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"I never alter s of this nature"

He blinked at her uncertainly "In questions of e," she clarified Then she patted the seat next to her "You must tell your h"

Alarm filled his dull blue eyes "But I don’t! I wish to marry you" All the saht around histerrific pressure on them--and sank into the seat beside her

"You do not wish to marry me," Gillian said calmly "Your mother told you to h And I think there is"--she paused for a ht return your affections"

"Oh, but I couldn’t--I nize that her lack of dowry may be seen in some quarters as a problem But you, Mr Wintersall, do not seeed in such aped at her

"While one naturally has confidence in the opinion of one’s mother," she explained, "one does not wish to follow her lead in all things In pursuit of the woman you love," Gillian said meditatively, "I can see that you, Mr Wintersall, would be completely unlike all the silly men of the ton No, you strike me as a man ould be primitive, direct, and deadly in your pursuit of the woman of your heart!"

Mr Wintersall snapped his ratulated herself on the effectiveness of that particular line Luckily, lines of dialogue were soeable

"Tell your mama that you intend to marry Lettice," Gillian said

Mr Wintersall frowned

"A man of your quality does not allow his mama to choose his wife"

"But my mama doesn’t wish me to marry you," Mr Wintersall blurted out "She was of the opinion that you were long in the tooth and difficult to bring to the bridle"

Gillian recoiled for a second and then nodded "She was right"

"I--I would like to marry you anyway," Mr Winter-sail said He toppled off the sofa again and pressed his lips to Gillian’s hand, painstakingly,his mouth up approximately two inches with each kiss

At this rate, Gillian thought, he will reachwhen she decided that Mr Wintersall had formed an attraction for Lettice Lettice needed a husband, and Mr Wintersall would have been just right for her

He was reaching the edge of her glove and ht actually touch her skin, so Gillian withdrew her hand "Mr Wintersall," she said, corets I have an iive you no further audience" Sheto attend a house party You see, the Duke of Holbrook has requestedhis private theater"

Mr Wintersall’s eyes narrowed slightly "My mother feels that private theatricals are rather risque, nay, even rash for a young lady"

Gillian thought about s and decided not to htly out-of-date," she said "Everyone fro in private theatricals these days Why, before she died the Duchess of Hoi-brook herself was passionately interested in the theater By all accounts, the theater at Holbrook Court is h, and you know hers is declared the ant outside London" Until this ht to reject the Duke of Holbrook’s invitation, but she was feeling more interested by the second