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Merripen went still as he followed the direction of her gaze "That shouldn’t have happened," he said roughly "I shouldn’t have-" He stopped and sed audibly "I haven’t… had a wo ti you would have reacted that ith any woman?"

"Yes"

"I don’t believe you!"

"Believe what you like" Merripen went to the door and opened it to glance in both directions along the hallway "Come here"

"I want to stay I need to talk with you"

"Not alone Not at this hour" He paused "I told you to come here"

This last was said with a quiet authority that made her bristle But she obeyed

As Win reached him, Merripen pulled the hood of her cloak up to conceal her face Ascertaining that the hallas still clear, he guided her outside the room and closed the door

They were silent as they went to the staircase at the end of the hallway Win was acutely conscious of his hand resting lightly on her back Reaching the top step, she was surprised when he stopped her

"Take my arm"

She realized he intended to help her down the stairs, as he had always done when she was ill Stairs had been a particular trial for her The entire fa up or down the steps, and perhaps break her neck Merripen had often carried her rather than let her take the risk

"No, thank you," she said "I’m able to do it onfor her hand

Win snatched it back, while her chest tightened with annoyance "I don’t want your help I’h it seeh she couldn’t see his face, she heard his sharply indrawn breath She felt ashamed at the petty accusation, even as she wondered if there wasn’t a grain of truth in it

Merripen didn’t reply, however If she had hurt him, he bore it stoically They descended the stairs separately, in silence

Win was utterly confused She had pictured this night a hundred different ways Every possible way but this She led the way to her door and reached in her pocket for the key

Merripen took the key froht the la at the threshold, Win went to the bedside table Carefully she lifted the glass globe of the la the key into the other side of the door, Merripen said, "Lock it behind h knotting in her throat "This is where we left off, isn’t it? Me, throwing ht I understood before I wasn’t well enough for the kind of relationship I wanted with you But now I don’t understand Because there’s nothing to stop us fro out if… if we are meant to…" Distressed and mortified, she couldn’t find words for what she wanted "Unless I was mistaken in how you once felt for me? Did you ever desire me, Kev?"

"No" His voice was barely audible "It was only friendship And pity"

Win felt her face go very white Her eyes and nose prickled A hot tear leaked down her cheek "Liar," she said, and turned away

The door closed gently

Kev never re back to his roo beside his bed Groaning a curse, he sank to his knees and gripped huge handfuls of the counterpane and buried his face in it He was in hell

Holy Christ, how Win devastated hi, dreas without her that at first he hadn’t believed she was real

He thought of Win’s lovely face, and the softness of her ainst his, and the way she had arched beneath his hands She had felt different, her body supple and strong But her spirit was the sa sweetness and honesty that had always pierced straight to his heart It had taken all his strength not to go to his knees before her

Win had asked for friendship Impossible How could he could separate any part of the unwieldy tangle of his feelings, and hand over such a small piece? And she knew better than to ask Even in the Hathaways’ eccentric world, so to offer Win except degradation Even Cam Rohan had been able to provide Amelia with his considerable wealth But Kev had no worldly possessions, no grace of character, no education, no advantageous connections, nothing that the gadje valued He had been isolated and maltreated even by the people of his own tribe for reasons he had never understood But on some ele about him had destined hi would say there was any benefit for Win Hathaway to love a h to entle overness

Poppy and Beatrix had both written to hioverness a year earlier Her nah their descriptions didn’t exactly convey why they should like such a creature Apparently she was slight and quiet and stern She was helping not only the sisters but the entire faht this social instruction was probably a good thing For everyone else, not himself

When it ca of women than men And if a man had a title and held his liquor reasonably well, he could do or say nearly anything he liked, and still be invited everywhere

Through a quirk of fate Leo had inherited a vis-councy, which had taken care of the first part of the equation And now after the long stay in France, he had lilass of wine or two at supper Whichreceived at any dull and respectable event in London that he had no desire to attend

He only hoped that the forht be a to set her back on her heels

Leo knew next to nothing about governesses, save for the drab creatures in novels, who tended to fall in love with the lord of the manor, alith bad results However, Miss Marks was entirely safe fro anyone His former dissipated pursuits had lost their power to enthrall him

On one of Leo’s ambles around Provence to visit some Gallo-Roman architectural remains, he had encountered one of his old professors fro had resulted in a renewed acquaintanceship In the , reading, and studying in the professor’s atelier, or workshop Leo had arrived at some conclusions that he intended to put to the test now that he was back in England

As he strolled nonchalantly along the long hallway that led to the Hathaway suite, he heard rapid footsteps So to the side, Leo waited with his hands tucked in his trouser pockets

"Come here, you little fiend!" he heard a woet my hands on you, I’ll rip out your innards!"

The bloodthirsty tone was unladylike Appalling Leo was vastly entertained The footsteps drew closer… but there was only one set of the?