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She sighed and decided to go with siasped She'd been so busy rehearsing what she wanted to say to hiht there in front of her

John raised his eyebrows at her shocked expression "Surely you can't be too terribly surprised to see me You did say 'hello,' after all"

"So I did," Belle said with a nervous s to herself about hi that came to mind "That's a lovely horse"

John permitted hih I i called lovely"

Belle blinked and looked closer John was indeed atop a stallion, and a rather powerful one, to boot "A very handsome horse, then," she amended

He patted his stallion's neck "Thor feels s you this way?" Belle asked, not certain if she was still on Alex's property or had already crossed over to John's

"I was just heading west…"

Belle stifled a laugh "I see"

"And what brings you this way?"

"I was just heading east"

"I see"

"Oh, youto see you," she blurted out

"Now that you've seen me," John said, "what do you plan to do with otten that far in my plans, actually," Belle admitted "What would you like to do with hts in that direction were not suitable for polite conversation He re an appreciative gaze at the wo him

Belle interpreted his expression correctly and turned beet red "Oh, you wretch," she staine what you're talking about," John said, his face a picture of innocence

"You know very well, and you're not going to make me say it, you-Oh, never hed aloud "How I love the English Anything can be cured with a pot of tea"

Belle offered hilish too, John, and just for the record, anything can be cured with a pot of tea"

He smiled wryly "I wish so"

Belle sobered immediately What was she supposed to say to that? She looked up at the sky, which was beginning to cloud over She knew that John was terribly sensitive about his leg, and she should probably avoid talking about it Still, he had been the one to mention it, and it seemed that the best way to show him that she didn't care about his injury was to joke about it "Well then,a terriblethis afternoon If that doesn't do the trick, I don't knoill"

He see, "I suppose you need an escort back to Westonbirt I see you're out alone again"