Seductive Lies (Secret Lives Series) (30 page)

It had helped
Ewan had become more patient with his wife, which held him in better stead with Harriet. If not a perfect marriage, the two had a better understanding of what their life together entailed and seemed content with the arrangement.

From the corner of her eye, she saw her husband walking tow
ards her. Her heart stirred. She felt a twinge of guilt for being so completely happy. After all they had endured, they had survived…and thrived. She knew now what it was to live one’s life for the other. It was how it was and how it would always be between the two of them.

Harriet could never explain the connection Arthur and she had to another. Clarissa told her that they were fated to each other. Harriet supposed it was the simplest explanation. Perhaps it needed no explanation
, as with her visions…

There had been no visions since that night, only a vivid dream of Vadoma
shortly after her aunt’s death. The gypsy stood on the edge of the cliff in a cloud of mist. Holding her arms out for Harriet, she smiled broadly. Vadoma took Harriet’s hands in hers.

“You have done well, my child. The evil is asleep.”

“I don’t understand, Vadoma. I don’t understand why…how. Tell me,” Harriet pleaded. “Who are you?”

“I am who
you need me to be,” Vadoma said solemnly. “You ask for something that cannot be given. Understanding comes from within…it comes with faith.”

“It is over then
?” Harriet asked.

Vadoma said nothing. Releasing Harriet’s hands, she stepped back into the mist and faded away. Harriet stood alone
on the cliff with the water crashing over the rocks below her. Before her, the fog lifted and the sun shone down on the endless ocean.

Harriet woke with a sense of completion, if not an understanding. She could not worry about what lay ahead of her in this life. Life was meant to be lived in moments. The good and the bad…each needed to be experienced. Now, though, Harriet would not be alo
ne. Arthur was there beside her to give her strength to face whatever life held for them both.

Arthur strolled up beside her. “Are you ready, my love?”

“Yes, it is time to go home,” she agreed and laid her hand on his arm. She paused a moment. Gazing up at her husband, she said, “You know I love you.”

Arthur nodded and smiled down at her. “Forever, I’m told.”

The End

Enter A World Filled With Romance

Seductive Secrets by Colleen Connally

Book One, Secret Lives Secrets

Someone wants Alyce Hythe dead…

Shunned from London society for being the daughter of England’s most notorious spy, Alyce Hythe desires only to clear her father’s name. For years, she has been hidden away from all prying eyes, given a new identity and told to forget who she was. But strange things have been happening, causing old rumors to once more be whispered.
 

Long has Lord Julian Casvelyn lived with guilt brought on when his brother was murdered by England’s most infamous traitor. But one eventful night has changed everything Lord Julian believed about his brother’s death. Never did he suspect the woman he has just saved from certain harm is the daughter of that man.

Now Julian is caught in the midst of a conspiracy and desire for that woman. Thrown together by fate, the two search for answers long denied them and along the way discover a love that can free them both.

EXCERPT

Ju
lia
n
woke
a
brup
t
l
y
.
He
c
ou
l
dn’t
g
e
t
t
o
h
i
s
po
c
k
e
t
w
atc
h
t
o
s
e
e
t
he
tim
e
w
it
h
h
e
r
i
n h
i
s
a
r
m
s.
Li
ght
w
a
s
br
ea
k
i
ng
t
hrough
t
he
c
ur
tai
n
e
d
w
i
ndows.
M
orn
i
ng
h
a
d
d
a
wn
e
d.
H
o
w
l
ong
t
he
n
i
ght
h
a
d
b
ee
n.
He
l
ook
e
d
down
upon
t
he
wo
m
a
n
i
n
h
i
s
a
r
m
s.
She
s
le
pt
s
ound
l
y
a
g
ai
nst
h
i
m
. S
t
r
a
ng
e
l
y
,
he
t
ook
c
o
m
fo
r
t
i
n
t
he
t
hough
t
.

It
w
a
s
not
of
te
n
he
h
el
d
a
wo
m
a
n
su
c
h
a
s
t
h
i
s
i
n
h
i
s
a
r
m
s.
T
o
m
ost
w
o
me
n
L
ord Ju
lia
n
C
a
sv
el
y
n w
a
s
c
ons
i
d
e
r
e
d
a
r
a
k
e
.
A
lt
hough
e
v
e
ry
s
ea
son,
one
m
o
t
h
e
r
or
a
no
t
h
e
r
s
e
t
t
h
ei
r
ca
p
for
h
i
m
a
s
a
catc
h
for
t
h
ei
r
y
o
ung d
a
ugh
te
r.
E
v
e
r
y
y
e
a
r
he
d
i
s
a
ppo
i
n
te
d
t
hosepoor
Mo
m
ma
s.
H
e
h
a
d
no
i
n
te
n
ti
on
of
pursu
i
ng
on
a
n
i
nno
ce
n
t
.
In
due
time
,
he
wou
l
d
do wh
a
t
w
a
s
prop
e
r,
m
a
r
r
y
a
nd
produ
c
e
a
n
h
ei
r,
but
t
h
a
t
tim
e
h
a
d
not
c
o
m
e
.

A
l
y
c
e s
ti
rr
e
d
i
n
h
i
s
a
r
m
s.
He
l
ook
e
d
down
upon
h
e
r
a
nd
s
he
s
nugg
le
d
cl
os
e
r
t
o
h
i
m
. She
w
a
s
a
n
i
nno
ce
n
t
.
Of
t
h
a
t
he
h
a
d
no
doub
t
.
S
he
h
a
dn’t
a
cl
ue
t
o
t
he
d
a
ng
e
r
of
b
ei
ng
i
n h
i
s
a
r
m
s
a
t
t
h
i
s
m
o
m
e
n
t
...of
h
o
w
h
i
s
d
e
s
i
r
e
s
h
a
d
b
ee
n
rous
e
d.
He
shou
l
d
h
a
ve
s
ai
d
no
t
o h
e
r
w
h
e
n
she
a
sk
e
d
for
h
i
m
t
o
ho
l
d
h
e
r,
but
he
h
a
d
l
ong
s
i
n
c
e
l
ost
c
on
t
rol
of
t
he
s
it
u
ati
on.