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"You dosed hien asked, bewildered

"With one of Papa’s horse medicines Actually it’s one I developed reen apples But I know that it doesn’t agree very ith huave it to one of the stablemen when he had a stomachache, and the pooragain "That’s so cruel"

"I wouldn’t have done it," Josie said, "but I told hio away, and he wouldn’t So finally I said that I knew perfectly well that he thought I was a hog-faced sow"

"What did he do?"

"He just stared atto have any other chance at st ourselves And then he said that he could make me happy, and I would never do as well He couldn’t see anyone wanting to land"

"What an ass," Annabel said dispassionately

"He said they have standards in England" Josie looked a little teary again, but she took a deep breath "I still wouldn’t have done so as mean as dose him, except that he said he’d watched me eat and he could tell that I liked my food better than any man And then-- and then I made up my mind"

"Good He deserved it"

"But it didn’t stop what he said fro true I do love Scottish food I ate and ate while I was there, and Miss Flecknoe kept talking about how I should go on a vinegar diet, and I kept not doing it, because Ewan’s chef would ht I decided to start with vinegar and cucu, there would be bannocks and kippers and ham in the breakfast room, and before I knew it, I would have eaten"

"You can’t eat vinegar and cucuet such a ridiculous idea?"

"She says that the Duchess of Surrey’s daughter lost three stone doing that And she says that I a, I’ll never be able to en rubbed her sister’s back some more and decided to talk to Rafe about Miss Flecknoe "If you drank nothing , you would probably die Waste away"

Josie looked unconvinced "I have a long way to go before I waste away I could just stop sorave"

"It’s not safe Besides, you’ll get spots"

That was a better arguh a rather spotty spell last year, but these days her skin was as flawless and smooth as Irish crea-out kind"

"Perhaps I should just stop eating altogether," Josie said, sniffling a bit "I can’t have a season when people are calling let behind my back I just can’t I’d rather be a spinster, like Miss Flecknoe"

I drink of the vinegar she’s trying to get you to take No one would want to be with her"

"Nor yet withwo funny and loving"

"I wish that was true," Josie said heavily "But the truth is that I curve out and out And after being in Scotland, those curves just got bigger I had to leave And I si I don’t knohy I have no will power, and everyone else in the world seean brother isn’t as round as I a She’s obviously worried"

"I doubt it She lies around and sleeps all the ti a child I have no excuses"