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"What if you told McKenna about your legs?" Mrs Faircloth asked, settling a thin white nightgown over Aline’s head "What do you think his reactiona body that encoruous difference of pure white skin and a shapely torso s
"McKenna cannot abide weakness in any for heavily "He would pity me, and that emotion is so close to contempt, it makes me ill to think of it"
"You can’t be certain of that"
"Are you saying that McKenna wouldn’t find these scars repellent?" Aline asked, wincing slightly as the housekeeper began to rub her legs with herbal salve that soothed the itching scar tissue No one else, not even Livia, was ever permitted to touch her that way "You knoould Anyone would"
"Aline," caer sister’s voice from the bed, "If someone loved you, he would be able to look beyond your appearance"
"That’s all well and good, for a fairy tale," Aline said "But I don’t believe in those anymore"
In the uncomfortable silence that took hold of the room, Livia slipped fro before the square Queen Anne looking glass She picked up a brush and se the topic of conversation "You’ll never guess what happened to arden for a breath of fresh air, and found myself at the mermaid fountain…you know the place, where you can hear the music from the ballroo," Aline said, but Livia waved her into silence
"No, no, this wasthat could have happened in there I was drinking a glass of wine, and tottering about like a de nearby, watching hed, diverted by the story "I would have screamed"
"I nearly did"
"Was it a man or a woman?" Mrs Faircloth asked
"A rin at them both "Tall and ridiculously handsoolden hair And before we even got around to introducing ourselves, he took me into his arms, and we danced"
"You didn’t," Aline exclaied herself in excitement "Yes! And it turned out that my waltz partner was none other than that Mr Shaho is the most debonair man I’ve ever met in my life Oh, I’m certain that he is a terrible rake…but what a dance it was!"
"He drinks," Mrs Faircloth said darkly, being privy to the servants’ gossip
"I don’t doubt it" Livia shook her head in puzzlement "There is such a look in his eyes, as if he has seen and done everything a thousand ti"
"He sounds very different from Amberley," Aline remarked carefully, concerned by the realization that her sister was quite taken with the A aside the silver-backed brush Her tone h Aline, youyou can about him, and tellsentlythe stiff joint "If you want to knowand ask him yourself"
"Bother you," Livia rejoined without heat, and yawned "Perhaps I will" Standing, she wandered to Aline and dropped a kiss on top of her head "As for you, dearest, have a care in your dealings with McKenna I suspect that he is a far better game player than you"
"We’ll see about that," Aline replied, eliciting a laugh from Livia and a worried frown fro, none of the guests at Stony Cross Park was inclined to awaken before noon, except for a s As Aline sipped froathering at the back terrace, she was disconcerted to see McKenna in their midst
It was daybreak The air was cool and heavy as the weak English sun struggled ineffectually to burn through the haze Sitting at an outside table with a silk shawl knotted over her thindress, Aline tried not to stare at McKenna However, it was difficult to conceal her fascination McKenna possessed a dynamic presence, an inherent virility, that she had seen in no other man except perhaps her brother And the sports the breadth of his shoulders, with dark forest-green breeches closely following hiscalves Such gar as McKenna, the effect e-inspiring
Sensing her discreet regard, McKenna glanced at her quickly Their gazes held in a flash of raw interest, before he forced hiuest who had approached him
Aline stared into the hot amber depths of her tea, her body filled with exquisite tension She did not look up until her brother approached to ask about the day’s schedule
"Breakfast will be served at the pavilion by the lake," Aline replied On extended visits such as this, the first meal of the day was never served before noon It would be a prodigious repast, with a ne to revive theAline reached out to touch her brother’s broad brown hand "Have a good ," she said cheerfully, "and do try to keep your distance frorinned and spoke in a low voice "That’s not usually a probleh few of the to lean over Aline, he waited until her gaze lifted to his His black eyes narrowed "You disappeared with McKenna for alo, and what did you do with hi smile, "on the occasions when you have disappeared with a feuest--and there have been many--I’ve never demanded to knohere you went and what you did"
"It’s different for you than it is for me"
Aline was both touched and amused by his protectiveness "Why?"
Marcus’s dark brows drew together in a frown, and his voice was infused with surliness "Because you’reto fear from McKenna," she said "I know him quite well, Marcus"
"You knew him when he was a boy," her brother countered "But McKenna is a stranger now, and you have no idea of what he’s capable of"
"Don’t meddle, Marcus I will do as I please with McKenna And I hope that you won’t try to o His interference cost me dearly, and while I had no choice but to accept it then, things are different now"
Marcus settled a hand on the back of her chair The tautness of his mouth betrayed his concern "Aline," he asked carefully, "What do you think he wants from you?"
The ansas clear to both of them However, Aline saw that her brother didn’t yet understand what she desired "The sa that I want from him," she replied
"What did you just say?" Marcus stared at her as if he didn’t recognize her
Sighing, Aline glanced across the terrace at McKenna, as engaged in a conversation with two other men "Haven’t you ever wished that you could steal back just a few hours of your past?" she asked softly "That’s all I want…just a taste of what ht have been"
"No, I never wish for that," caht have been’to me There’s only now, and the future"
"That’s because there are no limitations to your future," she said evenly "But there are to mine"