Sarah's Duke: and Ellie's Gentleman (The heir and the spare, book 1) Read Online Free PDF

Sarah told her mother this in a matter of fact tone, trying not to be overly emotional about it. She was still in shock and could not believe that a man had really tried to force her to couple with him.
    “And... ah... you know what he was trying to do?” Her mother looked down at the carpet on the floor. Was her mother really wanting to talk about this now?
    “Yes Mamma.” She had a few married friends in her town and she had coaxed the bare facts from them. She knew he had wanted to put that male part of himself in her female parts. It sounded horrible, in truth.
    Her mother’s head shot up, a mixture of alarm and surprise showing on her once beautiful face.
    “How?”
    Sarah shrugged, washing her breasts for the hundredth time that night. They still felt unclean.
    “I asked Mary for some of the details.”  Mary was one of her married friends and quite a gossip. “And Mamma, I have to say, it sounds horrible. Do I really have to do that when I marry?”
    Her mother blushed so red that Sarah was afraid she had finally done what she always thought was going to be her greatest achievement, rendering her mother mute.
    “Time for our tete e tete, then.” Her mother sat down on the bed again and Sarah sunk lower into the warm water, giving her mother her full attention.
    “It does sound horrible when described, I suppose, but it is how God designed us to make children. Therefore, it should be a natural thing between a husband and his wife.”
    Really? She didn’t think so.
    “But doesn’t it hurt?”
    Sarah thought back to her conversation with her friend Mary. She didn’t say it had hurt, but the look on Mary’s face had not inspired confidence.
    Lady Collins blushed again and Sarah smiled up at her. Goodness, her mother was almost forty. Sarah would have thought that she had outgrown blushes by now.
    “It does to start with because your body will not be used to it, but if your husband is careful with you, and loves you, it can be quite... ahh... enjoyable after a while.” At this last revelation her mother dropped her eyes to her hands.
    Sarah’s head swung around to her mother’s face, she almost sputtered. “Enjoyable?” Then reminded herself that her mother had more knowledge on the subject than she had.
    Sarah digested this new information carefully. Thinking of her future spouse, she could only picture one man. If Oliver was her husband, he would be careful, she knew. And if her mother was correct, then the experience’s pleasure largely depended on the man.
    “Then we’ll have to choose well, Mamma,” Sarah told her mother, with a smile, finishing the embarrassing conversation, more for her mother’s sake than her own.
    “I’ll leave you then, Sarah. Take rest and sleep well.”
    She smiled at her mother as she moved towards the door.
    “Thank you Mamma. Good night.”
    The door shut with a soft click and she stood up carefully, shivering slightly as the now cool water ran down her body.
    Sarah stepped out of the tub, dried herself with the towel left by the servants and stepped closer to the fire to warm her as she put on her night gown.
    Sarah fell asleep as soon as her head hit her pillow, too emotionally worn out to stay awake any longer.
    *****
    Sarah spent most of the next day thinking about what she really did want from her life and the person who she might share it with. What sort of man did she really want to marry? Which man did she have to marry to give her siblings a future?
    Dressing for another   ball the following evening caused excited butterflies to flutter around Sarah’s belly. Her lady’s maid coaxed her naturally curly hair into the ringlets that were loved by the fashionable ton and pulled her laces tight. Sarah had a decent bosom, neither too small nor too big. Looking down at herself, Sarah observed that her bosom seemed to suit her body shape and she thought they were quite pretty, as far as breasts went. Hopefully her future husband would feel the same way.
    Her