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"I ca for a mistress Not a wife"

She lurched backward And she stared at hiht her eyes would burn holes in him And then finally, in a voice so low it hurt, she said, "I don't like you right now, Turner"

That was convenient He didn't much like himself just then, either

Miranda's chin lifted, but she was tre as she said, "If you'll excuse oodly number of dance partners, and I wouldn't want to offend any of them"

He watched as she stalked off And then he watched the door And then he left

20 June 1819

I saw thatagain tonight after I went back into the ballroom I asked Olivia who she was, and she said her name is Katherine Bidwell She is the Countess of Pembleton She married Lord Pembleton when he was nearly sixty and promptly produced a son Lord Pembleton passed soon after, and now she is in coe Smart woman To have such independence She probably won't want to ain, which I'm sure suits Turner perfectly

I had to dance with him once Lady Rudland insisted upon it And then, as if the evening could not get any worse, she pulled me aside to comment on my sudden popularity The Duke of Ashbourne danced with me! (Exclamation point hers) He is married, of course, and very happily, but still, he does not waste his time with little misses just out of the schoolrooht I ht cry

I am home noever, and I resolve to invent soo out for a few days A week, if I can e it

Do you knohat disturbs me the most? Lady Pembleton is not even considered beautiful Oh, she is not unpleasing to look at, but she is no diamond of the first water Her hair is plain brown, and so are her eyes

Just liketo read Greek tragedies It was ih to actually read one, but as long as she had to stare at the words on the page every now and then, she figured shethat suited her mood

A comedy would have made her cry And a love story, God forbid, would have made her want to perish on the spot

Olivia, who'd never been known for her lack of interest in other people's business, had been relentless in her quest to discover the reason for Miranda'sMiranda hen she was trying to brighten her -up sessions, regaling Miranda with the tales of a certain countess who'd thrown her husband out of the house until he agreed to let her buy four miniature poodles as pets, when Lady Rudland rapped on the door

"Oh, good," she said, poking her head into the room "You're both here Olivia, don't sit like that It's very unladylike"

Olivia dutifully adjusted her position before asking, "What is it, Mama?"

"I wanted to inform you that we have been invited to Lady Chester's home for a country visit next week"

"Who is Lady Chester?" Miranda inquired, setting her now dog-eared volume of Aeschylus down in her lap

"A cousin of ours," Olivia replied "Third or fourth, I can't remember"