CHAPTER EIGHT
By the time Sebastian reached the town of Barriston, both he and his horse were exhausted. He felt as though he might fall from it with every stride the creature took, while his horse was lathered in sweat, ridden far too hard for far too long. Sebastian had changed mounts a half dozen times at coaching inns along the way, but even so, he knew that he had pushed this one close to its limits.
He’d hoped that he might overtake Sophia on the way, but it seemed that with her head start, even the narrow width of his mother’s domain was too much to cover before she made it to the town.
Barriston. Sebastian looked at it from the top of a rise leading down to it, and his first impression was of a large brown stain on the landscape. Unlike Ashton, which had long since spilled past
