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There were soh Hyde Park, despite the torturously slow pace of the congestion and the need for endless sood days The soft breeze and gentle war, and the need to prepare quick and appropriate responses to greetings kept her thoughts free of Jasper

"You see yourself today, Miss Martin," the Earl of Montague said froreed-upon outing in a new and clearly expensive curricle When he first began pursuing her in earnest, she’d wondered why a peer of seeed interest in her of all people Then she learned he h prudence--and luck--at the ga tables It was a clever ruse and one few bothered to delve into

She looked at hiate the social waters without bus "Is it so obvious that I usually do not?"

"Not so obvious, no," he said, while deftly handling the ribbons He h the e Drive with ad close attention to you, Miss Martin And I collect that you have little interest in Society as a whole"

"To put it bluntly, rinned, his teeth white despite the shadow cast by the brim of his hat Of all her suitors, she would say he was the lossy she thought it ht feel like silk if she touched it, and his eyes were extremely expressive Similar in color to Jasper’s, but nowise near as shuttered

"I understand," he went on, "that a woman loses a measure of freedo, to be sure"

"And I appreciate your reticence You see, I’ve coeneral perplex you"

Eliza’s brows rose "You have?"

"I realize noas going about this business of courting you all wrong Most wo--flowers and tokens of affection, focused attention, and the like"

"The flowers you send weekly are lovely," she said autoht it a shas to be cut away froratified you think so But I believe you wouldn’t esture You would not experience hurt feelings or attribute emotional reasons to enuine s a charm in it she’d missed previously It was an aftereffect of Jasper that she was now overly attentive to other males She wanted to discern why the thief-taker affected her so strongly

"I areed, adjusting the angle of her parasol to better shield her face The slightest touch of sun on her nose would result in more freckles