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He let go of her quite suddenly and crossed his arms "Well, I don't like her as well as I do you"

She blinked, knocked rather neatly off her verbal stride Trust hiu could have disarmed her morewAnd," he continued with a rather arch and superior lifting of his chin, "you have not addressed inal point"wWhich That Lady Whistledoill ruin you!"wFor God's sake," she muttered, "you talk as if she were a separate person"wWell, excusethe wo the column"wColin!"wInsulted?" he mockedwYes! I've worked very hard on that column" She clenched her fists around the thin fabric of herdress, oblivious to the wrinkled spirals she was creating She had to do so with her hands or she'd quite possibly explode with the nervous energy and anger coursing through her veins Her only other option seeive in to such an obvious show of petulance Besides, he was crossing his arms, and one of therating what you've done," he said condescendinglywOf course you would," she interruptedwNo, I wouldn't"wThen what do you think you're doing?"wBeing an adult!" he answered, his voice growing loud and impatient "One of us has to be"wDon't you dare speak to me of adult behavior!" she exploded "You, who run at the very hint of responsibility"hat the hell does that ht it was rather obvious"

He drew back "I can't believe you're speaking toit," she taunted, "or that I possess the nerve to do so?"

He just stared at her, obviously surprised by her questionwThere's more to me than you think, Colin," she said And then, in a quieter tone of voice, she added, "There'sfor severalhimself away from the topic, he asked, practically between his teeth, "What did you mean when you said I run from responsibility?"

She pursed her lips, then relaxed as she let out what she hoped would be a cal exhale "Why do you think you travel so much?"wBecause I like it," he replied, his tone clippedwAnd because you're bored out of your land"wAnd thatto grow up and do so adult that would keep you in one place"wLike what?"

Her hands caesture "Like get married"wIs that a proposal?" heinto a rather insolent s deep and hot, but she forced herself to continue "You know it's not, and don't try to change the subject by being deliberately cruel" She waited for hiy His silence was an insult, and so she let out a snort and said, "For heaven's sake, Colin, you're three-and-thirty"wAnd you're eight-and-twenty," he pointed out, and not in a particularly kind tone of voice

It felt like a punch in the belly, but she was too riled up to retreat into her familiar shell "Unlike you," she said with low precision, "I don't have the luxury of asking someone And unlike you," she added, her intention now solely to induce the guilt she'd accused him of just minutes earlier, "I don't have a massive pool of prospective suitors, so I've never had the luxury of saying no"

His lips tightened "And you think that your unveiling as Lady Whistledown is going to increase the nuround outwI' which you seeht of"wI never said I was planning to unveil myself as Lady Whistledown"

He snatched the envelope with the final column in it back up off the cushioned bench "Then what is this about?"

She grabbed it back, yanking the paper fro your pardon," she said, every syllable heavy with sarcasof yours will do anything to dampen the frenzy of interest in Lady Whistledown's identity? Oh, excuse me"--he placed one insolent hand over his heart--"perhaps I should have said your identity After all, I don't want to deny you your credit " you're just being ugly," she said, a little voice at the back of her brain wondering why she wasn't crying by now This was Colin, and she'd loved hi as if he hated her Was there anything else in the world more worthy of tears?

Orup inside of her was for the death of a dreae of him in herwI' the paper back froht as well be an invitation for further investigation You'rethe!"wIt may not be your intention, but it is certainly the end result"

He probably had soive him credit for it "It's a chance I'll have to take," she replied, crossing her arone eleven years without detection I don't see why I'm in need of undue worry now"