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"Quiet!"

She shut herabout her wasn't right Carlotta De Leon was Spanish … well, half-Spanish at least, and this girl looked English through and through Her hair couldn't be called blond, but it was definitely a light shade of brown, and even in the dark night he could see that her eyes were a clear bluish-green

Not to ed with the po out of Oliver Prewitt's house In the dead of night With all the servants dismissed She had to be Carlotta De Leon There was no other explanation

Blake--and the War Office, which didn't precisely eive him orders and the occasional bank draft--had been after Oliver Prewitt for nearly six months now The local authorities had known for sooods to and froun to suspect that he was allowing Napoleonic spies to use his s with his usual cargo of brandy and silk Since Prewitt's boat sailed from a little cove on the southern coast between Portsinally paid s froly inconvenient location had made for an excellent ruse, and the War Office feared that Napoleon's forces had been using hio they had discovered that Prewitt's contact was one Carlotta De Leon--half-Spanish, half-English, and one hundred percent deadly

Blake had been on the alert all evening, as soon as he'd learned that all of the Prewitt servants had been given the night off--an uncoy as Oliver Prewitt Clearly so was afoot, and Blake's suspicions were confirirl slip out of the house under the cover of darkness So she was a trifle younger than he'd supposed--he wasn't going to let her guise of innocence deter hi youth Who would suspect such a lovely young lady of high treason?

Her long hair was pulled back into a girlish braid, her cheeks had that pink, well-scrubbed look, and …

And her delicately boned hand was slowly reaching doard her pocket

Blake's finely tuned instincts took over His left ar her hand off course as he lunged forward He hit her with all his weight, and they turound She felt soft beneath hiun in her cloak pocket If he'd had any doubts of her identity before, they were now gone He grabbed the pistol, shoved it in his waistband, and stood back up, leaving her sprawled on the ground

"Very amateur, my dear"

She blinked, then muttered, "Well, yes That's to be expected as I'h I do have some experience with …"

Her words trailed off into an unintelligibleto him or herself "I've been after you for nearly a year," he said sharply

That got her attention "You have?"

"Not that I kneho you were until last o"

"You're not?"

Blake stared at her in irritated confusion What was her game? "Do you think I'm an idiot?" he spat out