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“She’sabout the bees There!” she cried triuamot it had once contained “He hasn’t replanted yet”

“Of course not, in this heat If you knew anything about gardening, Miss Desmond—”

“I don’t need to know anything” She turned shining eyes upon hi of ancient Greek horticulture We’ll tell her it’s an experiment”

She dragged Jack off to the potting shed, where, after a brief discussion with the distracted gardener, they possessed thes

After a brief argurave, waited until he had thrown so plants into the loose soil Jack knelt beside her

“They’ll die,” he said, eying the seedlings Some were packed into dirt so deeply that only the very tops showed “It’s too hot and I’”

“Then we’ll blame it on the Greeks” Miss Desmond thrust a stray lock of hair back from her face

It was very hot, indeed The air was as thick as new-churned butter Mr Langdon had removed his coat, but his waistcoat was plastered to his shirt, which was stuck to his skin He noted that Miss Desht cheekbone He was about to offer his handkerchief when he saw a bead of perspiration trickle down fro her slender white neck, past her collarbone and on down until it disappeared at the edge of her bodice The air don suddenly found it quite impossible to breathe

Miss Deshtly and her cheeks began to glow faintly pink She scrambled up very quickly Too quickly, apparently, in the heat, because he saw her hand go to her head as she began to sway

Jack rose hastily “Miss Des out his hand to assist her

“No,” she said, backing away “Just dizzy for a moment I—”

She did not coht because she tripped on the trowel and lost her balance

Fortunately, she stumbled forwards instead of backwards, and Jack was able to catch her before she fell Unfortunately, once he’d caught her, he was presented with an interesting exao of her His hands clasped her upper araze locked with hers and, drawn like the tides to the moon, his head bent slowly until his lips htly of salt, and while his brain watched, horrified and helpless, he kissed her

Mr Atkins had no business in the garden Though Desmond had put him off in his usual urbanely evasive way, Lady Potterby had made plain her disapproval of the publisher’s unexpected visit Naturally she would not approve He carried with him that distasteful aroma of the City which only aristocrats could discern No doubt she thought hi upon a chance acquaintance with the Desmonds in order to encroach his way into noble households

Mr Atkins could not afford to be thin-skinned, however He had delayed his departure well beyond the limits of her ladyship’s patience because he must leave empty-handed, which meant he would be ruined, and he was as reluctant to face ruin as any more sensitive fellow

He had stolen into the garden because he was grasping at straws Why had Mr Langdon clutched that curious voluh it were his firstborn? Why had Miss Des man out of the house?

Hoping desperately that the answers to these questions would somehow lead him to the arden and on towards the perennial beds There he found the puzzle solved and his hopes dashed In short, he caught sight of the pair at the precisethe mind-body dichotomy

Mr Atkins’s head began to throb as he turned and headed back to his gig—and, he was certain, bankruptcy

Miss Desether shocked at first She had seen the sah she was surprised to see it in Mr Langdon’s, she’d sensed as co and instinctively backed away The trouble was, this sober young —today quite literally

Once she found herself in his arht as well let him steal his kiss—only because she was curious—and thereafter reward him with severe bodily injury These admirable intentions had been delayed of execution because the first tentative touch had softened her stony heart He was too shy to really kiss her, poorevery sort of apology

What followed in that moment could not have been more opposed to her expectations His hands slid to her back, and in an instant, it see

Miss Desmond had rarely before suffered a kiss for more than a few seconds She knew too well the consequences, especially for one of her dubious heritage Now those seconds had passed, she found herself slipping into uncharted and surprisingly stormy waters

As his ely unable to do anything but respond in kind In the next ed in the dark wave that engulfed her as his lips grew rew dark as well