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I scooped up a handful of ooey blob in wet leaves, only then noticing thatThe idiot! The deceitful, wicked, conniving…what in hell had made him come here? And God, ould Jamie do?

I ca at the re One ; as I knelt in front of hih!" he said

"Where’s your stepfather?" I asked abruptly Few things could have taken his attention off his legs, but that did His head jerked up and he stared at ht dew of sweat shone on his face It was narrower through cheek and teht, and the mouth was quite unlike; perhaps the reseht

"How do you knowhimself up with an air of hauteur that would have been extremely funny under other circuiven naht?" My hands curled atIf he was William, that wasn’t quite all I knew about hi on with

A hot flush rose into his cheeks, and his eyes raked over me, his attention te so familiarly addressed by what--I suddenly realized--appeared to be a disheveled beldaood manners, or the disparity between my voice and my appearance made him cautious, because he sed the instant retort that came to his lips

"Yes, it is," he said shortly, instead "William, Viscount Ashness, ninth Earl of Ellesmere"

"All that?" I said politely "Gracious" I took hold of one leech between thu stretched out like a thick rubber band, but declined to let go The boy’s pale flesh pulled out, too, and he o!" he said "It’ll break, you’ll break it!"

"Could do," I adhim a hand "I’ll take you to the house If I sprinkle a bit of salt on theot to his feet, a little shakily He glanced around, as though looking for so my expression "We missed the way, and he told me to wait by the stream while he made sure of our direction I shouldn’t like him to take alarm if I am not here when he returns"

"I shouldn’t worry," I said "I iine he’ll have found the house hiuess, as it was the only house in some distance, and at the end of a well-marked trail Lord John had plainly left the boy while he went ahead, to find Jahtened involuntarily

"Will that be Frasers’?" the boy asked He took a ginger step, spraddling so as not to allow his legs to rub together "We had come to see a James Fraser"

"I’m Mrs Fraser," I said, and sht have added--but didn’t "Coh the scri onover tree roots and half-buried stones, not watching where I was going, fighting the overwhele to turn around and stare at him If William, Viscount Ashness, ninth Earl of Ellesmere, was not the very last person I had ever expected to see in the backwoods of North Carolina, he was certainly next to the last--King George was a trifle less likely to turn up on the doorstep, I supposed

What had possessed that…that…I groped about, trying to choose a several discreditable epithets to apply to Lord John Grey, and gave up the struggle, in favor of trying to think what in heaven’s na I could do

Williaht he was And just what do you propose to do, I thought silently and savagely toward Lord John Grey, when he finds out that he’s really the bastard son of a pardoned Scottish cri to do? or feel?

I stopped, causing the boy to stu into ht I saw a snake," and went on, the thought that had stoppedmy midsection like a dose of bitter apples Could Lord John have brought the boy on purpose to reveal his parentage? Did heas I found the notion, I couldn’t reconcile it with the ht have sound reasons for disliking John Grey--always difficult to feel a waroodwill toward a man with a professed homosexual passion for one’s husband, after all--but I had to admit that I had seen no trace of either recklessness or cruelty in his character On the contrary, he had struck me as a sensitive, kindly, and honorable man--or at least he had, before I’d found out about his predilections toward Ja have happened? Some threat to the boy that made Lord John fear for his safety? Surely no one could have found out the truth about William--no one knew, save Lord John and Jaht Without the evidence of the resee to turn round and stare at him--there was no reason for anyone ever to suspect

But see them side by side, and--well, I shortly would see theave ht and half anticipation Was it really as strong as I thought, that reseh a clu an excuse to turn and wait for hi aardly to retrieve the silver-buckled shoe he had dropped

No, I thought, watching covertly as he straightened up, face flushed froht at first He had the promise of Jamie’s bones, but it wasn’t all there yet--he had the outlines, but not yet the substance He would be very tall--that was obvious--but noas about , and thin enough to seem almost delicate

He was linted red in the shafts of sunlight that ca like Jaolden brown in the sun, not at all like Jamie’s half-burnt bronze

He had the Frasers’ slanted cat-eyes, though, and there was so about the set of his head, the cck of the slender shoulders, that made me think of--