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Hyacinth gritted her teeth The only thing worse than beingmade fun of Everyone else in London she could read like a book But with Gareth St Clair, she silanced past hi—not that she was sure why thatLady Danbury, as still s over the loss of her cane

Hyacinth fidgeted in her seat, feeling uncommonly closed-in Lord Somershall—never the slenderestonto her chair Which only forced her to scoot a little to the right, which of course put her in even closer proxi heat

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Good God, had theout for the evening?

Hyacinth picked up her program as discreetly as she was able and used it to fan herself

“Is so his head as he regarded her with curious amusement

“Of course not,” she answered “It’s merely a touch warm in here, don’t you think?”

He eyed her for one second longer than she would have liked, then turned to Lady Danbury “Are you overheated, Grandmother?” he asked solicitously

“Not at all,” came the brisk reply

He turned back to Hyacinth with a tiny shrug “It must be you,” he murmured

“Itdeterminedly forward Maybe there still was ti room Penelope would want to have her drawn and quartered, but did it really count as abandonment when there were two people seated between them? Besides, she could surely use Lord So in his seat, buainst her in a way that Hyacinth wasn’t entirely certain was accidental

Hyacinth shifted slightly to the right Just an inch—not even The last thing she wanted was to be pressed up against Gareth St Clair Well, the second-to-last, anyway Lord Somershall’s portly frame was decidedly worse

“Is soerton?” Mr St Clair inquired

She shook her head, getting ready to push herself up by planting the heels of her hands on the chair on either side of her lap She couldn’t—

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