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Chapter 29

Lil, her hand tucked around Martin’s arh Covent Garden He had taken her to see a play about a Scottish king whose as reat deal of bloodshed She’d loved it, even if sometimes it was a little hard to follow

“Never mind,” he’d said, “you can choose next time”

So, she thought, there was to be a next time

So about the place called out, pursing their rouged lips and wriggling their hips

Lil stuck her nose up in the air and pretended not to notice Martin only laughed, calling out that he was taken and to mind their manners in front of a lady

That had caused even more hilarity

Except that his words made Lil want to cry

They walked a bit farther, but the joy had gone out of the evening for her and she wanted nothing o home and lock herself in her room and hide She couldn’t bear for him to hate her, and yet Lil knew she had been in this exact same place once before, when she’d been too scared to tell Mr Keith the truth She’d run away and retted it bitterly

I don’t want to run away this time

But what if she told hiust? Or simply walked away from her? She’d curl up and die, she would!

“Lil, what is it?” He atching her with his eyes sparkling and a hint of a sn and found a shilling”

“It’s nothing, really”

“Was it those silly girls back there? You shouldn’t take any notice of the what they can to make a livin’ We mustn’t think any worse of them for it”

He sounded sincere She almost trusted him Perhaps tomorrow she’d tell him, or the day after…