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“So…he ht well reverse his decision and restore Max to his position as heir”

“I’d say that’s what someone believes”

“And if Max is dead…”

“Someone is safe”

“Have you any idea who that someone is?”

“Word is it’s probably the cousin, Harold, but no one knows for sure I’ll keep my ears open, if you like”

“Thank you, I would like”

Jemmy’s warm lips brushed her nape

Aphrodite felt herself tingle all over, and it was as if they had not been lovers for these nized his, readied itself for his, she was his, and always had been It was just that she had not realized it until it was too late And that hy she would never allow Marietta to make the same mistake—to turn her back on love

Jeain, and his hand slid inside her chemise, with its narrow band of lace, and cupped her breast Aphrodite sighed with pleasure, and put aside her own concerns, as she turned into her lover’s welco arms

That night in Berkley Square, Marietta found herself too restless to sleep Her h she had told Aphrodite she was not nervous, she was Excited and nervous, all at the same time Max would help to teach her to be the best courtesan in London, after her mother that is One day she would wear the fine clothes and the jewelry, to sho many lovers she had had and how successful she had been

She snuggled down under the covers, trying to iine what Max would think of her if he were to meet her many years into the future Would he boast that he was the one who taught her to kiss, or would he listen to Harold and cut her dead? But then again, she re in Cornwall—it was doubtful she would ever see him once he left London

The thought unaccountably depressed her, but then she cheered herself up by re sub with Max and kissing him, if he’d let her Never mind, she’d find a way to persuade hiht with a smile, but there was also an awful lot that she could teach him

And then there was her father She hardly dared to iine what he would be like, and whether she would feel a closeness to hiht, and Vivianna told her about Fraser, and how she felt when she first rew to love hi the same blood that formed a bond between two people, no matter how you tried to deny it

Marietta turned over and her eye caught the sober glea on her bedside table Aphrodite’s diary Vivianna had given it to her, telling her that Aphrodite had once presented it to her to read “She has added to it over the years, but do not expect to find your father’s name in there,” she said “I think it will help you to understand our mother a little better”