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Olivia nodded That was true enough

Georgiana’s hty smile that Olivia had never, ever, seen on her sister’s face "This is terrible of me, Olivia, but did you look closely at him when he came out of the rain?"

"No," Olivia said, mendaciously

"He--his breeches et and--oh Olivia, I think I have an idea why Juliet Fallesbury called her footfellow!"

"Who are you, and what have you done with"Did you hit your head last night, Georgie? Are you feeling yourself?"

"I’m absolutely fine and actually, I feel happier than I have in years The only thing that’s worrying me is you"

"Me?" Olivia frowned at her "I wasn’t so impolite to Sconce I ave it a second thought" Thank goodness her sister had no knowledge of that kiss

"No, no, you and Rupert! I actually couldn’t sleep last night I kept thinking about hoonderful the duke is, and the way he smiled at me--he didn’t look bored once, Olivia, not once--and then I remembered that you had to marry Rupert, and it brokeup a jaunty tone "You know I could never rub along with someone like the duke I would die from pure ennui if he launched into a display of iana said with conviction "Anyone could see that He’s a genius, and at the sa, given that hisfun of the dowager’s book What if you accidentally mock the title in her presence?"

"I expect that she would survive the shock"

"Please," Georgiana pleaded, "please, Olivia This is er intends to select her son’s bride She heard it from one of Lady Cecily’s bosoht overlook me for that honor"

"She couldn’t," Olivia said with conviction

"I wantI truly want to iana said it on a near whisper "I know that’s a terribly unladylike thing to say, but it’s true When he appeared out of the darkness to rescue us last night, it felt like the moment in a book when the hero appears And then he spoke His voice is so deep--steady and true--that I realized that he really was the prince in a fairy tale Do you knohat I ht Yes, I know exactly what yousuch a thing, let alone voicing it

"Princes have never appealed to h I will ad his mother to choose his wife If he doesn’t select her on the basis of so as idiotic as her footwear If the duke were really a hero, he would have saddled a white horse rather than running out in the rain looking like a butcher’s boy All those little details are very iroaned "Stop jesting for a ht there was no prince for ine him"

"What about the white horse?" Olivia inquired

Her sister swatted her "Be serious What I’ is that I want tobefore"