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Alex turned his head to the two ladies, his expression suddenly clear "The strange thing was that for a , he behaved quite remarkably when he ounded"

"What happened?" Belle asked anxiously

"The surgeon said that he'd have to cut off his leg And I must say, he was rather callous about it John was still conscious at the time, and the leech didn't even bother to tell hi e of John Blackwood so ill-treated surprisingly painful

"He went crazy," Alex continued "I've never seen anything like it He grabbed the surgeon by his shirt and pulled hi the a I was going to intervene, but when I heard the tone of his voice, I held back"

"What did he say?" Belle asked, on the edge of her seat

"I'll never forget it He said, 'If you take , as God is my witness, I will hunt you down and saw off yours' The doctor let him be Said he'd leave him to die if thaf s what he wanted"

"But he didn't die," Belle said

"No, he didn't But I' days Which was probably all for the best He was a superb soldier, but I always got the idea that he abhorred violence"

"How odd," E man I quite liked him Had an excellent sense of humor when he chose to exhibit it But he was more often than not silent And he had quite the strictest sense of honor I have ever experienced"

"Really, Alex," Emma teased "No one could be more honorable than you"

"Ah, my lovely, loyal wife" Alex leaned forward and dropped a kiss on Emma's forehead

Belle slumped back in her seat She wanted to hear more about John Blackwood, but there didn't seem any polite way to ask Alex to say more about him It rather irritated her to admit it, but she couldn't deny that she was incredibly interested in the unusualshe had always refused to do was deceive herself John Blackwood had intrigued her this afternoon, but now that she knew a bit of his history, she was fascinated Every little thing about him, frohtly wavy hair suddenly took on newso fiercely to save his leg, it was only natural that he'd want to use it He struck her as a man of principles A man you could trust, depend upon A man whose passions ran deep

Belle was so surprised by the turn of her thoughts, she actually jerked her head back a little Eht, Belle?"

"What? Oh, just a little headache More like a twinge, actually It's gone now"