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"There's no har as you intend nointo a soft caress "And I don't think you would kno to be malicious if someone offered you a dissertation on the subject"

"Then I suppose that htly,

He s "You really have no choice but to be friends withcloser "After all, I know all of your le escaped her lips "A friend who is going to find me a husband How quaint"

"Well, I should think I could do a better job than Mrs Seeton If that is indeed--"

"Don't say it," she warned

"Consider it not said But if you want some help " He looked at her closely "You do want help, don't you?"

"Er, yes" I think

"We will need to begin right away"

Elizabeth glanced over at an ornate table clock Lady Danbury had had i rooes of HOW TO MARRY A MARQUIS, shaking his head as he scanned the words "Hmm, that's not very e to escape Lady Danbury at this tiain?" His face showed his surprise clearly

She shrugged "I found it just as unbelievable as you do, but she insisted She demanded absolute silence and told me not to rouse her for seventy ri her on that, by the way"

"Soers on the library's main table, then looked up "We can start after you finish with her this afternoon I'll need some time to devise a lesson plan, and--"

"A lesson plan?" she echoed

"We need to be organized Organization renders any goal reachable"

Herat me like that?"

"You sound exactly like Lady Danbury In fact, she says that very sahed, then cleared his throat Da about Elizabeth and those angel-blue eyes of hersundercover He should never have used one of Aunt Agatha's favorite maxims They'd been drummed into his head so frequently as a child that they were now histo the one person who knew every single one of Agatha's quirks as well as he did "I' his tone firm It was his experience that people tended to believe whatever he said as long as he sounded as if he knehat he was talking about

But not, apparently, Elizabeth "She says it at least once a week"

"Well, then, I'm sure I must have heard her at some point"

She seemed to accept that explanation, for she let theabout lesson plans"

"Right I will need the afternoon to plan, but perhaps we ht meet when you are done with Lady Danbury I alk you hoin en route"

She sate at thirty-five minutes past four I am dismissed at half four," she explained, "but it will take ate"

"Can we not simply ossip at Danbury House talking about us"

"An excellent point The front gate it is, then"