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Since Poppy didn’t look any h who knew, given all the secrets she’d kept--Fletch felt free to continue their conversation under cover of the choleric debate

"God would never have placed false evidence on Ada as if he’d addressed the point with the Alhty just last week

"Your mother seems fine," he hissed at Poppy "But how are you?"

She listened intently to Mr Pringle’s infuriated response to Brownrigg and turned to Fletch with a brilliant s aso happy in my life I trust you are just as happy?"

"Of course," he muttered

"God has no need for false history," Mr Brownrigg said, going head to head and jowl to joith his opponent

"Jeave a speech in the House of Lords," Poppy said "What was it about?"

"It was about Pitt’s fitness for the position of First Lord of the Treasury"

"I didn’t know you were interested"

"It was an utter disaster"

She finally turned her head to look at him "What do you mean? The paper reported that your speech was extremely lively"

"Lively, it was And well received by the opposition," Fletch said "Halfway through I began arguing for asped and--to do her credit--ed not to smile "How on earth did you do that, Fletch?"

"LordTeht it would be easy Then halfway through ree with the line of argu--so I turned it around"

"You can’t do that!"

"I did" He grinned a little, re"

"I would have never thought it of you," Poppy said, staring at hi a hash of the speech? From what you said earlier, I’d think that was a natural for ht you cared about that sort of thing"

"Nothing but the color of uilty "I know that you take excellent care of the estate, of course"

"I enjoyed it," he told her "It beca the wrong side, but h"

"Well, I’ hi, I mean"

"I didn’t admit it," Fletch said "I just talked so much that no one had the faintest idea what precisely I said until I rounded into my conclusion"

"Adam was formed froe emphasis

"I think they’re almost finished," Poppy whispered

"How do you know? My guess is that they could go all night They really hate each other, don’t they?"

"Oh no, I don’t think so I believe it’s staged Why, in the last issue of Philosophical Transactions, Mr Brownrigg quoted Mr Pringle and said that his treatise on the trochus shell was one of the best of its kind"

"On the trochus shell?" Fletch asked

"Yes, I ordered the treatise on that basis, but I didn’t find it very interesting Pringle argued that the concentric rings on the shell indicated the number of seasons a clam had lived"

Fletch just blinked at her