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He looked down at the paper again, s as he reread it Only Honoria would write hi him to decline the invitation that she had put forth but two sentences prior

It had been rather nice, seeing her again It had been an age He did not count the nus could never be like the carefree times he had spent with her fa the ahters were born to be the next Lady Chatteris, or he was trying to keep an eye on Honoria Or both

In retrospect, it was reht he was interested in her hi in her business He’d scared off four gentlemen the previous year – two of theing, pompous ass He was fairly certain that Honoria would have had the sense to refuse the last, but the one with the cruel streak hid it well, and the fortune hunters were, he was told, char

Which he supposed was a prerequisite for the position

She was probably interested in one of the gentle Mrs Royle’s party and didn’t want his for her He didn’t particularly want to be there, either, so in that they were in agreehts If it wasn’t someone hom he was familiar, inquiries would have to be uest list; the servants always kne to get hold of things like that

And o for a ride Or a walk There was a path in the woods that wandered back and forth across the property line between Fensmore and Bricstan He couldn’t recall the last time he’d walked it It was irresponsible of hiht to know his property in intimate detail

A walk it would be, then And if he happened along Honoria and her friends, he could converse with theet the information he needed He could avoid the party and find out who she planned to set her cap for

Marcus finished off his cider and s outcome

Chapter Three

By Sunday afternoon, Honoria was convinced she had erton would make an ideal husband They had been seated next to each other at the supper at the Royles’ town ho True, he had shown no signs of being particularly smitten with her, but neither had he seemed taken with anyone else He was kind, courteous, and had a sense of huht that if shechance at capturing his interest He was a younger – no, a youngest son – whicha title would consider him beneath their notice And he would probably need money His family was passably wealthy and would likely provide hier sons were notoriously in need of dowries

Which Honoria had Nothing staggering, but Daniel had revealed the amount to her before he’d left the country, and it was e eerton see that they were perfectly matched And Honoria had a plan

It had coentleet out of it) It wasn’t terribly complicated; she needed only a sunny day, a halfway acceptable sense of direction, and a shovel