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"No!" Quin aling to drag hiet up" And he did, bones protesting,drop," he said aloud, as if telling himself would make it true "And the branches surely slowed my fall"

"Nonsense," Olivia said crossly "You could have been killed You never should have climbed that tree after ave her a scowl and started walking, slowly and painfully He could tell already that he would be fine But da trees

"Yes," she said baldly "You are too old" Then she added, "How old are you?"

"Thirty-two," he said "But at the o did you lose Alfie?"

He didn’t look at her, just walked "It will be five years in October"

"You , and words flowed from somewhere, so he said them "I had just come back from France and Gereline’s first season as well I didn’t meet her the first two ht?" she suggested

"Soht he was capable of love But he had certainly been capable of fascination Not totoward theo home!" he shouted "You’d better walk faster, Quin She’s as cross as a teakettle on the boil"

Olivia gave a littletoward the cart

But Quin had lived through a thousand of his aunt’s tempests, and he was in no condition toabout what it ht

He knew that particular capacity was burned out of him, or perhaps it just wasn’t part of his character He really couldn’t iine anyone in his i such an emotion Still, he couldn’t help but wish that he’d eline Olivia was the kind of woht

Unless one had a heart like a withered turnip, which was about the condition of his

Fifteen

"Turdy-fancy-nasty-paty-lousy-fartical rogue!"

"So you flew a kite and then you cliiana’s brow furrowed "It sounds most peculiar tomeal

"The kite was stuck in the tree," Olivia explained

Georgiana put down her cup of tea "When are you going to grow up, Olivia?" Her tone was uncharacteristically sharp

Olivia felt a pucker of hurt "I consider iana said, counting off the fingers on her left hand "You think it’s a Lucy into the house when you know that you could simply put her in the stables; Rupert would never be the wiser You jest about with Lord Justin as if you and he were the sa sixteen"

"I could not lie to Rupert about Lucy," Olivia said, seizing on the easiest of her sister’s points to defend

Georgiana shrugged "Do you think that the whole table didn’t hear you and Lord Justin laughing this evening? How do you think we felt, trying to have a serious conversation when all you care about is funning? The duchess said to Lady Sibblethorp that she felt as if she should take the nursery furniture out of Holland covers I was humiliated"