"Just up and disown their family?"
Elise didn't care for the intrigue she read in Dawn's expression; she liked it less when she caught sight of the girl's mother picking berries. The woman smiled fondly at her daughter, then resumed her work.
"I think it's a horrible practice," Elise said. "Love between families should be unconditional. I wasn't much younger than you are when I lost both my parents to an accident. I still miss them terribly."
They reached a small stream and Dawn dipped her bucket into the water. "At least your parents didn't look different from everyone else. When we stop to perform and I get a chance to play with other children, they laugh and tease me once they realize who my parents are."
Elise squatted beside Dawn and dipped her bucket into the water. She had reacted to the sight of Dawn's parents in a way that made her feel ashamed now. She'd seen the love shining in Iris's eyes a moment ago when the woman had looked at her daughter.
"It's the other children who should be embarrassed... to be so shallow that they only judge a person by what they first see. On the inside, your parents aren't any different from other parents. Even though I've only just met them, it is obvious to me that they love you very much."
"They do," Dawn agreed, then stood, struggling with her full bucket. "But sometimes love is not enough."
Elise glanced up at the girl. "Love is everything," she said, and realized she truly meant her words. How she longed to be loved and cherished by someone. When her uncle had agreed to Stoneham's offer for her, Elise had realized that he truly did not care about her. She felt certain that Dawn's parents would never give her in marriage to a monster solely for the sake of gold.
The girl moved away, lugging the heavy bucket toward camp. Elise stared down at her own reflection in the water. Another image appeared.
"Do you really believe that?"
Sterling gave her a start. She hadn't seen or heard his approach. "What?" she breathed, glancing at him.
"Do you really believe that love is everything?"
How long had he been listening to her conversation with Dawn? "I suppose I do," she admitted. "Don't you?"
He reached down and retrieved her bucket from the water. "Love is a curse for most. Just look at Iris and her husband, Nathan, their big hearts full of love for a girl who cannot forgive their small bodies. Few people possess the ability to love unconditionally. Nowhere on earth can you learn that lesson as well as here."
"Dawn will see what is most important," Elise insisted, rising from her crouched position next to the water. "She's young and hasn't yet learned the value of love."
He reached forward and brushed a curl from her forehead. "You are the innocent. Even an animal will turn on one of its own if it senses a weakness, something different."
Flustered by his closeness, Elise said, "People are not animals."
His silver eyes stared into hers. "There is a thin line, I think."
Since he now held her bucket, Elise started back toward camp. "Maybe you spend too much time with your wild beasts and not enough time with people. I didn't notice you working among the others."
"I took the cats out for exercise."
Elise drew up short. "You let them out?"
He laughed. "They are not as dangerous as you might believe. Both have been raised by humans. Leena is fairly harmless. Raja takes more caution. He has his moods."
A shudder skidded up her spine. "My uncle wouldn't allow me to have so much as a hound for a pet. I'm not certain I like animals... or that they would like me."
"Why don't we see?"
A hint of teasing glinted within his silver eyes. Elise couldn't very well call herself an adventurer if she backed down in the face of every challenge he issued. "All right," she agreed. "Show me your cats."
Sterling wanted to do more than show her the cats. He wanted to taste her full lips again - wanted to introduce her to the darker side of lust. She affected him strangely, had from the moment he first saw her. She was beautiful, but there was more to her than met the eye.
He'd heard her earlier conversation with Dawn. Elise had touched his heart with her innocence, with her sweetness. Something inside of him had stirred. Something so far dormant. This slip of a girl from London might be more dangerous than his