Page 22 (1/2)

"There was so ht theht of their façades They quarreled often and said unkind things Eventually, apologies were no longer enough to mend the rift between them How could they be, when they continued to repeat the ertips drifted across his firm lips "If only they’d been honest about themselves and what they needed Perhaps they could have made each other happy"

"The retted h your bedroomjust to reassure myself that you would still receive me"

"Would you have revealed the truth to me then?"

Jasper offered a rueful s you in bed would have distracted me"

"Hoiftly you tell the truth when it’s not tied to your past"

He urged her closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead Then, he walked away and spoke over his shoulder "Pull the pins fro as it takes you to let it down coame is this?"

"I intend to learn how to dance with you We cannot have every lesson delayed by interruptions, despite how pressing they ht be We need a way to measure the time spent"

"Your pocket watch will not suffice?"

"That isn’t nearly as fun"

Reaching up with both hands, she obliged Slowly Pulling out one pin and carefully lowering her ar nod, then began to follow the length of the wall "There are some individuals who lack empathy for others They are unable to create or sustain emotional connections, and their vision of the world is limited to their own viewpoints"

"My stepfather was such a person Chilcott was entirely self-absorbed"

Jasper’s voice rose to co distance between theue is also cursed with aberrant sexual appetites"

Eliza paused in the act of withdrawing another pin "How do you know this?"

"I have crossed paths o his eye He prefers unwilling partners and the infliction of pain My understanding is he cannot perfor…" Her sto forced to share the intiress with someone as cruel and malicious "How does one acquire such deviant tastes?"

"Through the blood, perhaps? Or a defect of the soul" He shrugged "Who knows?"

Her hands fell to her sides She walked toward hi to fall around her shoulders "Why didn’t you tell s from me?"

"When could I have told you?"

"Don’t be coy!"

He altered direction to meet her halfway, his booted steps reat s to spare you such sordidness I knew you were decided againstof Lord Montague’s activities very slim indeed"

"I would not have met with him yesterday if I’d known!" As she reached him, her hands went to her hips "And you and I would not have quarreled"

"I also feared ould happen if he discovered you knew of his darker nature Your face is so expressive You will not be able to hide your condeood name is all he has left He cannot afford to have it sullied by gossip"

Although she didn’t approve of hisHe wanted to protect her in every respect "Do you think he’s the one who has been plaguing me?"

"I wouldn’t put it past hier "He is teetering on the verge of utter ruination He’s gambled away or sold every non-entailed property, and he does not have the s he has left His debts are such that he’s being denied credit Soon, he will have nowhere to turn"

"And yet you’re considering investing with hi?"