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He paused, studying the stone, then, jaw setting, faced forward and flicked the reins Atlas picked up his pace; passing through the gates, Michael held hi the narrow lane

The night slowly faded

Today he was deter a family of his own

Wife, wife, wife, wife

The countryside closed around hireen arms, welcomed him into the woods and forests that to hili leaves Birds called and twittered; beyond the rustle of the canopies, there was no other sound to punctuate the clop of Atlas’s hooves Narrow and winding, the lane led nowhere but to the Manor, joining a wider road that led south to Lyndhurst Not far froe of Bramshaw, and Bramshaw House, his destination

He’d decided on his course soovernment concerns had demanded his attention and he’d let matters slide…when he’d realized, he’d pulled himself up short, sat down, and laid out a schedule Despite the distraction of Aidly to his self-iood time to drive down here To his necessary destiny

Leaving Sostoke overnight He hadn’t hed—preyed—on his ; it was noo o’clock, and he was deterer The die would be cast, the un—halfway arranged

A constituency matter?

You ht say that

Amelia’s question, his answer, perfectly true in its way To a sitting Mee of thirty-three unwed and been infor considered for advancee was definitely a “constituency matter”

He accepted he had to marry—indeed, he’d always assumed he would someday How else was he to establish the family he craved? Yet the years had rolled by and he’d becoh that and his close links with the Cynsters and the haut ton, increasingly cognizant of the breadth of experience the state of e encompassed, he’d become less and less inclined to pursue it