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‘The Mother Superior was always looking for a way to rid the school of the dullards like e down’ She stared at hi him to react He’d probably planned for the rees to match his His and her mortar boards

‘They expelled you for not being academic?’

‘Well, not exactly They expelledin London But if I’d been predicted all As it would have been a slap on the wrist at the most At least, probably,’ she added, conscious she wasn’t being entirely fair ‘There were pictures on the front page of The Planet and I think some of the parents were a little concerned’

‘A little?’ Da in his eyes

‘I was sixteen Most sixteen-year-old girls aren’t locked away in stupid convent schools not even allowed to look at boys or wear anything but a hideous unifore news, always front-page news They hounded me for a bit until they realised how dull I really am But I swear I could die at one hundred after a lifeti smocks for orphaned lepers and my epitaph would read “Forirls’ school”’

‘Probably’ His voice was bleak again, the gleao in It’s getting cold and one of us has unseasonably bare legs’

Once the sun had started to set, the war air tinted with a sharp breeze whipping around Daisy’s legs She shivered, the chill running up her arms and down her spine not entirely down to the cold If she walked back into the castle everything would change

But everything was changing anyway Would it be easier if she didn’t have to do this alone? It wasn’t the proposal or the row up To accept that fairy tales were for children and that princes came in all shapes and sizes—as did earls

Not that Seb’s shape was an issue She slid a glance over at hiing to his strong thighs and the slith hidden by the shirt and fleece But her body re, the play of his muscles under her hands

No, his shape wasn’t an issue

But she had worked so hard to be independent Not traded on her parents’ na for support, albeit e it from her family?

At least she knew they loved her A e without love wasn’t to be considered Not for her She needed to make that clear so that they could move on and decide as best for the baby

‘Where’s the cook? The faithful retainers? Thecurtsies?’ Daisy expected that they would return to the library but instead Seb had led her through the baize doors and back through the tangle of passages to the kitchen She would need a ball of thread to find her way back

The whole house was a restoration project waiting to happen and the kitchen no exception but Daisy quite liked the old wooden cabinets, the ancient Aga and Monty slu a steady rhythination to see the ghosts of s utility roo out pastry on the marbled worktops Autoht filter and the focal point of the shot

Any of Daisy’s friends would strip out the cabinets, install islands and breakfast bars and folding doors opening out into the courtyard—undoubtedly creating so And yet the kitchen would lose its heart, its distinctive soul

Seb gestured to a low chair by the Aga ‘Do you want to sit there? It’s the warmest spot in the room No, there’s no one else, just me A cleaner comes in daily but I live alone’ He had opened a door that led to a pantry bigger than Daisy’s entire kitchen ‘Are you vegetarian?’

‘For a term in Year Eleven’

‘Good Anything youermreally want to eat?’ He sounded flustered and, as realisation dawned, her cheeks heated in tande to be unconancy without embarrassment

‘Oh! You et a need for beetroot and coal risotto I’ll make sure you’re the first to know’