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smile."
"I suppose it was," she admitted, noticing that his eyes were smudged with the shadows of lost sleep.
"You were right about a few things," Perry said, surprising her by dropping on his knees before her.
Carefully he took her hands. "Mother will not approve of our union, not at first. But she'll get used to it
after a while. It's possible you and she may even become friends someday." Sara began to reply, but he
gestured for her to wait. "You were right about something else, darling.
It is wasteful not to take love when it's within my grasp. I do want to be with you." He held her hands
tightly, looking into her flushed face. "I love you, Sara. And if you'll have me, I would like for us to be
married in the spring."
"Yes, yes!" Sara left the chair and flung her arms around his neck, nearly toppling them both over in her
excitement.
Laughing and kissing her, Perry tried to hush her exclamations. "Quiet, darling, or we'll wake your
parents."
"They probably have their ears pressed to the door," she said, tightening her arms in a stranglehold. "Oh,
Perry, you've made
me so happy."
"You've made me even happier." They grinned at each other, and Perry stroked the wild tendrils of her
hair.
"Come back tomorrow morning and talk to my father," Sara urged. "It's only a formality, but it will please
him."
"Yes, and then you'll come with me to break the news to my mother."
"Ugh," Sara couldn't resist saying.
He gave her a reproving glance. "If you approach her in a spirit of love and goodwill, she'll reciprocate in
kind."
"All right," Sara said with a grin. "I'm so happy I'd be willing to kiss the devil hims "
Perry didn't seem to notice the odd catch of her voice. Nor could he know the cause of it.
They talked for another minute or two. After they exchanged a few hasty kisses, Perry left the cottage.
Sara's mind buzzed
with strange, fearful notions all the while, but she concealed her turmoil until he was gone. Then she let
herself think about the flashing memory ... Derek Craven's snarling grin, his dark head bending over hers.
She exhaled unsteadily, feeling as if she
were being haunted. It must not happen again. She must drive every thought of Craven out of her mind
forever. He had said
he would forget her. Bitterly she wondered how he intended to accomplish that, if it would be easy for
him ... if he would turn
to another woman.
It was ridiculous, letting herself brood over a man like him. What had gone on between them was finished
and the episode
had been so brief, really, it had all been like a dream. Perry was real, and so was her life in Greenwood
Corners. She would content herself with family and friends, and embark on a future with a man who
loved her.
* * *
"I still can't bring myself to believe our young Mr. Kingswood finally came up to scratch." Mrs. Hodges
shook her head with a smile, watching as Katie cleaned the grate for her and Sara piled kindling in her
kitchen fireplace. Because Mr. and Mrs.
Hodges were elderly and Mr. Hodges had bouts of rheumatism, they sometimes required help with their
household chores. Dusting her prized kitchen dresser with its display of pewter and china, Mrs. Hodges
spoke in jovial tones. "Heaven's sake,
I'm surprised his mother allowed it." As she saw Katie and Sara's guarded expressions, her smile faded
and her round cheeks sagged with dismay. She had meant to make them laugh. Instead she seemed to
have touched on a sore point.
Sara broke the tension with a shrug. "Mrs. Kingswood had no choice in the matter. And she seems to
have reconciled herself
to the idea. After all, she can hardly fault me for loving Perry."
"That's right," Mrs. Hodges agreed quickly. "It will do both the Kingswoods a world of good for Perry to
take a wife of his own. Martha nearly ruined that boy with her spoiling, if you ask me."
Biting off a heartfelt agreement, Sara hung freshly scrubbed pots and kettles on the fireplace bracket. A
frill of lace hovered
just above her eyebrow, and she pushed it back irritably. At Perry's urging she had gone back to wearing
her lace caps, but
they no longer seemed to fit the way they once had. She walked over to the stone-paved sink in order to
wash her sooty
hands and arms, shivering at the icy gush of water from the pump.
"That girl isn't afraid of work," Mrs. Hodges said to Katie. "She's nothing like the rest of these flighty
village chits, with nary
a thought in their heads but how to dress their hair and make eyes at the men."
"Sara has a pair of able hands and a quick mind," Katie agreed. "She'll be a good wife to Perry. And a
blessing to his mother,
if Martha will allow it."
Mrs. Hodges watched Sara closely. "Is she still insisting that you and Perry live with her after the
marriage?"
Sara's back tensed. She continued to rinse her hands until they were white and numb. "I'm afraid so," she
said evenly.
"We haven't resolved the issue yet."
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