To Sin With A Stranger by Kathryn Caskie Page A

“Och,” his brother said. “Why are you all pretending to be surprised? Leave a shilling on the table and Sterling will have it in his pocket just long enough for it rub another the right way and multiply.” He clasped his hands behind his head, his elbows jutting outward as he rocked backward until he balanced his entire weight on his chair’s two rear legs. “But he always makes a coin, one way or another. Have faith in our greedy brother here. He will make us all rich—from the fight at Fives Court, or through his wager to convince Miss Carington to marry him.”
    Killian’s flame-blue eyes lit into Sterling once again. “I don’t doubt you will double our allowance, brother. But I take you to task over wagering what little coin we have without discussing it with us first.”
    A steward bustled between several other crowded tables, carrying a dainty gilt chair. He gestured politely for Sterling to be seated while he hurried off to collect another porcelain tea setting.
    This momentary distraction garnered Sterling the time he needed to align his thoughts. He’d hoped he’d have at least one full day before the others learned of his wager. It was anonymous, after all. “It is a solid bet. But had I asked each of you to support it, you would have denied me the opportunity.” He waved his hand at his sisters. “Just as the three of you grimaced over the wager on my battle with the Irishman.”
    Siusan crossed her arms over her chest and raised her chin as she exchanged pointed glances with her sisters. Behind her was a most puzzling sight. A lamb walked across the green with a rainbow-hued parrot perched upon its woolly back. Sterling rubbed his eyes and focused over his sister’s shoulder again—but what he comprehended grew stranger still. In the center of the garden was an apple tree draped with a huge yellow snake. Sterling surveyed the tea garden more closely, and realized that the Garden of Eden was populated not only by London’s finest citizens taking tea, pipes, and glasses, but by an amazing menagerie of God’s creatures.
    Londoners were completely mad. That was all there was to it.
    He had no choice at all. He had to win Miss Carington’s hand and be allowed to return to Scotland. There was no way in hell he could spend his life in such a frothy town.
    “Sterling, you might have lost the battle and with it our money,” Siusan admonished.
    Sterling focused again on Siusan. “You hated that I wagered our money, you chided me for my greed, and yet none of you had any difficulty spending the wages of my sin.”
    Priscilla cleared her throat in a thinly veiled attempt to calm Sterling by drawing his attention to her. “Sterling, we appreciate what you have done to help us. I believe our foremost concern is…do we have any money
left
? Though you may not be aware of this, your upcoming battle and the interest the anonymous wager has produced is drawing the favorable attention of the
ton
, something we need as greatly as coin to redeem ourselves.”
    “Aye, we have a bit,” Sterling admitted. “Enough to house and feed us for the Season.”
    A strangled whimper slipped through Ivy’s lips, and for an instant, Sterling was not sure she even breathed. “But what about clothing and baubles?”
    Siusan glanced at the tables of matrons on either side of their own. She leaned nearer to Ivy and spoke without moving her mouth at all. “Dear, calm yourself. We are in public.” She lifted Ivy’s cup and moved it to her mouth. “Aye, the cake is a mite dry. Wash it down with some tea. Here you go.” She tipped the dish and forced Ivy to drink to stifle her panic.
    Ivy gulped loudly then, glaring at Siusan as she pushed the dish of tea away. This time her voice remained in the realm of a whisper. “How can we move through Society, making the connections we need to earn the respectability our father requires of us, without the necessary accoutrements? I tell you, it is impossible. It cannot be