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He iht off her as he looked down He told hi to ask her this once he caught his breath But when he looked at her, she was trying to catch her own breath Her lips were parted, and her eyes were dazed, and he did what any man would instinctively do He lowered his head to kiss her

Chapter Five

One ht – oh, very well, she hadn’t been upright, not coet away from Marcus that she’d turned too quickly, slid on the daht, and in fact would have been upright inthrough the air at her

This would have been disorienting enough, except that his shoulder caught her directly in her s, and they both tu squarely on top of her

That hen Honoria quite possibly stopped thinking altogether

She’d never felt a ainst hers – dear heavens, ould she have done? She’d waltzed, occasionallylike this The weight of hier, there was so almost pleasant about it

Sheup at him, she couldn’t seem to find words He looked different to her She’d known thisas she could remember – hoas it possible that she had never quite noticed the shape of his mouth? Or his eyes She’d known they were brown, but it was astounding how richly colored they were, with flecks of aes of the iris And even now, they seee as heto kiss her? Marcus?

Her breath caught And her lips parted And so within her clenched with anticipation, and all she could think was –

Nothing Or at least that was all she should be thinking about, because Marcus wasof curses the likes of which she had not heard since Daniel had left the country, and then he wrenched hi a step back, and then –

"Bloody hell!"

There was a frenetic flurry ofof blasphemy that Honoria was far too sensible to take offense at With a horrified gasp, she pushed herself up on her elbows Marcus was back on the ground, and from the expression on his face, this tiht?" she asked frantically, even though it was clear he was not

"It was the hole," he bit off, gritting his teeth against the pain And then, as if it ain"

"I’ to her feet And then, because the situation clearly called for a ain "I’m very, very sorry"

He did not speak

"You must knoasn’t my intention to" She didn’t finish A strea to help her cause, and indeed, he appeared very much not to want to hear her voice

She sed nervously, taking the tiniest step in his direction He was still on the ground, not quite on his back and not quite on his side There was mud on his boots and on his breeches And on his coat

Honoria winced He wasn’t going to like that Marcus had never been overly fastidious, but it was a very nice coat

"Marcus?" she asked hesitantly