Page 17 of Marriage with a Proper Stranger

Her father’s neutral expression turned dangerous. She should not be poking the bear with a stick, but she neared the end of her rope. “You are becoming far too bold and outspoken. As it happens, I have made progress. A few more visits and the chit will agree to marriage, I am sure of it. I want you gone, and you’re to take that nosey maid of yours when you leave.” Her father sliced his roast beef. “Sutherhorne assures me he will be obtaining a special license in order for the marriage to take place immediately.”

Oh, no. Sabrina stood, nearly knocking the chair to the floor. “I believe I will take a breath of air before the sun sets.” She did not wait for her father to dismiss her or even comment before she hurried to her room.

Mary was there, placing clean undergarments in one of the bureau drawers. “Make haste, gather my cloak. I must see if Mr. Black has returned from his journey.”

“Yes, of course, my lady.” Mary hurried to the wardrobe and fetched the gray wool cloak. “I did find out a little about the schoolmaster. I’m not exactly sure where he hails from, but his late mother was Irish, and his father works in a factory. If he owns the factory, no one is completely sure.”

Sabrina had already guessed about the Irish part, seeing his first name was Riordan. Mary slipped the cloak over her shoulders. “The young lady your father is presently courting is the second daughter of the Duke of Carlton. Talk is, she is rather plain of features and her father is eager to marry her off.”

The poor young woman. Sabrina had half a mind to write her and warn her away from her father, but it would jeopardize her own plans. Or would it? Once her settlement money was safely tucked away, she could drop an anonymous note. “Mary, you are a treasure. Start gathering our possessions, pack the trunk. We may be departing sooner than we’d planned.”

“Right away, my lady.” Mary tossed her own cloak across her shoulders.

“I do not need a chaperone.”

“So you keep telling me, but I’m coming anyway. Let’s slip out the side door.”

They quietly padded down the main staircase and entered the library. The oncoming dusk caused shadows to dance across the hardwood floor. Opening the French door, they clasped hands and crossed the threshold, scurrying to the wooded area that acted as a border between the baron’s land and the school.

“His cottage is about half a mile beyond the school.”

Mary tsked. “Let’s hope there are not any wild creatures about, my lady. I don’t like the dark, let alone the woods.”

The last thing Sabrina worried about was roaming or feral animals. What if Riordan Black told her no? Where could she turn?

“Speaking of wild creatures, who is that?” Mary whispered. She pointed to a large man with shoulder-length red hair unloading pieces of furniture from a flatbed wagon. “He is quite a specimen, built like a Viking of old,” Mary murmured, admiration in her tone. “All that is missing is a sword and a fur cape.”

“How do you know what a Viking looks like?” Sabrina whispered in return.

“I read romance adventures. You should give them a try, my lady. They are a pleasant escape from life’s vile tasks.” About to answer, her breath caught in her throat when Riordan emerged from the cottage. He laughed at something the red-haired Viking said to him, and Sabrina found herself enchanted by Riordan’s warm and friendly smile. With a confident stride, he moved to the wagon and lifted a small table onto his shoulder, then headed toward the cottage.

“Well, my lady. I don’t believe I’ve seen you react like this to a man before, if you don’t mind me saying.”

Sabrina schooled her features to show complete indifference, but Mary had already seen her reaction. Her face flushed. Her breath caught. She tingled all over from the glorious sight of him. Why deny it? “What am I to do? I should walk away right this minute. I have no right to find him…him…”

“Handsome? Full of youth and vitality? Virile?” Mary interjected.

“Mary!” she admonished in a fierce whisper. But he was everything she’d described and more. Honorable, kind, capable.

“The young maids were right, my lady. He is lovely,” Mary murmured, laying a hand on Sabrina’s arm. “Better him than a mummified marquess. Who says this has to be temporary?”

“Mary!”

Her maid shrugged. “Are you going to talk to him?”

Not if there was a stranger with him. Who could the man be—a family member? “Not tonight. Not with the Viking there. I’m to see him tomorrow during the luncheon break at the school. I will speak to him then.”

Linking arms, they turned and headed toward the woods and the baron’s property. Sabrina sighed wistfully. Who says it has to be temporary? Mary had asked. But it must be. Keeping an icy wall about her heart had been the only way to protect herself from the constant hurt and disappointment she’d endured throughout her life.

No man, no matter how attractive or compelling, could be allowed to breech her frosty defenses; she had spent too many years constructing the barriers. Sabrina turned and took one last longing look as Riordan exited the cottage to unload additional items from the wagon. Oh, how he fulfilled all her youthful dreams of a heroic suitor. But those foolish imaginings had disappeared years ago and had no business rearing their heads at this stage.

She would remain resolute. Brave. No matter what he told her tomorrow she would continue to hold the reins and direct her own future. Yet a tiny part of her, a part she thought long dead, yearned for love. Ached for a man to hold her in his arms and whisper all will be well. Hungered for a man to take her to bed and show her all the ways a woman could be thoroughly satisfied and loved—for she knew nothing about it. Did not even know it existed. Except in the books Mary read.

No one would know of her secret longings. Especially a handsome, principled schoolmaster with a sensual mouth and sky-blue eyes.

Chapter 8

“I thought you did not need a chaperone, my lady?” Mary asked as they hurried through the woods.