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Page 180

| Anyhow, wasn't this her objective? To prove to him that she did not care for him in the way that she had so carelessly led him to believe? |

| Until she could learn to trust again, this was the only way it could be. |

| Perhaps she could at least pull some answers out of Stanford about his relationship with Ashton. She might learn at least about Ashton's past. Until she had seen the scar on his face, until he had behaved so strangely around Stanford Sidwell, she had not even wondered about his past. Now she wanted to learn everything about himenough to prove to her whether or not he could be trusted! |

| She wanted so badly to cast aside all her doubts and give herself to him whollyto be his wife, to shed all doubts and wonder, would make her the happiest woman in the world. |

| A sound outside in the distance, like rolling thunder, drew Sasha's eyes to the open door. Her heartbeat quickened when she realized this was the sound of many horses and they were approaching The Homestead. |

| "Stanford?" she whispered to herself, placing a hand to her mouth. It was time for him to arrive, but why would he not be arriving alone? Surely he would come for her in a buggy. |

| Gathering the hem of her skirt up into her arms, her shawl draped loosely around her shoulders, Sasha hurried onto the porch. There she saw that the fortress fence that was only half finished did not stop at least twenty horsemen from riding on through the opened gate, stopping only a few yards from the house. |

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