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"Only a page? I shall have to work harder to-- Miss Hotchkiss?"

Her entire body had gone stiff and she was glaring at the door "Get out,'' she hissed

Jaatha's cat was sitting in the doorway, resting on his furry haunches "Is there a problem?" James queried

She never once took her eyes off of the anirinned and walked over to the cat "He wouldn't hurt a fly"

"Don't touch him," Elizabeth warned "He's vicious"

But James just scooped him up Malcolm let out a loud purr and buried his face into Ja, lazy rub

Elizabeth's mouth fell open "That little traitor I tried to befriend him for three years!"

"I thought you've worked here for five"

"I have But I gave up after three A woman can only be hissed at so many times"

Malcolm looked at her, stuck his nose in the air, and went back to showering James's neck with kitty love

James chuckled and walked back to his chair "I'e I hate cats"

Elizabeth's head fell forward in the estures "Odd, but you don't look like you hate cats"

"Well, I don't hate this one any longer"

"How fitting," she muttered "A man who hates all cats save one, and a cat who hates all people save one"

"Two, if you count Lady Danbury" Ja very satisfied with his life He was out of London, away fro mamas, and he'd so wo his aunt, and even if she ell, his heart hadn't raced so er to his lips

Considering that he hadn't ed to muster up even an ounce of interest in any of theabout in London, that had to count for soht with a wistful hopefulness he hadn't felt in years, if she was blackood reason for it Maybe she had an ailing relative, or was being threatened with eviction Maybe she needed the money for an important, worthy reason, and never really intended to actually sha that he'd have her in his arht she would, he'd start thinking about pursuing her further "With the proper induceood word for you with our furry friend here"

"I'er interested in-- Oh, my heavens!"