To Sin With A Stranger Read Online Free PDF Page B

that Sterling Sinclair, the Marquess of Blackburn, is the most ill-mannered man in all of England.”
    “I heard about your encounter with him at the Pugilistic Club.” Christiana covered her mouth with her gloved hand and laughed. “Why, pray, would you ever decide that entering a gentlemen’s establishment, a sparring studio where men are often half naked, would be a prudent thing to do?”
    Isobel shrugged. “It was impulsive. I do not need to be reminded of my folly. I saw gentlemen of Society crowding into the Pugilistic Club—and I knew that while so many widows’ and orphans’ stomachs were empty, these men were heading into a club to throw away money as though it meant nothing! The thought even angers me now.”
    “Well, what did you receive in exchange for your daring?” Christiana raised her eyebrows as though to wait for a reply, except she didn’t bother herself with the waiting part. “Nothing,” she said abruptly.
    “Not true.” Isobel smirked. “The Widows of Corunna Charitable Foundation received a tidy donation the very next day. Someone in the club heard me. Someone with heart—even if he hadn’t the sense not to frequent the Pugilistic Club.”
    “Well, your father must have forgiven you.” Christiana leaned close to Isobel and lowered her tone so that no one nearby would hear her next words. “I suppose requiring you to attend this ball was your father’s punishment.”
    “He has yet to learn of that particular indiscretion.” Isobel glanced at the doorway again, then back at Christiana. “I do wish the Sinclairs would move farther into the assembly room, so my father and I may pass through the doors without their notice!”
    Christiana redirected her gaze toward the door. “Hmm. The fighter is watching you.”
    “I know.” She fought the urge to look up at him. “Which is why I must leave, directly.”
    “Oh, Issy, what I wouldn’t trade to be you tonight.” Christiana clasped her hands over her heart. “He is so beautiful…but so broken. It’s every woman’s dream, to heal a man with her love.”
    Isobel wrinkled her nose at Christiana’s nonsensical fantasy. “What are you prattling on about? Is it not evident that I despise that man?”
    “How can you when you’ve heard about the Sinclair family?” Christiana’s lips turned downward, and she clasped her free hand over her heart dramatically. “It’s really quite tragic.”
    Isobel shook her head. “I do not know what you mean.”
    Christiana’s eyes went as wide as the mouth of a goblet, and she pulled Isobel with her into the nearest corner of the assembly room. “Truly, you have not heard?”
    “I vow, I have not.” Isobel tried to pull away, but Christiana tugged her back.
    “I must tell you then. Why, it may change everything.” Christiana turned her head and nodded toward the Sinclairs. “They are known as the Seven Deadly Sins.” It appeared to Isobel that her friend was trying very hard not to show her glee in being able to share a juicy bit of gossip with her.
    “What do you mean?” Isobel could not help but mentally count the number of Sinclairs standing near the doorway.
Seven.
    “It’s true. Word over scandal broth is that the Duchess of Sinclair died birthing the twins, Lord Killian and Lady Priscilla. It is said that their father mourned deeply, finally retreating to the comfort of drink, and for years allowed the seven children to run wild, do whatever they pleased.”
    Isobel lowered her head. She well understood losing a mother and the devastating effect death can have on what is left of a family. Heat needled the backs of her eyes. Unbidden, her mind recalled the night her mother had slipped irretrievably into grief—and, by her own hand, had put an end to her pain and sense of loss, forever.
    “Before long, all of Edinburgh Society referred to the ill-behaved Sinclair children as the Seven Deadly Sins.”
    “That’s horrible. They’d lost their mother…and their father to