Silk and Shadows(17)

Sara's fingers tightened in the stallion's mane as she had a disquieting realization. From the beginning she had noticed how attractive the Kafir was—no woman could fail to notice—but her admiration had been dispassionate. Though Peregrine was splendid and beautiful and masculine, that knowledge had had no personal relevance to her. She was the daughter of a duke, respectably betrothed, of sober mind and habit. Yet here she was in the arms of a man who was in most ways a stranger, and she was reveling in the experience. There was a profound sensuality in their closeness, in the way their bodies moved together in time with the stallion's. It was the greatest physical intimacy she had ever had with a man. What would it be like to have still greater intimacy?

Though Sara had never considered herself a prudish woman, the direction of her thoughts made her blush. What a shameless creature she was becoming! Thank heaven the prince thought of her only as Ross's cousin. Though he had been kind about her disability, he did not seem like the sort of man who would be attracted to a plain woman who was no longer young. But he seemed willing to be friends. That would be more than enough.

Peregrine turned to go back. "Will you ride again now?"

Without his comforting presence, it would be difficult at first, but still Sara nodded her head. "Yes. I have missed riding. I don't want to continue missing it."

"There was a pretty little sorrel mare back in the yard, a fine ladies' mount. Shall I buy it for you?"

"No!" she said sharply. "I couldn't possibly accept such a gift from you."

"What would happen if you did?" he asked with his usual air of curiosity. "You would be disgraced? Ostracized? Refused admittance to the queen's drawing rooms?"

As they halted at the edge of the park and waited for traffic to thin, Sara gave him a steely glance. "This time you will not be able to coax me into relenting. I neither need nor desire that mare, nor will I accept such a gift from you. Is that clear?"

A wide, slow smile spread across his face. "Perfectly clear, your ladyship. I know when to yield to superior force."

Laughing, they rode back to Tattersall's. Lady Sara delighted Peregrine with both her open mind and her occasional stubbornness. While his primary goal was to separate her from Weldon, he hoped that he would also be able to coax her into his bed. It would be a rewarding experience for both of them.





Chapter 4





The day after his excursion to Tattersall's, Peregrine met Sir Charles Weldon for dinner at the City of London Club. Benjamin Slade had said that this particular club was one where leaders of commerce mingled with the top men in government and society; Rothschilds rubbed elbows with prime ministers. Even without that explanation, Peregrine would have known why Weldon patronized the place, for the lofty, dignified building reeked of money, power, and genteel ruthlessness.

In the days since their first meeting, Peregrine had tempered and buried his fury, and now he could meet his enemy with complete composure. In fact, he found the situation stimulating, like playing chess or some other war game. Weldon's objective was simple: to convince a foreigner to invest money. Peregrine's goal was much more complex; he wanted to foster a spurious friendship with his enemy. Then he would be in a better position to know Weldon's weaknesses, and to exploit them.

They spoke of trivialities over the lavish and lengthy dinner, then withdrew to a quiet corner of the smoking room and settled down in leather-upholstered wing chairs with port and cigars. "If you want to invest in this country, Your Highness," Weldon said as he trimmed the end of his cigar, "I don't think you can do better than to put your money in railroads. Within the next decade, they will revolutionize modern society. Great fortunes have already been made in railway companies, and more will be made in the future."

"Great fortunes have also been lost," Peregrine pointed out. An important move in the game was to prove that he was not a rich fool fit only for fleecing. "A couple of years back, there was something of a mania for railway stocks. Then the bubble burst and most of the prices collapsed. Too many small, badly managed companies were fighting each other, building duplicate tracks, wasting their capital, promising service and profits they couldn't deliver."

Weldon raised his brows, a respectful look on his face. "I see that you have studied the subject. Yes, the industry is currently in a state of reorganization while investors wait and see, but capital is accumulating. In another two or three years, there will be an outburst of investment and building that will make the last mania look tame. For those with the courage to invest now, there will be great profits."