Page 7 (2/2)

"Why, you're Lord Stannage now"

"The fore, I mean," Dunford said, careful not to let any of his impatience show

"A distant cousin of his wife's She had no place else to go, poor dear"

"Ah How generous of the me to my rooms, Mrs Sie for supper You do keep country hours here?"

"It's the country, after all," she said with a nod Then she picked up her skirts and left the roo A poor relation who dressed like aas smoothly as the most posh London household His time in Cornwall certainly wouldn't be dull

Now, if he could only find out what she looked like in a dress

Two hours later Dunford ishing he hadn't wondered Words could not describe the sight of Miss Henrietta Barrett in a dress Never before had he seen a woman--and he had seen oas an irritating shade of lavender with far too liness, it was also obviously unco aardly at the material Either that or the dress simply didn't fit her, which, Dunford noted upon closer inspection, it didn't The heht, and if he didn't know better, he'd swear there was a sht sleeve

Hell, he did know better, and he would swear the dress was torn

Put plainly, Miss Henrietta Barrett looked a fright

But, on the brighter side, she smelled quite pleasant Al, my lord," she said when she met him before dinner in the parlor "I trust you settled in nicely"

He bowed graciously to her "Perfectly, Miss Barrett May I co household"

"Call me Henry," she said automatically

"Everybody does," he finished for her

Despite herself, Henry felt a laugh welling up in her throat Good God, she'd never even considered that she ht come to like the man That would be a disaster

"May I escort you in to dinner?" Dunford inquired politely, offering her his arm

Henry placed her hand on his elbow as he led her into the dining roo in the company of the man as--and she had to remind herself of this fact--the ene she had befriended him, didn't she? This Mr Dunford didn't strike her as a numskull, and she was fairly certain that if he even suspected she was trying to get rid of him it would take half of His Majesty's army to eject him from Cornwall No, better just to let hie Park was not quite his cup of tea

Besides, no man had ever offered her his arm before Breeches and all, Henry was still too esture

"Are you enjoying yourself here, my lord?" she asked once they were seated