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He hardly recognized hi like sunflowers in the riirls of London’s annual ether She was just as beautiful as he’d re had ju wory or huue with him about carrots, all Gabriel had been able to think of was how much he wanted to carry her somewhere cool and dark and quiet, and have her all to hi attractions, there was no doubt she was ill-suited to the only kind of life he could offer The life he’d been born into He couldn’t renounce his title, nor could he turn his back on the families and employees who depended on hie the Challons’ ancestral lands and preserve their heritage for the next generations His ould be saddled withcourt duties, attending charity organization cos, and so on

Pandora would hate it All of it Even if she did grow into the role, she would never inhabit it comfortably

They entered the summer parlor, where the Ravenels chatted amiably with his sisters, Phoebe and Seraphina

Phoebe, the oldest of the Challon siblings, had inherited theirnature, and their father’s acerbic wit Five years ago she had married her childhood sweetheart, Henry, Lord Clare, who had suffered fro syradually reduced him to a shadow of the man he’d once been, and he’d finally succunant with their second child Although the first year ofwas over, Phoebe hadn’t yet returned to her former self She went outdoors so seldom that her freckles had vanished, and she looked wan and thin The ghost of grief still lingered in her gaze

Their younger sister Seraphina, an effervescent eighteen-year-old with strawberry-blonde hair, was talking to Cassandra Although Seraphina was old enough to have come out in society by now, the duke and duchess had persuaded her to wait another year A girl with her sweet nature, her beauty, and her ible man in Europe and beyond For Seraphina, the London Season would be a gauntlet, and the more prepared she was, the better

After introductions were lass of iced lemonade and reroup discussion turned to the subject of Heron’s Point’s econo industries, it was obvious to Gabriel that Pandora’s thoughts had drifted in a direction that had nothing to do with the presentcloser to her, Gabriel asked quietly, "Have you ever gone to a beach? Waded in the ocean and felt the sand beneath your feet?"

Pandora glanced up at hi her face "No, I--there’s a sand beach here? I thought it would be all pebbles and shingle"

"The estate has a private sandy cove We walk to it along a holloway"

"What’s a holloway?"

"It’s what they call a sunken lane, here in the southern counties" Gabriel loved the way she shaped the word silently with her lipshollowaysee at Seraphina, as standing nearby, he said, "I’ to take Lady Pandora to the cove this afternoon I expect Ivo will come too Would you like to join us?"

Pandora frowned "I didn’t say--"

"That would be lovely," Seraphina exclaimed, and turned to Cassandra "Youto splash about in the ocean on a day like this"