Emma Lane by Dark Domino

Chapter One
    E THAN W ALKED Q UICKLY T HROUGH the orchard. There was a sound of pitiful sobbing, but it was muffled and difficult to locate. He stopped to look carefully around through the branches of the fruit trees and finally spotted a dangling bare foot. Clasping a branch, he swung into the boughs of the tree, wondering briefly if it would hold the two of them. He wedged himself firmly against the trunk and held out his arms. Sarah Louise threw herself into them with a watery cry while he snuggled her close and patted her on the back.
    “Why, why? Why do they hate me so much?” Sarah clasped his shirtfront and wept copiously into it. Ethan smothered a smile. Sarah Louise was prone to dramatics, but he knew her anguish was real.
    “I know you hate the idea of a finishing school for ladies, Sarah,” he began, keeping his voice soft and soothing. He was not surprised to notice that she had purloined her brother’s clothes again — all except the shoes. She had obviously dispatched with them altogether.
    “You could marry me! You know you could. I love you with all my heart!” She turned a pert-nosed face up to his, tears still running down her cheeks. Her blue eyes were swollen from crying, but her freckled face was familiar and dear. He handed her a clean white handkerchief and watched her blow her nose. Still sniffing, she gave it back to him.
    “I do love you, sweetling. You are most precious to me. But you already know all the arguments. Fourteen is much too young for marriage. Your mother is right. You need to be introduced to the company of your own gender. You and I — we have enjoyed the delights of the country. You have been my best fishing partner. Our rides were delightful and exciting. You probably have the best seat in the country, but you are never cautious. That trick you pulled trying to stand up on a bare-backed pony was the worst.”
    “I did not know my mother was watching!” Sarah seemed to feel that was all the explanation needed. Ethan tried and failed to suppress a chuckle. Sarah threw back her head and glared. “You are laughing at me!”
    “No, no. It was a glorious trick. If your mother had not screamed, I am sure you would have succeeded.” He would not admit how his heart had almost stopped when she tumbled from the white pony’s back and lay crumpled in the grass.
    “I saw them do that trick at Astley’s last year when we were visiting Aunt Susan. It was a most amazing sight.” She grinned with the memory, and he smiled with her.
    “I know. But will you promise me you will not try it again? You scared that pony half to death.”
    She nodded and frowned again. “When do you leave?” she asked. She settled her back against the trunk of the tree. Ethan scanned her face to record it well in his memory. Her tangled and sun-streaked blond hair was curling around her shoulders, which were covered by a rough leather vest.
    “The day after tomorrow. Shouldn’t you be home packing for your trip in the morning? I know your mother is looking for you, and she sent me to find you. She is upset because you are reluctant to leave for school.”
    “She called me a hoyden and said it was time I put up my hair and became a lady. As if that would somehow make me a different person.”
    Sarah ran her hands underneath her thick curls, held them up, and then let them fall in a luxurious cascade. Ethan held his breath, then let it slowly out. He could see clearly the beauty she would become soon, although he knew how she would resent the change. He smiled at her, saying farewell in his heart.
    Yes, he could marry her. Her parents and his would approve the match in spite of her tender age, but he could not do it. He would not leave her a young widow. If he did not die on the battlefield, he could be gone so long his dear friend would be grown up and married. Probably with a pack of unruly children who fished and climbed trees like their mother. His heart suffered a sharp pang at the thought. Was