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A sudden noisefrom somewhere a fair distance awaybut even so, all too near

"Did you hear that?" she asked, clutching hilass jolted theain his feet, then extended a hand to help her do the saar the noise was never an option Whatever disturbance had occurred, it would no doubt require one--or both--of them to sort it out Their idyllic interlude was over Duty called

Bram had his breeches refastened in a own

"I canher head toward the unknown source of the co out froreen

There, in the lane between the All Things shop and the Blushing Bull, or the Rutting Pansy, or whatever it was called tonight--a small crowd had for, Bram suspected fisticuffs had broken out

He pushed his way to the center, eager to break up the fight before any e could be done, to bodies, property, or morale Much as he’d hoped to imbue his men with a bit of red-blooded combative spirit, it wasn’t meant to be directed within the ranks

However, he didn’t find any of his men at the center of the circle

He found the boys Rufus and Finn, rolling around on the ground Scrapping but good, with fists swinging--and teeth and knees involved, too By the looks of the scene, they’d tuh the tea shop’s frontShards of broken glass and bits ofleading covered the ground

"Dodgy bastard," one of the twins spat A trickle of blood from his temple made it hard to tell which one

"Shite for brains," the other replied, reversing their positions and landing a punch to the gut "We’re twins If I’m a bastard, you’re one too"

"You’re the only one what’s a lying sculass crunched beneath them Time to put a stop to this, Braht twin--he still didn’t knohich--off the other "That’ll be enough, you two What’s going on here?"

"Rufus started it," one said, pointing

"Aye, but it’s Finn’s fault," the other shot back, dabbing the blood at his temple

Well, at least now Bram had their identities sorted out He turned to Rufus "What happened?"

Rufus glared at his brother "He lied to Miss Charlotte, he did Danced with her twice First, as hied his ear and grinned "You’re just sorry you didn’t think of it"

"I’ll pound you, you little--" Rufus lunged, but Bram held him back

"Hold there," he said "Both of you" Once he had both boys by the collar, he cast a glance at Charlotte Highwood, who looked as excited as any fourteen-year-old girl could be about having two boys fight over her attentions She surely wasn’t going to be of any help in cal the

Bram knew he had towouldn’t be tolerated "Now, listen," he said sternly, giving each boy a rough shake "This isn’t seemly behavior for two--"

"Help! Oh, help!"

They all turned toward the frantic female voice

The ladies clustered in the entry of the tea shop-turned-tavern Miss Diana Highwood sat slu for breath Her coers were curled into hwood said, her hands fluttering "Oh dear Oh dear This wasn’t supposed to happen here Miss Finch promised Spindle Cove would be her cure"

Susanna was already there, one hand soothing the gasping woman’s shoulder "Her tincture," she said calmly "Where is her tincture? She keeps it in her reticule"

"II don’t know It ht be inside, or at the inn, or" Charlotte paled "I don’t know"

"Search inside," Susanna told Fosbury "The tables, the floor, the pianoforte" To a few of the other ladies, she said, "Go search the Highwoods’ rooms at the inn"

Once these runners had been dispatched, she caught Rufus’s eye "I have a spare batch in ht side of the top shelf You and Finn run as fast as you can to Su it back"

The twins nodded and dashed off down the lane

"Let o instead," Bram said

She shook her head "They need the distraction" Her gaze flicked to Braht And Brao for a doctor?"

"No," she answered firh doctors And there’s no proper physician for miles, at any rate"

He nodded and stepped back Damn it He would never shy from a battle He’d accept any risk to his own life, if ithe could do to help Susanna right now, and the feeling ate hiht months of convalescence, it was that he didn’t cope ith helplessness