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Her hand shook, the contents of her glass sloshing dangerously near the sides She inhaled an indignant breath She was not one to lose her teht not have had the finest education, but the ht her to read and write beside the evening fire in their snity

About what it meant to possess true character

Who was this jackanapes to ht have been born royal, but he clearly lacked any true sense of nobility

"Well, you said you wanted to wed one of the wealthiest heiresses in England, and posthaste It’s not even the Season yet, Sev Half the ton is wintering in the country The Hadley girls are perhaps the best to be had"

"Bloody hell" He ran a strong, capable-looking hand through hair that was longer than fashionable Perhaps that was the style in his homeland "I should have taken that ship for Aree I can’t present sonoble roots as the future queen of Maldania Grandfather would perish on the spot"

She sed He was a king ? Or soon to be? She stood an arm’s throw froed for horeen and woods so thick one could lose herself forever That was holittering chandeliers and liveried servants with silent, watchful gazes was not

In her world princes existed only in the safety of fairy tales, and there they werewell, princely Honorable and charnoble roots They didn’t sneer at the mention of someone like her No They would look her in the eyes, see the beauty within, and sweep her off her feet

He continued crisply, "Soloh to wed soed ht? If not, then let’s waste no more of our time and take our leave I have an audience with the queen on the morrow Perhaps she will have a recommendation"

Grier seethed Indeed Take your leave

"I’er I spot the lovely Lady Kirkendale beckoning you Apparently she did not get enough of your company at the dinner party she hosted last week"

"Evidently not" The prince’s voice took on a decidedly lascivious tone and she could well guess at the lewd turn of his thoughts "She served a welcome diversion"

Grier felt her lip curl at the prince’s mild tones Lady Kirkendale was a married woman Apparently he wasn’t too noble to dally with a er," he continued lightly "Shenot a total loss"

"It needn’t be a loss Look, there’s Lady Libbie I did not realize she was in attendance this eve Her father is an earl with deep pockets He made a fortune in railway You ave you You should hter certainly exceeds the thoroughly ineligible Hadley chits you suggested"

Again, that cool, unfeeling tone chafed her nerves

"The kind of chits you wed, not bed, eh? That it?" Malcolreed

That did it!

Before she could stop herself, Grier peeled back a handful of fronds and lifted her glass high, watching in rapt horror as her hand tilted the cup high over his dark-haired head, tilting, tilting

She watched as if the hand were not her own The glass someone else’s

The moment the lemon water struck his head, he burst out with an exclae--an expletive, she was certain frorowl-like sound She took immense satisfaction at the reaction

Grier ju the fronds settle back into place She held her breath, everyas if that wouldaround, he swiped a large hand at the frothy green fronds, clearly deter

His incensed gaze landed on her The breath she had been holding escaped her in a hiss at the sight of his glowering face Not precisely what she had been expecting Where was the weak-chinned dandy? The pale-faced aristocrat who couldn’t even lift a dainty hand to blow his own nose?

She scowled, exceedingly discoold eyes GoldShe would not have thought such eyes were possible

She finally found her breath again, recalling how to operate her lungs A ragged breath broke froance derived froeous

Those extraordinary eyes gleaaze drifted to the cup she clutched in her fingers The now empty cup She rapidly tucked it behind her skirts

A sound that sounded suspiciously like a growl ru, she snapped herself fro your pardon," she said in a sweetly false voice "Did I spill my drink on you? How clumsy of"It’s such a ed"

She alest that she had spilled her drink accidentally --through a potted plant no less--onto hithat no one stood near her

Malcolm, his cousin with the shock of red hair, stared wide-eyed at her There was aze It was alnized her And, she realized, he very well could Especially if she’d ed the his long-lost daughters to a bevy of fortune-hunting bluebloods

"U hand

That gesture, that swift slice of his hand through the air, said everything about hi obeyed That he would expect nothing less than total deference All for the mere matter of his birth

A foul taste filled her ht line of his nose at her Sadly, Grier knew firsthand that thein this world It e just how ree had entleman would show the world that she wasShe would become a proper, respectable lady, and no one would dare toss slurs upon her again