SARAH SLID INTO HER SEAT AT THE RAKE Patrol meeting, her eyes filled with sad portent. “Who’s back?” Faith asked. “Ashton?” Edwina whispered, interpreting Sarah’s sympathetic gaze. Dread filled her. She’d hoped never to experience this moment. When no letters arrived, no explanations, she’d hoped he had left forever so as never to remind her of all she’d lost. Sarah nodded. “He placed that same ad in the personals. He said this time it was for himself.” “When?” Her lip trembled so fiercely, her voice sounded like a death knell. One would have thought that he’d come to her first, not to the Mayfair Messenger. “Oh, Edwina. He had the most terrifying expression. I’d suggest we engage the Rake Patrol to stop him if I wasn’t afraid he’d murder one of us first. His hands shook. I don’t think he’s shaven for days. He had the most awful scowl.
