Free A Matter of Sin by Jess Michaels Page A

a question you are dying to ask me.”
    His mother smiled. “Of course I do. And you probably know exactly what it is, don’t you?”
    He looked at her. She was still the same woman who had loved and raised him. She even looked the same. Time had grayed her hair a bit and lined her face here and there, but it hadn’t changed her at her core. Except for one thing: her eyes.
    Since his brother’s death, those bright eyes had never regained their luster. They were always sad in a way that nothing would ever change or cure completely.
    “Seth?” she pressed, her brow lowering in concern.
    He smiled and patted her hand to reassure her. “I may not know your exact question. However, I would guess it has something to do with the passel of young ladies who have been gathered here for my approval.”
    His mother laughed. “I believe they must approve you as well for any match to truly work. Though anyone who wouldn’t approve of you is a madwoman and wouldn’t be right for our family.”
    Seth set his cup down. “You may be a bit biased.”
    She shrugged. “So what if I am? That is a mother’s prerogative.” She sipped her tea. “But I do admit, I’m curious as to your thoughts on the young ladies. Are there any prospects amongst the throng?”
    Seth stifled the sigh that escaped his lips whenever he thought of his potential brides.
    “They are all very lovely,” he said before he took a sip of tea.
    His mother set her cup down and stared at him. “‘Very lovely’,” she repeated. “Come, Seth, do not wax poetic. Your enthusiasm is almost overwhelming.”
    He couldn’t help but laugh at her deadpan humor. “I apologize, Mother, for my out of control emotions.”
    Her smile faded. “Truly, is there none here to tempt you?”
    Seth lifted his gaze to her face. There was an anxiety there. A concern he couldn’t deny or tease away. It was the same anxiousness he felt in his own chest with each passing month that he did not find a proper bride. He had a duty to perform, after all.
    And yet duty wasn’t what came to mind when his mother asked about a woman to “tempt” him. No, his thoughts turned, quite against his will, toward wavy auburn locks and soulful brown eyes, not to mention lips that had burned against his in that one stolen kiss.
    “Seth?” his mother asked, her voice intruding upon his thoughts, perhaps thankfully.
    This was a mistake, but he was bound to do it anyway.
    “Mother, what do you know about Lady Avenbury?”
    His mother’s expression turned to one of confusion.
    “Isabel?” she asked with a shake of her head. “Not very much. She was married to Lord Avenbury since she was quite young. She raised her half sisters, much to her credit, after the tragic death of her parents. I have always liked her.”
    Seth nodded. These were things he already knew, though perhaps hadn’t pondered to any great detail. “I see.”
    His mother stared at him. “Are you—are you asking because you have an interest in her sister, Lady Serena? She is a lovely girl, but I admit I wouldn’t have thought she would catch your attention.”
    “She hasn’t,” Seth mused, his mind still on Isabel. “I’ve barely thought of the girl.”
    His mother was silent for a moment as she took her tea back up and absently stirred it. Her lips were a thin line of worry as she stared at him, analyzing as she always did.
    “I’m beginning to think that holding this gathering wasn’t a good idea,” she said softly. “Your brother hasn’t been gone long and—”
    “Over a year,” he interrupted, though there was no need. Seth was fully aware that his mother knew exactly how long Kenneth had been gone, to the day, the hour, Lord, probably to the minute.
    “Yes,” she said softly. “But you put so much pressure on yourself. Too much.”
    Seth shrugged as he pushed to his feet and paced his mother’s chamber slowly. “A great duty has been laid out at my feet, Mother. Do I not owe it to the family and to the