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"Terrifying?"

"Devious," he amended

"I’m not sure which I prefer"

He chuckled, a low, hearty rumble that echoed from his body to hers Then his face sobered "We will have to be getting back"

"I know," she said with a sigh "We will be missed"

"I won’t, but you will"

"I can always tell ht whatever it was that afflicted Sarah Which is to say, nothing, but nobody knows that but Sarah" She pressed her ether in a peevish line "And hed again, then leaned down and kissed her lightly on the nose "If I could, I would stay here forever"

She sh her like a kiss "I was just thinking that this is just like heaven"

He was silent for a moment, and then, so softly she wasn’t sure she heard him correctly, he whispered, "Heaven couldn’t possibly compare"

Chapter Twenty-two

Luckily for Honoria, her hair had not been dressed in an elaborate style What with the extra rehearsals that afternoon, there hadn’t been time for it So it was not difficult for her to replicate the coiffure

Marcus’s cravat was another story No matter what they did, they could not restore its crisp, intricate knot

"You will never be able to let your valet go," Honoria told hiht need to increase his wages"

"I already told Lady Danbury he stabbed me," Marcusnot to smile," she said, "because it’s not funny"

"And yet it is"

She held out as long as she could "It is"

He grinned down at her, and he looked so happy, so carefree It e and yet how splendid that her happiness could be so dependent on the happiness of another

"Let me try," he said, and he took the ends and positioned himself in front of her mirror

She watched hi to have to go home"

His eyes did not leave the reflection of his neckcloth in the ot past the first knot"