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―This is good for your soul?" she asked dubiously

He shrugged, looking out over the crowd ―One never knohen one will need to kno to describe so"

Annabel found this to be an extre

―Besides," he said breezily, ―were it not for reat literature"

She looked at hily

―Where would Romeo and Juliet be?"

―Alive"

―True, but think of the hours of entertainment the rest of us would have lost"

Annabel smiled She couldn‘t help it ―I prefer comediesBut then one would never experience the heightened sense of draedies" He turned to her with that expression of his she was growing so accustomed to--the polite mask he wore for society, the one that labeled hih it was And indeed, he let out a slightly affected sigh before saying, ―What would life be without bleak moments?"

―Rather lovely, I think" Annabel considered her recent bleak moment, at the hands--or rather, paws--of Lord Newbury She‘d have been quite happy to have done without

―Hmmm" That was all he said, or rather, he need to fill the silence, and she blurted out, ―I was voted Winslow Most Likely to Speak Her Mind"

That caught his attention ―Really?" His lips twitched ―And whothe electorate?"

―Er, the other Winslows"

He chuckled

―There are eight of us," she explained ―Ten with my parents, well, nine now that h for a decent vote"

―I‘ for the faood ave a guilty grimace ―Winslow Most Likely to Fall Asleep in Church"

He laughed loudly at that

―Everyone‘s looking," she whispered urgently

―Don‘t ht Annabel smiled aardly This was all about their perfor else?" he asked ―Not that anything could possibly be better than the last"

―I came in third for Winslow Most Likely to Outrun a Turkey"

He did not laugh this time, but this appeared to require a valiant effort on his part ―Youare a country girl," he said

She nodded

―Is it so very difficult to outrun a turkey?"

―Not for "

―That‘s right," she said ―You have no siblings"

―A lack for which I have never been so bereft as tonight Just think of the titles I ht have won"

―Grey Most Likely to Join a Pirate Ship?" she suggested, with a nod toward his patch

―Privateer, if you please I‘m much too refined for piracy"