Free Deceptions by Judith Michael Page B

Sabrina accepted it with a smile, in her gown of white silk and chiffon. Her slender neck rose above the triple strand of pearls and diamonds that was her husband's wedding gift; a matching strand glinunered like stars woven through her dark auburn hair. The duchess kissed her. *I don't blame Iris for capturing you for her son. I wish I'd found you first, for mine.'
    'But I captured her, you know,* said Denton. 'Mother only found her. She was looking for a desk and she found Sabrina.'
    'She found the desk, too,' Sabrina said gaily. 'I sold it to her and then she invited me to tea.'
    'Superb taste,' said Lady Iris Longworth to the duchess. 'Sabrina helped her mother furnish their home in Washington - of course, you've met her father, the under secretary of—?'
    *Um,* the duchess nodded, less concerned than her friend Iris with Sabrina's credentials.
    'Duchess,' said an impatient voice. 'Can I kiss my old Juliette roommate?' And in a flurry, Gabrielle de Martel moved forward to kiss Sabrina's cheeks. 'You look like a woman who has been swept off your feet by a handsome, debonair world traveler and bon vivant who quite properly adores you and has promised to give you a piece of the world for each birthday and Christmas.'
    'If I can't find anything better,' Denton added.
    *But what can I give you, then, except the moon?' asked Sabrina.
    'Oh, forget the moon. I wanted it once, but now I have you.' He held her hand, and Sabrina smiled at his cheerful round face and rosy cheeks and trim black mustache. His shrewd black eyes were often hard, but when he looked at her they softened and became eager. *I can't really believe even now that you belong to me.'

    The line moved on. 'Sabrina, you'll both spend a week with us at Ranstead; do say you will, I'm counting on you. We'll just be a small group, twenty or thirty, so we can really get acquainted.'
    *But we expect you at Harleton House in August, Sabrina, don't forget.'
    'Sabrina, did Denton tell you we arranged for two weeks at Colbum Abbey in September?'
    'Sabrina, have you hired a secretary yet? I can recommend—'
    'When will your London house be ready, Sabrina? I've heard such wonderful things about it.'
    'Never.'
    *1 beg your pardon?'
    'We're going to be houseguests for the rest of our lives, swooping down on great homes and castles and perching awhile and then swooping on. We have so many nests to choose from, we don't need our own.'
    Iris Longworth tapped her arm, smiling in spite of herself at Sabrina's mischievous eyes. 'You will be criticized if you jest about our friends' inviutions. They take them very seriously.'
    Sabrina nodded. 'Thank you.' She knew her voice was not penitent, but at least she hadn't smiled, even though her laughter kept bubbling up because she was having such fun. She looked down the receiving line to catch Stephanie's eye again, but Laura was between them, nodding her approval as she saw Sabrina looking her way. I've given Mother the ultimate antique, Sabrina thought; an in-law with four hundred years of lineage. Gordon was less enthusiastic; he prefened Garth to Denton. 'More solid,' he said, 'more serious.' More like himself, he meant, but he was friendly to Denton, and Sabrina felt she had finally pleased both her parents at once.
    And Stephanie? She stepped back to see her: calm, quietly friendly, as six hundred strangers greeted her and commented on her remarkable likeness to her sister. Gabrielle had reported that she was chatting comfortably with some of England's riciiest women about her two babies, life in a Chicago suburb and her husband's latest research grant.
    S6

    Beyond Stephanie, Sabrina saw Garth watching her with a curiosity he made no effort to hide. She knew what he was thinking and gave a Uttle smile, as if to apologize, before turning back to the guests.
    Garth moved back from the receiving line to lean against a window. He was trying to fit his memories of Sabrina with this stunning, vibrant woman, shimmering in the mist of her