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Her hed, incredulous "Well, whyever would you do that?"

Diana smacked a palm to her forehead Did she have to draw every conclusion with pen and ink? "We werelove!"

Now the tavern went stone silent

Mama snorted "I’m sure I don’t believe that I’d sooner believe you were a thief"

"It’s the truth, Mrs Highwood," Aaron said "Whether you believe it or not And I’hwood toand laid it on the table A gold band shaped like two entwined vines, with golden leaves bracketing a ruby-and-diamond bloom

She pressed a hand to her heart Oh, it was lovely His best work yet How he hwood" Aaron cleared his throat and h he would kneel "Diana, I--"

"Stop!" Mama cried

Aaron froze in an aard half crouch

"How can you expect n , awful man Of course you’d leap at the opportunity to rescue her fro she’ll h a man like you would have a chance at her otherwise But I tell you, your scheme won’t work"

"It’s not a scheme," Diana said "And he has oing tohe’d laid on the table

Her h Diana were a three-year-old child

Diana sirown up, and her mother was about to learn the truth of it

"Mama," she said coolly, "listen to me closely I am in love with Mr Dawes I have been for sos shop because I admired him We shared our first kiss in the vicar’s curricle He introduced s I tried to kill an eel for hiht?" She lifted her voice "We Were Making Love In a bed All night long It was hot and sweaty and glorious I left scratches on his back He has a freckle just to the right of his navel And if you don’t believe all that"

She ripped her cloak open and threw it aside, exposing Aaron’s black, sooty handprint on her breast "Here See for yourself"

Severalwhich the only sound was the mad thump of her heartbeat in her ears

Then soe Diana had expected a measure of shock at her revelations, but that seeirl screamed

And another "It’s a rat!"

A rat?

Oh, God It was a rat A long-tailed, bewhiskered rat, big as a bread loaf, with a pink, twitching nose The creature sca

Aaron cursed and lunged to get it back

"Mr Evermoore!" Miss Bertram leaped to her feet "Mr Everht now"

In an instant, the tavern was in upheaval Some of the ladies jumped on chairs and tables Others reached for any makeshift truncheon close at hand Pots, pans, stray copies of Mrs Worthington’s Wisdom

"I knew it!" Charlotte cried in vindication "I knew all along the thief had to be Miss Bertram"

"I don’t think it was her," Diana said "I mean, obviously it was herher pet She ht while everyone went to Ambervale"

"The little bastard’s over here," Mr Fosbury shouted "In the kitchen"

There was a crash of glass Followed by an explosion of flour

Ma back in a dead faint Just as well

"Oh, please don’t kill his But he’s so intelligent You don’t understand Oh, Mr Evered at her sister " ‘No one understands our attachment’ Isn’t that what she always said?"

Charlotte shuddered "I don’t understand it, either I don’t want to"

The two of thehed uneasily

Of all the potential scandals that could have lessened Diana’s sordid revelationthis one would serve Yes, she’d given her heart and her virtue to the local blacksmith At least she wasn’t in love with a rat

"Found it" Aaron’s dark head popped up from the other side of the bar He called to her "I found the ring"

Diana pushed through the crowd to meet him at the bar But she couldn’t bear to remain separated from him, so she scrambled atop the counter on hands and knees

He did the saed atop the lacquered surface, while the wild rat hunt proceeded all around the a bit of flour off the jeweled setting He shined the band with his sleeve "I’d lance at the ongoing melee "Just put it on, and quick"