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"There is no comparison," Villiers said "None"

"Reeve doesn’t listen to the people who tell his Lisette doesn’t listen to people who tell her anything that she doesn’t want to hear"

"The difference betill and wings is the difference between madness and its opposite," Villiers pointed out

"Exactly" She beas and he can’t Lisette thinks she can spend her life doing exactly as she wishes, no e she leaves behind her--and she can That is the difference, my dear Villiers"

One had to say that Eleanor’s sister understood a good exit line She hopped to her feet and dropped into a deep curtsy "Your Grace"

Villiers stood, but only because the rules of society were drilled into him They were second nature at this point

He re even after she left the room

Until it occurred to him that Eleanor was in her bedcha a bath That ridiculous excuse for afor the treasure hunt, and that was--

That was very soon

Chapter Twenty-five

Eleanor lay in the bath once again staring at her book of sonnets, but only because that’s what she had told everyone she was going to do She hated Shakespeare What did he know about real human relationships? About how complicated they were?

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks…Perhaps he was right about that, but it was all so much more complex than that simple sentence promised Gideon still loved her He did Shakespeare said that love looked on tempests and was never shaken

Yet hers was shaken There was no other way to describe it Her love had altered All these years she’d been loving Gideon, and not allowing herself to be angry at hi her as deeply as she loved him

But it ca in true depth of feeling

After a while, tired of trying to sort it all out, she dropped the book to the floor by the bath Then she realized it et wet, and shoved it so hard that it spun under the bed and disappeared

She wasn’t even surprised when the door to the balcony silently opened It was a relief, really

Villiers--Leopold--wasn’t in love with her, so she didn’t have to align her feelings for him with the clai indecent Shaslowly out of the water and pointed her toe She had nice legs, if she said so herself She was particularly fond of the roundness of her kneecap

After discovering one had a shallow soul, it was very reassuring to be able to retreat to the solid reality of a kneecap

Though she’d heard nothing, a pair of burning lips suddenly pressed the left side of her neck She obligingly bent her head to the right to give him more access, and two hands slid around her from behind and cupped her breasts

"Look what I found" His voice was a low ru in her bath for a man to wander by so she can entice hi was that the sound of his voice sent heat to her legs even faster than the sight of his hands caressing her breasts, even faster than feeling hi her head back against his shoulder and ignoring his foolish corowled "What did you calldisplay of domination and authority She felt her mouth curve "Leslie"

One hand slid over her stoain"