country has come for it. I doubt that you will find a stable with space to lay your head tonight.”
    “I suppose that we could push on until we are outside the city,” Dante said. “Could you manage that, Fleur? You have been in a carriage for three days and I know that you must be