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And then he frowned and reached out once more--tentatively this time, and feathered his hand across her stomach One couldn’t see it, not with corsets and petticoats being what they were But aher, lected to tell s"

"No" She was unable to meet his eyes

"That was your first kiss, was it not?"

She couldn’t bring herself to nod Instead, she looked away

"You said he didn’t force you"

Herthat aside--and how I can set that aside, I do not know… In all our discussions, in all the barbs we traded, was it not once relevant for you to nant?"

Chapter Six

HUGO WAITED FOR HER to deny the accusation

She didn’t Instead, she leaned over and picked up his walking stick He wasn’t sure if she was sinal that their truce was over, or if she intended to hit hi breath "And here I thought you knew"

"Hoould I know? Magic?"

"I told Clermont," she tossed back "I assuine that he would be forthright with me? He told me this was an employment dispute He told me that he’d hired you to take care of his unborn child"

She raised her chin "Well," she bit off "The position is unpaid, and he wasn’t referring to his heir But that much was true" Her hand had crept back to cover her belly "Why do you think I’ in the park? It certainly wasn’t forto failWhat sort of pro off into the distance Her nostrils flared, and then she turned to him "He promised not to wake the household" There was a hint of a catch in her voice

"No"

She’d given voice to his blackest suspicions and painted theainst that darkness like a blinding beacon He already flinched fro in hi harm to a mother And by the ferocity of her words--the tell-tale touch of her fingers to her abdo the day," she continued starkly "I tried to ignore hiuest of the household He ht" The bareness of her recital was al "I told him no; he insisted I threatened to scream, and he said that if I did, the whole household would wake and they would blame me anyway I had just started the position If I lost it under such circuht not have found another"

He sed back anger "Why did you tell me you weren’t forced?"

She shook her head in confusion "I wasn’t forced I didn’t fight hih looked over at her She seemed to be in earnest about the last He wasn’t so certain What the duke had done was not punishable by law, even if she had dared to bring felony charges to the House of Lords If she couldn’t prove that she’d fought back, they would never convict him

It didn’t mean she wasn’t forced Somehohat had happened seemed even worse than physical violence--as if Clermont had taken not only his pleasure and her future, but had robbed her of the right to believe herself blameless

"I didn’t scream," she repeated "You tell me that you admire me as a worthy opponent But you don’t understand The only reason I refuse to back do is because I refuse to let my child drown in silence"