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"What? God, no" Better? Bram didn’t know a soul alive who could best Susanna for cleverness, courage, beauty, passion, or generosity of spirit A better woman didn’t exist

"Ah, so you’re scared"

"I’m not scared"

"Of course you are You’re human We’re all scared, every last one of us Afraid of life, of love, of dying Maybein neat rows all day distracts you frooes down? We’re all just stuht" Colin downed another swig of wine, then stared at the bottle "Excellent vintage Makes ent You could beof your life, you know If you weren’t so deter with your fortune"

"Don’t speak to ifts, Bram If that woman loves you, and you toss that awayI don’t ever want to hear another ‘life lesson’ fro away But I don’t know that she loves me"

"Please" Colin waved the wine bottle at him "You’re rich, and now titled as well Granted, there’s that stiff knee to contend with, but you do have all your own teeth" He raised an i handsomely sized male equipment runs in our family line"

Braly "It doesn’t?"

"It does"--Bram made a fist--"not matter"

This was absurd Since when did his cousin dispense witty aphorisms and advice? Damn it, Bram was supposed to be the voice of wisdom in this relationship "No matter how many inches are in a man’s trousers, no matter how many pounds are in his bank accountthose nuht And htfully "Well, Lord Elevated-to-the-Peerage-for-Valor, here’s a wild notion If you want to know if Miss Finch loves you, have you considered taking a fir her?"

Bram just stared at hi away in the direction of his tent, Colin waved a dismissal "If you’ll excuse me, a warm bed awaits"

"There’s a faster way, Charlotte," Susanna said, tugging off her gloves and gently nudging the girl aside "At this pace, you’ll be here all day"

Charlotte and a few of the other ladies had been spending every afternoon rolling black powder cartridges However, thetheir daily marksmanship drills, the women had scarcely been able to keep pace With the review scheduled for to, Suazine, amid all the preparations for the officers’ ball There was si too e sheets of paper down to size I found long ago that the pages of this"--she flung a blue leather-bound book onto the table--"are the perfect size"

Charlotte stared at it "But Miss Finch, that’s Mrs Worthington’s Wisdom"

"Oh yes It is"

"But you said it was a very useful book"

"It is a useful book It’s the perfect size for propping open s Its pages ood for the occasional laugh Beyond that? Don’t ever pay it athe volue at random and smoothed it flat on the table "First,within reach and at the ready" She skipped her fingers over each item "Paper, dowel, balls, powder, thread Roll the paper around the dowel, for, "and then use the ball to push the dowel through When the ball’s coood twist Then pour the powder"

Clasping the paper-wrapped ball between her fingers, she filled the rest of the slender tube with black powder, leaving a half inch of excess at the top "No need towhen the powder coin of text Another twist, and a bit of knotted threadThere" With a satisfied se to Charlotte "With practice, you’ll have the trick of it"

Charlotte took the cartridge and blinked at it "May I ask you a question, Miss Finch?"

"Of course" Susanna ripped twoas hile we talk"

Cocking her head like a loved wrists "What’s happened to you there?"

Susanna froze Slowly, she flipped her foreararded the exposed scars She’d spent so loves, or dis them with a lame excuse when someone stared or questioned

Why?

Here she was, rooman of sense and education At thisapart the restrictive teachings society foisted upon wo lady the fine art of fashioning not painted tea trays, but black powder cartridges Perhaps the world had left a few slashes on her, but she’d made her own small mark on the world Here in Spindle Cove, where women were safe to be their best and truest selves

She ran her fingers over the old, familiar map of pain These scars were a part of her true self They weren’t all of who she was, but they were a part And suddenly, there seemed no earthly reason to hide them

"They’re healed injuries," she told Charlotte "Frole" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>