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He took her ared her toward Nu ht here onmy question"ill discuss it later," he said, "e are not standing in theat us through their s"

And then, to demonstrate that he would brook no further protest, he placed his hand at her back and steered her none-too-gently up the steps to Nued, except, Penelope reflected, her last naical It was a small affair, ht--well, that had been ical Colin was a wonderful husband--teasing, gentle, attentive

Except when the topic of Lady Whistledown arose

Then he becamewell, Penelope wasn't sure what he becarace, his glib tongue, everything wonderful that

In a way, it was al, all of her drea this man

And at so him about her secret life How could they not? In Penelope's dreae to Colin had been a perfect union, and that meant complete honesty

In her dreams, she sat him down, shyly revealed her secret He reacted first with disbelief, then with delight and pride How remarkable she was, to have fooled all of London for so many years Hoitty to have written such clever turns of phrase He admired her for her resourcefulness, praised her for her success In soested that he beco Colin would enjoy, just the sort of a, devious task that he would relish

But that wasn't the way it had turned out

He said he wasn't ashaht that was true, but she couldn't quite bring herself to believe him She'd seen his face when he swore that all he wanted was to protect her But protectiveness was a fierce, burning feeling, and when Colin was talking about Lady Whistledown, his eyes were shuttered and flat

She tried not to feel so disappointed She tried to tell herself that she had no right to expect Colin to live up to her dreams, that her vision of him had been unfairly idealized, but

But she still wanted hiuilty for every pang of disappointment This was Colin! Colin, for heaven's sake Colin, as as close to perfect as any huht to find fault with him, and yet