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“Do offer the a sood ton, your family I’m certain they hat’s best for you”

Hyacinth just stared at him She had no idea what the subtext was in this conversation, but clearly she did not have all the facts And she hated being left in the dark

Gareth yanked on her ar away Hyacinth tripped over a bump in the path as she fell into place at his side “What was that all about?” she asked, breathless froh the park with a speed her shorter legs simply could not match

“Nothing,” he bit off

“It wasn’t nothing” She glanced over her shoulder to see if Lord St Clair was still behind them He wasn’t, and theagainst Gareth, who didn’t seem inclined to treat her with any exceptional tenderness and solicitude He did stop, though, just long enough for her to regain her footing

“It was nothing,” he said, and his voice was sharp and curt and a hundred other things she’d never thought it could be

She shouldn’t have said anything else She knew she shouldn’t have said anything else, but she wasn’t always cautious enough to heed her oarnings, and as he pulled her along beside hi her east toward Mayfair, she asked, “What are we going to do?”

He stopped, so suddenly that she nearly crashed into him “Do?” he echoed “We?”

“We,” she confirh her voice didn’t come out quite as firmly as she’d intended

“We are not going to do anything,” he said, his voice sharpening as he spoke “We are going to walk back to your house, where we are going to deposit you on your doorstep, and then we are going to return to my small, cramped apartments and have a drink”

“Why do you hate him so much?” Hyacinth asked Her voice was soft, but it was direct

He didn’t answer He didn’t answer, and then it beca to answer It wasn’t her business, but oh, how she wished it were

“Shall I return you, or do you wish to ith your maid?” he finally asked

Hyacinth looked over her shoulder Frances was still behind her, standing near a large elm tree She didn’t look the least bit bored

Hyacinth sighed She was going to need a lot of peppermints this time