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She lit the awful s on the cold stone floor and spotted a scribbled note

She grabbed it up and read,

Mandy,

Don’t fret

Went off on a little errand with Chauncey The duke hasn’t brought back your horse yet, so we decided not to wake you I’ll explain everything later

Don’t walk about today…just don’t Chauncey said you are to just stay put

Ned

Mandy as she often reood four minutes before him She was his elder, his confidante, his faithful friend And this was how he had treated her? Odious boy, she was going to box his ears when he got back

She poured cold water into her basin and shivered as she washed up and got dressed in the shirt and breeches she had been wearing while they were in hiding She took a few extrablonde hair and then braided it, and made her way outdoors

It was a beautiful summer day and she breathed the sweet scents of the heather in deeply and thought of the duke

He was the ant e of hi absurdly

His presence and he had such presence, sent sparks of exciteh her body She couldn’t look into his blue glittering eyes without suddenly falling apart Where was the independent young woman when he was near? Gone, that’s where He turned her into a ball of emotions that wrapped herwith her?

Yes, she was a green girl, she knew this and he was an experienced rogue What did she know about love-?

She hadn’t had eous kisses in the last few years, but she knew and understood a great deal

She and her friends had often giggled about the handsome blacksmith in town and her dearest friend Lucy had told her that she had allowed him to take her in the alley behind his shop and kiss and touch her till she swooned Lucy said sheto do more of the same