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Elise&039;savoided her whenever possible He acted as if she had the plague, and it had begun to greatly annoy her What of it if they were both developing feelings for each other? The rules of society no longer governed her They were on equal ground now, yet he treated her as if she was either too good for hiant man," she muttered as she quickly made her way to a nearby strea won&039;t think you are as pretty, and he won&039;t like you"

She glanced down to see Dawn staring up at her Elise hadn&039;t noticed the girl squatting beside the water She bent beside Dawn

"How a person looks on the outside is not as important as what kind of person he or she is on the inside," Elise told the girl "If you truly love so about theether "This is about ain, isn&039;t it?"

"It&039;s about everyone," Elise countered "I&039;ve known soly on the inside And I wouldn&039;t want Sterling to like irl lifted a brow "Isn&039;t that the reason you like Sterling? I mean, because he&039;s so handso is ood-hearted, considerate most of the time, and honorable, well, most of the time"

"Most of the time?" Dawn looked as if she expected explanations

"He did promise to teach ation" Annoyance washed over Elise "Philip says we are to perform at a fair in three days&039; time and I&039;m not ready"

"I can teach you" Dawn&039;s voice was very slanced around the clearing "I used to watch Marguerite practice I can teach you, but my parents mustn&039;t find out They like to believe they&039;ve sheltered me"

"I see" Elise lifted a brow "So this would be a secret, just between the two of us?"

Cocking her head to the side, Dawn considered "Yes," she answered, then grinned "I&039;ve never had hed "Everyone should have a secret or two, all their very own"

"Do you have secrets?"

Yes, she had secrets from the caravan troupe They did not know about her uncle And if she was honest with herself, she had another secret Elise strongly suspected that she was in love with the Beast Ta her before, not even her uncle

"If you dance like Marguerite used to dance, Sterling will like you again, I proirl, but on the inside, she ad to like her In fact, she veryher to become impossible for him Maybe the child knewlost hiood-sized and should line the troupe&039;s pockets well, but he would not earn his keep tonight He&039;d told Philip that he didn&039;t feel up to a perforarded him differently They were uneasy with him, hat they sensed lurked beneath his skin Philip hadn&039;t pressed hie a fee for anyone brave enough to have a look

Although Sterling couldn&039;t fault Philip&039;s enterprising genius, he didn&039;t like the thought of people gawking at his cats through the bars Raja and Leena were perfor theawked at, it was he

"I have been waiting for you to slip into ht now that you have tired of the pale-faced woman"

He hadn&039;t noticed Mora&039;s approach "I do not care to share your wagon, Mora, or anything else with you," he said

She grabbed his arm "Now that you have tired of her, why not take what I offer? She is nothing but a pasty-faced English girl Nothing but a silly child who could not please you beneath your pelts She is - "

"Do not insult Elise inhis arrasp "She is a lady and has not shared my bed"

The snake charmer&039;s dark eyes widened "All this tion and you did not take her? Why would you deny yourself?" Now Mora&039;s eyes narrowed "Unless she has bewitched you Unless she has stolen inside of your cold heart and claimed it for her own Only a man who cares for a woman would treat her with respect"

He didn&039;t deny Mora&039;s accusations What was the point? A man could lie to himself, but he could never lie to his heart Elise had stolen it, maybe from the very firstupon his cot Denial He thought it ht save him, but in the end, he knew that it would not

"She is a fool ears her love for you openly, but you are an even bigger fool You are not like her You are like me"

He shook his head "No I&039;h slipped past his lips "I&039;m not like anyone you know of, or ever will Stay away fro with the crowd He felt woive thehts Would she dance tonight? Could he stand to watch her? Could he bear to stay away?

Elise&039;s stomach twisted Her skin felt cold and clammy She stood in the shadows, too dazed to listen to Philip&039;s introduction of her Philiptorches An expectant hush fell over the crowd