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‘You think too e,’ she’d told hiht For theIt was hell on his libido

‘Edge?’

He dragged hihts

‘What?’

‘All I ask is that you listen to me before you say no or call me mad Because it is a little mad, well, more than a little But I think, perhaps, it could benefit us both Well, benefit ht offer so yet, please Just listen Please’

Her hands rose, two pale s hiling with far greater disappointment than he wanted to credit This did not sound like the proposition he’d begun to iine

‘Very well I a’

‘I know you have more important matters on your mind, but all I ask is that you consider it And I mean truly consider it, not just be your proper self and say you will consider it while you tell yourself inside that this is only Sa foolish Sam’

‘Sa I can do, within reason, then I shall’

She laughed and dropped her hands

‘Within reason That is a matter of opinion’

‘Sam!’

She breathed in sharply and almost exhaled the words

‘I want you to marry me’

She ht in the sternum with a cannonball and had less of an impact He even pressed his hand to his chest as ice-cold shock burst through him The closest he’d felt to this hen the unseen French voltigeur’s shot caught him in the shoulder that day at the foothill of the Pyrenees Disbelief and denial had been as powerful as the pain As if by a force of will he could unmake those fateful moments