The Bride Price Read Online Free Page A

and—” She waved a hand in a fatalistic manner. “I tried to beg him to revoke his blessings, but you know how I freeze up so terribly. He just patted me on the head and said the games were designed to weed out the unworthy. Only a true gentleman could win.”
    “A true gentleman.”
    “Yes.” Sarah tugged at the bow on her dress, mangling it further.
    A man who was good at shooting, boxing, gaming, and wenching could easily fulfill the terms of a “true gentleman.” Not the type of man who was generous and understanding, courteous and patient. A man like Sarah needed. Someone who could bring out her gentle spirit and appreciate her kindness.
    “This competition will bring the winner a fortune, not just from me. That’s part of the reason the King agreed to it, outside of his ties to the group. The monetary rewards are a joint offering from all the men sponsoring the tournament, and it ‘promotes good English stock and fun.’ The winner will be”—Sarah waved her hand again, then dropped it to her lap—“celebrated and titled. Prestigious . A connection Father covets, like every other man of the ton .”
    “Yes, but—”
    “Father is so pleased ,” she whispered.
    “Well, that is hardly—”
    “It’s so hard, Caro.” Fingers wrung the blanket. “Your parents loved you unconditionally, even when you went against them. But it’s so hard to please Father. And the diamonds fairly sparkled this year before they were snatched up. There were so many on the mart at the beginning of the season. I thought myself a fairly decent catch before I left, especially with your confidence behind me. But the competition…I was just lost in the shuffle. And without you—”
    Sarah’s voice lowered. “You know there is no way for me to make a powerful marriage otherwise. I need Father’s help. I’m just not—”
    Caroline tipped her chin up. “You are a wonderful woman, Sarah. The right man will see that. You need to see it.”
    Sarah bit her lip, tears shimmering in her eyes.
    Caroline steepled her fingers on the table, anger at the ton and at the earl battling with the need to comfort Cheevers’s daughter. “We’ll just have to run away, nothing for it.”
    She grabbed a pen and a piece of paper from a neatly stacked pile. “Find some handsome prince for you. Perhaps a solid businessman for me.”
    Sarah choked.
    “Shall we go to France?” She tapped the table. “No, too continental. India?” She wrote it down. “Plenty of tea, but too dangerous.” She crossed it out. “Spain?” She pretended to think on it. “Too hot.”
    Sarah cracked a smile and resumed sipping her tea.
    Caroline leaned back in her chair. “America? Too colonial, I think.”
    Some of the tension left Sarah’s shoulders.
    She picked up the teapot again, not giving away the fact that she was only half joking. Sarah was her sister in everything but the eyes of the world. If the competition turned out to be disastrous, despite the ill-suited nature they both possessed for running away, and their limited funds, Caroline would attempt to smuggle her out of the country.
    “Well, until we can come up with the perfect destination, let’s see what we can do about this competition. Illegitimate children and latter-born sons, hmmm…”
    “Hungry, to the last.”
    “Do you know any of them?”
    “A few. But they are mostly rogues and rakes and men not interested in wallflowers. There are fifteen of them.” She rattled off a few names that Caroline recognized from notes, the London sheets, and the earl, but few that she could identify by face, never having had a season herself.
    “In a few days most of them will be here to look over the documents.” Sarah’s voice grew weary. “Lady Tevon has been trying to drum excitement into me. She would be overjoyed to share all she knows—I know Father has told her everything. She sleeps in his room, though they think I don’t know.” Caroline blinked, momentarily sidetracked by