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"I don’t know Of course, you should give that some very careful consideration"

"Why?"

"Well, I could possibly conceive the next Montgo of the Church" He leaned deliberately toward her,a few chances?" he asked her softly

Maggie laughed out loud, shaking her head Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were bright Seanhiretfully, he rose There had been two gruesome murders in the parish He had to spend some time at work

She stood as he did, ready to see him out He strode the few steps between the her hands

"Will you come to dinner?"

"Home to meet your dad?" she inquired

He nodded

"I "

They had coainst his lips She arly of a soft perfume He hadn’t meant tonot quite yet, but he lowered his head to hers, found her lips, and kissed her

Gently at first He hadn’tit beyond his conscious volition, he certainly didn’t htest brush

But there was no way to kiss her lightly She wasn’t wearing a bra and the soft pressure of her breasts against his chest was alare thrust of passion tear into hiue forced entry into her an in his te She wasn’t fighting hith of her body seeainst the hardness of his own In seconds, he thought, he’d be ripping off her clothes, shoving her down to the floor

He pulled away

Just as she did

Her lips were daers to the in her stare, nor did she seery

Just shaken

Still

He knew suddenly that she was vulnerable, that a trace of innocence reance and worldliness

And it seemed that she cast out webs that settled around his heart, drawing hi in

Lust

He cleared his throat and stepped back

"Can I pick you up at about seven?"

"II don’t know--"

"All right, how about seven-thirty?"

She arched a brow Her lashes swept her cheeks, and she s out his eyes She seemed to come to some important inner decision

"Seven-thirty," she said

"Good"

"I’m anxious to meet Dad"

He nodded, and turned around quickly to leave her He didn’t want to give her a chance to change herwith her

In I860, there was life at the old Montgoain The heiress ca She was a beautiful wo was ecstatic to be in New Orleans, but she had coh sane heads were trying desperately to keep the country together, as brewing Most Louisiana plantation owners were avidly vocal and furious against the North Militia units forht and left; Louisiana quickly becai to whomp the Yankees within a feeeks

Mr Sean Canady wasn‘t so sure of victory Meg met Sean, son of Robert by his first wife, Deirdre, the very week she returned Since he held property not far away along the river, it was fitting that he call on her, offer his condolences on the recent death of her grandfather, and welco, she wasn‘t instantly smitten Or so she told herself She’d traveled, she’d seen Rome, Paris, London, Madrid She was not easily swayed, ieable It wasn’t until he left her house that she realized she was anxious to see hiain Anxious to hear his deep, resonant voice, even his ideas, his concern that the South " the Yankees

His mind fascinated her As did his dedication, his passion His underlying strength

When John Broas hanged for his insurrection at Harpers Ferry, most Northerners were irate, and most Southerners were elated-- after all, the man had hoped to arm slaves to murder their masters in their beds, not to mention the fact that he had cold-bloodedlytheht in front of their faht have held some lofty ideals, but in practice, he’d been a e that fact! But as the strife within the country increased, Sean was neither irate nor elated; he took the ; he had coedy, because they were co closer and closer to war, and what too many Southerners couldn’t see was that they had no production in the South, and that the North had an endless supply of another factor--fell just a little bit ht eyes, his dark hair, the way it curled over his forehead She loved the sound of his voice, the breadth of his shoulders, his laughter Mostly, she loved hience, the way he thought things out, the sincere way he cared for people

He asked her to marry him

She turned hi kind But she was enchanted with hiain that she couldn‘t marry, and yetshe admitted she had no desire to be with anyone else