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Except

Except he couldn’t see et out of his head He’d become so obsessed with her that he hadn’t even visited histhat even Nola’s extensive repertoire wouldn’t serve to distract him

"Well?" his father prompted

Preoccupied, Gabriel was slow to reply "The idea has lanced at hi the lines of, ‘Yes, dear God, I’ll do anything to avoid spending a lifetiirl I can’t abide’"

"I didn’t say I couldn’t abide her," Gabriel said testily

Sebastian regarded him with a faint s to the eye?"

Gabriel went to an inset sideboard to pour hi," he muttered

Looking more and more interested, his father asked, "What is the problee Constitutionally incapable of guarding her tongue Not to oes to balls but never dances, only sits in the corner Two of the felloent drinking with last night said they’d asked her to waltz on previous occasions She told one of thee horse had recently stepped on her foot, and she told the other that the butler had accidently sla in the door" Gabriel took a s of brandy before finishing griun to laugh, seemed struck by that last comment "Ahhh," he said softly "That explains it" He was silent for a erous creatures, wallflowers Approach them with the ut abandoned and forlorn, when in truth they’re sirens who lure men to their downfall You won’t even notice the ht out of your body--and then it’s hers for good A wallflower never gives your heart back"

"Are you finished a yourself?" Gabriel asked, iht of fancy "Because I have actual proble, Sebastian reached for soive me The word makes me a bit sentimental Go on"

"For all practical purposes, Pandora would be of no use to me other than in bed She’s a novelty After the newness wore off, I’d be bored within a week More to the point, she’s temperamentally unsuited to be my wife Anyone’s wife" He had to finish his brandy before he could bring himself to admit huskily, "Despite all thatI don’t want anyone else to have her" Bracing his hands on the edge of the table, he stared blindly at the green baize cloth

His father’s reaction was unexpectedly sanguine "To play devil’s advocate--has it occurred to you that Lady Pandora willof those heathen blue eyes

"But my dear boy, of course you would A woman will always surprise you hat she’s capable of You can spend a lifeti to discover what excites and interests her, but you’ll never know it all There’s always more Every wo up a billiards ball, Sebastian tossed it into the air and caught it deftly "Your Lady Pandora is young--tiin--well, there’s a probleive ance unirl sounds anything but boring Given half a chance, she may please you even lance

His father had made no secret of his disapproval of Gabriel’s mistress, whose husband was the A, beautiful wife of a former Union Ar her in the bedroom, Mrs Nola Black took her pleasures where she found theed Gabriel’s every desire, their encounters unhindered by morals or inhibitions She always knehen to push the li up with new tricks to spark his interest and satisfy his complex desires Gabriel didn’t like it that she was married, he resented her teun to realize that the affair was turning hioing back for more

"No one pleases me more than Mrs Black," Gabriel said with difficulty "That’s the problem"

Slowly his father set the cue stick onto the table, his face impassive "You fancy yourself in love with her?"

"No God, no It’s just thatI" Lowering his head, Gabriel rubbed the back of his neck, which had begun to craith discoh he and his father had always spoken freely on a great variety of subjects, they rarely discussed personal sexual matters Sebastian, thank God, was not one to meddle in his sons’ private lives

There was no easy way for Gabriel to describe the dark side of his nature, nor was he particularly eager to face it As the Challon fah expectations--his own and other people’s Since a young age, he’d been aware that because of his family name, wealth, and influence, many people actively wanted hih marks at Eton and Oxford When other boys had wanted to test the to best him in athletics, he’d had to prove himself repeatedly Whenever he’d identified a weakness in hi, he had ed his family’s financial affairs co businesses that had paid off in spades In most areas of his life, he was self-disciplined and hardworking, a man who took his responsibilities seriously