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‘I don’t understand,’ she whispered. She was near tears again. She swallowed hard to stop them. Crying was the lowest type of female trick. She would not give in to it with Sam, no matter how much she hurt. ‘If you love me …’
‘It is not love,’ he said with finality, cold and professional again. ‘I doubt I am even capable of the feeling. Marry St Aldric. Be safe and happy. But for God’s sake, woman, go away and leave me in peace.’
He stood and grabbed her, but it was not for another kiss. Instead he hauled her up off the floor and spun her away from him. Then he opened the door and pushed her through it and out into the hall.
The oak panel slammed behind her.
Sam looked wildly around the room, searching for the bottle that he had already packed. Rum. Stinging, harsh, and nothing like her kiss.
Nothing he had seen in his studies at land or at sea could explain the feelings coursing through him now. None of it explained the demon that possessed him, that made him want the one woman he could not have.
Don’t miss this sensational new Regency duet from Christine Merrill
THE SINNER AND THE SAINT
Brothers separated at birth, brought together by scandal
From the birth of a secret to the death of a lie, two brothers have been torn apart. While the Duke behaves like a saint, the doctor believes himself a sinner.
And only a scandal can bring them back together.
THE GREATEST OF SINS May 2013
Look for the second in the duet Coming soon
About the Author
CHRISTINE MERRILL lives on a farm in Wisconsin, USA, with her husband, two sons, and too many pets—all of whom would like her to get off the computer so they can check their e-mail. She has worked by turns in theatre costuming, where she was paid to play with period ballgowns, and as a librarian, where she spent the day surrounded by books. Writing historical romance combines her love of good stories and fancy dress with her ability to stare out of the window and make stuff up.
Previous novels by Christine Merrill:
THE INCONVENIENT DUCHESS
AN UNLADYLIKE OFFER
A WICKED LIAISON
MISS WINTHORPE’S ELOPEMENT
THE MISTLETOE WAGER
(part of A Yuletide Invitation) DANGEROUS LORD, INNOCENT GOVERNESS PAYING THE VIRGIN’S PRICE* TAKEN BY THE WICKED RAKE* MASTER OF PENLOWEN
(part of Halloween Temptations) LADY FOLBROKE’S DELICIOUS DECEPTION† LADY DRUSILLA’S ROAD TO RUIN† LADY PRISCILLA’S SHAMEFUL SECRET† A REGENCY CHRISTMAS CAROL
(part of One Snowy Regency Christmas) TWO WRONGS MAKE A MARRIAGE
*Regency Silk & Scandal mini-series †Ladies in Disgrace trilogy
And in Mills & Boon® Historical Undone! eBooks:
SEDUCING A STRANGER
TAMING HER GYPSY LOVER
VIRGIN UNWRAPPED
TO UNDO A LADY
Did you know that some of these novels are also available as eBooks? Visit www.millsandboon.co.uk
AUTHOR NOTE
To give my hero Sam Hastings a chance to use a stethoscope I had to set this story after the Napoleonic war and hope that he might have picked one up from a French ship while serving in the navy. In England, such a thing would have been unheard of, and Sam’s would have been quite a novelty. While the one I give to Sam is a wooden tube, the very first one was nothing more than a rolled up piece of paper.
Rene Theophile Laënnec was the French physician who discovered that it was possible to listen to the heart through a tube. Before him, doctors would either place their ears directly on the patient’s chest or pound their backs with a hammer and listen to the resonance. In 1816 poor Rene was called to treat a buxom young lady with a heart condition. He was too embarrassed to place his ear directly on her chest, and improvised a paper tube to listen through.
And thus one of the most commonplace pieces of medical equipment was invented.
The Greatest of Sins
Christine Merrill
DEDICATION
To James: who is living in interesting times.
Chapter One
Sam was coming home!
They were such simple words to have such an effect upon her. Evelyn Thorne put a hand over her heart, feeling the frenzied beat of it at the thought of his name. How long had she been waiting for his return? Very nearly six years. He had gone off to Edinburgh when she was still in the schoolroom and she had been planning for this day ever since.
She had been sure that, following his education, he would come back for her. Some day, she would hear his light, running step on the boards of the front hallway. He would shout a welcome to Jenks, the butler, and make a joyful enquiry about her father. There would be an answering welcome call from the office at the head of the stairs, for certainly Father would be as eager to hear what his ward had made of himself as she was.
After the greetings were done with, things would return to the way they had been. They would sit in the parlor together and in the garden. She would force him to accompany her to balls and routs, which would all be less tedious with Sam there to talk to, to dance with and to protect from the marital ambitions of other girls.
At the end of the Season, he would return with them to the country. There, they would walk in the orchard and run down the path to the little pond to watch the birds and animals, lying on the rugs that he would carry, eating a picnic from a basket that she would pack with her own hands, not trusting the cook to reserve the choicest morsels for a man who was not ‘truly a Thorne’.
As if to reinforce the thought, Mrs Abbott cleared her throat, from the doorway behind her. ‘Lady Evelyn, would you not be more comfortable in the morning room? There is a chill in the hall. If there are guests …’
‘It would be more seemly to be found there?’ Eve completed with a sigh.
‘If his Grace were to come …’
‘But he is not the one expected, Abbott, as you know full well.’
The housekeeper gave a slight sniff