Page 6 (1/2)

"Oh, dear, poor Harold"

"Poor Harold indeed, but what aboutlad you realize it," he said "And the arrangements?"

"I am content with them," she replied

"Good" He cleared his throat "I should tell you that I’ll be leaving town tomorrow"

"Oh?" Her tone was still even, but the hand in her lap had fisted

"Can’t be helped, I’m afraid I’ve been the recipient of letters from my land steward for weeks now He informs me that my presence is desperately needed to settle soer I suspect," he confided, "that Abbott, ain let his tenants build on my land He does it every decade or so--tries to expand his border Theit for half a century Used to drive uided the horses into a smaller street

"Do you knohen you shall return?" his fiancée inquired

"A week, lanced at her Her lips were thinned Did she want him to stay? The woman was as inscrutable as the Sphinx "But I shall certainly return by our wedding date"

"Naturally," she murmured

He looked up and saw that they were already at Lady Eddings’s town house He drew the horses to a halt and threw the ribbons to a waiting boy before ju was already standing when he rounded to her side, which rather irritated him

He held out his hand "Let nored his hand and, still gripping the carriage side, gingerly lowered a foot toward the steps set beside the carriage

Jasper felt so snap She could be as brave as she wanted, but she need not spurn his help He reached up and wrapped his hands about her slender, aist She gave a breathless squeak, and then he was letting her go in front of him The scent of Neroli floated in the air

"There was no need for that," she said, shaking out her skirts

"Oh, yes, there was," heher hand safely into his elbow He led her toward the is town house "Ah, a htful way to spend an afternoon I do hope there will be country ballads about da the shot a disbelieving glance at hi the door Jasper grinned at his fiancée and ushered her in His blood was running high, and it wasn’t at the prospect of an afternoon of screeching or even the co as she was He hoped to see Matthew Horn here Horn was a very old friend, a fellow veteran of His Majesty’s army and, more to the point, one of the few men to survive Spinner’s Falls

MELISANDE SAT ON a narrow chair and tried to concentrate on the young girl singing If she sat very still and closed her eyes, she knew the awful panic would recede eventually The trouble was, she hadn’t anticipated how ement would excite in the ton The s’s town house, she and Jasper had been the center of all eyes--and Melisande had wanted to si the center of attention It made her hot and sweaty Her mouth went dry and her hands trembled And worst of all, she always seeent speech She’d just stared dumbly when that horrid Mrs Pendleton had inferred that Lord Vale ht, a half-dozen biting repartee would coht now she ent to say than baaaaa

Next to her, Lord Vale leaned close and whispered hoarsely and none too quietly, "Do you think she’s a shepherdess?"

Baaa? Melisande blinked up at him

He rolled his eyes "Her"

He tilted his head at the cleared space next to the harpsichord where Lady Eddings’s youngest daughter stood The girl actually sang rather well, but the poor thing wore enormous panniers and a floppy bonnet, and she carried a pail of all things

"Surely she’s not a chambermaid?" Lord Vale wondered He’d taken their notoriety in stride, laughing loudly when he’d been cornered by several gentle like a s a coal shuttle if she were a chaht be rather heavy"

"She’s a gy eyebrows drew together "Surely not with those panniers?"

"Shh!" someone hissed from behind them

"I mean," Lord Vale whispered only a little lower, "wouldn’t the cows trod on her skirts? Don’t seem practical at all Not that I know all that much about cows and milkmaids and such, but I do like cheese"

Melisande bit her lip, fighting down an unusual urge to giggle How strange! She wasn’t the giggling sort at all She glanced at Lord Vale out of the corner of her eye only to see hi her