Page 29

Sara wandered through the remains of the kitchen garden. At the front of the house, a door closed and she heard the clop of hooves. James had a dinner engagement tonight. He’d be with ladies and gentlemen of his own circle. Where he belonged.

So why did she feel so... bereft? She had to stop yearning for things that could never be.

She flipped up the broad tattered leaves of the Brussels sprouts, one of the last traces of summer’s bounty.

Rows of sprouts lined the stem, fresh and green, protected from wind and ice.

She was safe now. She had a family, of a sort. It was enough.

She pushed the spade into the ground with a mighty shove of her foot, turning over a massive clump of soil with a satisfying thud. Scraping away the mud, she uncovered a few straggly carrots that she put in a bucket for washing. She’d need to return to the house soon. But not yet.

She regretted lingering a moment later when a man appeared in the mews behind the house. It wasn’t James nor Andrew Ridley. He stopped and looked over the fence, his pale, icy eyes intent. Stephen Osgoode.

Her legs tightened, urging her to run, but he’d already opened the gate and taken a step in her direction. “Good afternoon,” he said. “Miss... O’Connor, is it?”

She ducked her head, wishing she had her mobcap to hide beneath. “Mr. Kinney just left, sir. Would you like to leave a message?”

He walked toward her, his steps leisurely. “It’s not Mr. Kinney I’m here to see. To tell the truth, I’ve been waiting for him to leave.”

At his words, Sara’s head jerked up. There could only be one reason he wanted to see her. He knew.

He laughed softly at her expression. “Yes. I’ve figured it out.

” He moved forward and she took an unconscious step back, her shoes sinking into the mud of the garden.

“Can’t imagine how Andrew hasn’t. Only.

..” He reached forward and lifted her chin with one long, elegant finger, his eyes roaming over her face and then down, skimming her body with insulting thoroughness.

“Yes, I suppose you have changed a fair bit from that girl in the schoolroom.”

Sara jerked her chin out of his grasp, resisting the urge to wipe away the traces of his touch. He reminded her of a reptile basking on a rock, his eyes flicking back and forth, taking in her every movement. As though he were looking for a place to strike.

“What do you want?” She forced calm into her voice.

“Ah, straight to the point. In that, you’re like your father.” Sara pressed her lips together, refusing to confirm his suspicions. He sighed. “I see you’re going to make this difficult. I thought we could... renew our acquaintance.”

“We have no acquaintance.”

“I beg to differ.”

She darted a glance over her shoulder, contemplating the possibility of flight. But what if he followed her to the kitchen? Spoke to Mrs. Hobbes? “I’m needed inside,” she said finally, deciding to risk it. “I shouldn’t be out here, talking to a strange man.”

“Worried about propriety?” He glanced at the house, then back at Sara. “I find that hard to believe. You wouldn’t believe the rumors flying about James Kinney and his lovely new governess.”

She gasped. “They’re not true.”

He held up his hand. “Come now, we both know the truth matters very little. It’s what people think is true that counts.” His voice lowered. “I’d be willing to wager Kinney doesn’t know the truth about you .”

Sara feigned nonchalance. “What does it matter to you?” Letting Osgoode know he’d got to her was a fatal mistake.

“It doesn’t.” His voice was smooth as silk and just as cold.

“It’s none of my affair if Kinney wants to discredit himself and bring disgrace upon his daughter.

” An insincere note of self-righteousness surfaced in his voice.

“But as your father’s friend, I would be remiss if I didn’t try to effect a reconciliation between the two of you. ”

Reconciliation. She stuffed down the flicker of hope the word engendered. It wasn’t possible. “If Papa wanted a reconciliation, he could have found me any time these past ten years.”

Osgoode ignored her words. “I have a plan that will set everything to rights.” He rested one foot on the seat of the garden bench, leaning on his knee with the confidence of a pirate who’d captured a ship.

“We’ll go to your father together. Tell him you’re a widow now and seek his forgiveness.

” He waved a hand at the Kinney house. “No need to mention too much about all this.”

“No.” If she ever did face her father, it wouldn’t be at Stephen Osgoode’s side.

“Come now, Sally.”

She inhaled sharply. She hadn’t answered to that name in years.

Osgoode straightened, seeming to enjoy her discomfort.

“Your father might be a strong, unforgiving sort of man, but with me at your side, I think he’ll come around.

” He smiled, a cool, calculating curl of his lips that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Especially when we announce our engagement. The perfect joining of two Tory families. Just what this colony needs to stay strong.”

Sara studied him beneath lowered lashes.

It was like she’d gone back in time. Twelve years ago, he’d wormed his way into her father’s good graces and warned him of the brewing romance between his daughter and the stable boy.

Together, they’d decided she should marry Osgoode.

She’d had no voice. No choice. No one to listen to her side of the story and trust her words.

Now, his eyes held the same hard gleam. He wasn’t about to give up until her father’s business and her inheritance were in his hands. But she was no naive seventeen-year-old. He wasn’t going to destroy her life a second time.

She cocked her head, tilting her chin up to show she wasn’t intimidated. “I’m not going anywhere with you, Osgoode. Goodbye.”

He reached out his hand and gripped her shoulder, his fingers biting through her gown. “I wouldn’t be so hasty.”

She squashed a flash of fear, remembering the stinging slap she’d dealt him all those years ago, the look of frustrated rage on his face when she’d refused his unwelcome advances. He wouldn’t forget that scene. He wasn’t a forgiving man.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said, seeming to read her thoughts.

His grip on her loosened, his hand sliding down her arm in what could only be called a caress.

It made her skin crawl. “We’ll be married, and all will be forgiven.

” His voice turned low, cajoling. “You’ll live in comfort for the rest of your days. ”

She shook her head, jerking her hand away from his grasp. She was twenty-nine years old, she reminded herself. He couldn’t force her into anything. “Go away.” She hated the fear in her voice, the cold panic that swept over her at his touch.

Her words did nothing to dissuade him. “I’d think twice if I were you.” He moved closer, his voice lowering to a hiss.

Sara shuddered. She knew from bitter experience how Osgoode made good on his threats. When she’d run away with Colin, Osgoode retaliated by turning Colin’s dream of owning his own livery into ashes, bringing on years of frantic work and worry that pushed Colin into an early grave.

His eyes hardened. “You think you can worm your way back into society, but you can’t. Not without me.”

She shook her head, the movement so forceful that a few strands of hair loosened from her tight bun and fell forward over her face.

“I have no intention of entering society. I just want to be left alone.” She wished she could mask the note of pleading in her voice.

There was no purpose hoping for Osgoode’s compassion, for it was an emotion he didn’t possess.

He ignored her protest. “I can destroy Kinney’s reputation.

It won’t be hard. You’ve already done most of the work.

A few well-placed remarks will turn speculation into scandal.

That Scot is barely hanging on to the fringes of good society as it is.

” He reached out, wrapping one of the loose strands of hair around his finger with a painful twist. “You stay here, and you’ll ruin him, and his daughter, too. ”

Osgoode was a powerful man in Toronto society. She didn’t doubt he could sabotage James’s career if he set his mind to it. She couldn’t allow that to happen, not when she could prevent it. “You don’t need to say anything. I’ll... I’ll go.”

“Excellent.” He looked down at her stained gown with a frown of distaste. “Run and change your dress and we’ll be on our way.”

Sara’s anger flared hot and bright. “I didn’t say I’d go with you .” She’d never put herself in this man’s power again. “I’d rather be on the street than wed to you.” She’d go back to Irish Town, find some way to—

“Don’t be such a martyr.” Osgoode’s voice was impatient, calling her back to the present like a slap.

“Kinney has secrets of his own, you know.” She looked at him.

Did he mean Amelia? “He’s considering marriage, has he told you that?

No?” He sneered. “I heard your father has a lady picked out for him. A Miss Wilson. Highly eligible.” He smiled then, a menacing curve of the lips that chilled her.

“Though, whether she’ll have him after I’m done with his reputation is another question. ”

The back door slammed. Sara jumped but Osgoode merely turned to the sound, his movements as unhurried as ever.

“Miss O’Connor?” Mrs. Hobbes moved out onto the back stoop, her mouth set in a disapproving line. “Evie’s ready for you to check her lesson.”

“I’ll give you a night to think it over.

I’m sure once you have a chance to consider.

..” His voice trailed away, but he kept his gaze trained on her, his eyes as hard as diamonds.

She shivered and he smiled. “I’ll be back for you, Sally.

” He tipped his hat and strolled back down the mews as though he hadn’t a care in the world.