Perfect in My Sight Read Online Free PDF Page B

awhile to think. He cast his head back, as though to gaze
     up at the ceiling in contemplation. Sarah tried to remain sober at the sight of him. “ Do you have a little boy of your own? ” he asked next, surprising her with the question.
    Sarah smiled again. “ Why, no, I don ’ t. Nor a little girl, though I wish very much that I did, ” she confessed.
    “ Then why don ’ t you get one? ” he suggested with the innocence of a child.
    Sarah laughed at that. “ Well, it is not quite so simple as all that, I ’ m afraid. ”
    “ Why not? ” he persisted, and Sarah caught herself before she could glance up into his father ’ s face.
    She wasn ’ t even certain why she was compelled to, and the realization perturbed her.
    She frowned. “ Because I don ’ t wish to marry, is why. ”
    “ Oh, ” he replied, and seemed to ponder that an instant, before asking, “ Why not? ”
    “ Christopher, ” came a woman ’ s voice from behind them, her tone full of censure.
    Sarah started at the sound of it.
    Christopher quieted for a moment and then asked, “ Do you smell funny ? ”
    Sarah ’ s brows collided. “ Do I smell funny ? ”
    Peter Holland covered his mouth with his hand and tried not to laugh, Sarah noted. “ I think he is wondering if you wear perfume, ” he clarified.
    Oh! Good Lord, but they begin so young. “ Just a bit, ” she replied . And it was her turn now to ask, “ Why, Christopher? ”
    “’ Cause I don ’ t like it! ” he answered fervently.
    “ I see. ” Sarah bit her lip. She could not laugh at his disclosure, even though she truly wished to.
    “ That is because you are much too young to appreciate it, ” t he woman at the door announced somewhat defensively.
    Sarah was plagued with curiosity now. Christopher seemed reluctant to speak again.
     Nor did she fail to note the uneasy silenc e that had fallen over the room—u ntil Peter Holland ’ s deep baritone spoke to breach it.
    “ Miss Hopkins, ” he said, “ please mak e the acquaintance of my sister. .. Miss Ruth Holland. ”
    Sarah didn ’ t dare search out the woman ’ s visage. She lifted her chin, closed her eyes, and listened for her voice.
    “ Very good to meet you, Miss Hopkins. ”
    Sarah blinked at the tone of her voice: cold disapproval. But why?
    Why the instant dislike?
    “ Au contraire ,” Sarah answered, smiling, “ the pleasure is all mine. ”
    “ Yes, well... I shall leave you to your interview. Please forgive the interruption.
     Peter, ” she said, dismissing Sarah rudely, “ I shall see you at dinner. I should love to hear about the remaining applicants. ”
    Peter said nothing in the uneasy silence, bu t then he replied, “ I shall be out this evening, Ruth. Dinner engagement... business, so it will simply
     be you and Christopher tonight. ”
    “ I see, ” Ruth answered, her tone clipped and cool. “ Very well, then. Perhaps tomorrow. ”
    And then Sarah heard her departure, soft footsteps for one with such a bold presence.
     She waited for them to ebb completely.
    “ Did I do something wrong? ” she asked . “ I ’ ve the impression she has dismissed me already. ” Sarah didn ’ t have to pretend disappointment. If Peter Holland tu rned her away now ... her chance to discover the truth would be gone forever. The thought aggrieved
     her enormously.
    “ Not at all, ” Peter assured. “ My sister does not run my household, Miss Hopkins. ”
    Sarah sensed in the pause that ensued that he would have liked to say more on the
     subject, but he refrained.
    “ In fact, ” he continued, “ I think you are precisely the candidate I am seeking. If it suits you, the position
     is yours. ”
    Her stomach lurched. She was both thrilled and terrified at once.
    Sarah wasn ’ t certain she could do this, and yet she must—every word, every action, she would
     have to scrutinize, but the end would be worth the means.
    She straightened her spine. “ It most certainly does suit me, Mr. Holland!