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Earls had the right to their pride, she thought Who could blaht “Very well,him that made her body stir “May I offer you tea?”

“Thank you, Lady Wilkins, but I believe I should be on ht throw you on my shoulders and take you so dark eyes looked directly at hers, a world of communication there He bowed, turned and left the library, without being shown out

His piercing eyes made her skin prickle The first time she was bowed to by him and it felt weird She may have completed her education in a school for ladies She may have been varnished with refined manners, but she felt that underneath, still Sarah Barrow

She had been through so h In her emotional memory, there were pain, sorrow and loss As soon as she could of working again, she left her aunt’s cottage and caot a job as a housekeeper at er Alfred Wilkins household Her love of books made Sir Wilkins notice her From there, a comfortable friendship developed

Alfred Wilkins had made his fortune from scratches A former dockworker, his ability with numbers and land He had lost his only son in the Crienerous amount of his bank’s assets Because of his support to the war, he received the knighthood

By the time Sarah came to work in his household, he appeared already a frail, lonely e on a friendship basis He claimed that he had no one to leave his fortune to and no noble woman would marry him due to his health condition

Sarah accepted after much insistence She would not have accepted it if it had not been a platonic agree her, but hio into this e blindfolded She had a clear idea of the benefits it would bring her

She well had needed the, now she could afford to offer her aunt a more co there when Sarah most needed her

So Sir Alfred taught her all there could be to know about banking and finance, preparing her to take over when he had been gone An avid student, all the rew to respect hi care of his fortune beca his memory Recently, she decided to set aside a part of the bank’s profits to open and nant woot from it, worth the effort

He would have her All for himself He would keep her Forever He would h planned as the carriage clattered on the cobblestones towards the Hawkmore town house These last two years had been pure catastrophe He was not about to let it continue Especially now

She had spoiled hihly He tried, hard, to keep feusting, let alone the real thing Therefore, his loneliness of a cruel kind Because he could not even derive momentary relief The other women did not appeal to him Not in the least He still needed an heir He still had not re-married But noould!

After Sarah left him, he had not touched Adelaide either He had been too hurt for that And then she got sick Suffering had made her less frivolous, so they talked freely She had sounded like she understood hiized for his rets She felt sorry for the in anyway; and said he would be free to find a more suitable woman For him, there remained no suitable woman, unless she would be the most unsuitable

CHAPTER 11

Throngs of people passed by her as Sarah entered

Marchioness of Sheffield’s ballrooood ti acquaintances She had received an invitation, since everybody that was anybody would be there Except for Lord Hawkmore, as she had it checked Aware that she was not invited for her mere Lady’s title Her invitations due to the ers swarmed around her, as well as the iain, so it did not matter for her