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He said as he stopped and took her hand, “You know, you uardian to present you to the haute ton and allow you to ible bachelors … as many and as varied as possible, so that when you decide on one, it will be because you had a choice”

She eyed hiht as her heart took a pounding She would not break The night she had spent with hiation She had known full well that she ht never win his heart Apparently, she had not

“A choice, you say How very exciting Well, I suppose it all starts tonight” She started forward, but the next thing she knew, he had her spun around and back into his arms

His mouth on hers was desperate, and she responded with a heat that surely must show him how she felt about him?

His tongue roaned and stepped away, holding her shoulders apart froet control You are an innocent You ca you were vulnerable I will not do so again” He took her hand and pulled her along “This was very wrong of et back”

He saw her situated within his coach, and the short ride back to Waverly House was made in silence He saw her to the door, turned on his heel, and she bucked herself up as she went inside She had used every ounce of strength not to call him back and not look after him

She went indoors and took the stairs, onlyroom and watched her

Throwing herself onto her bed, she couldn’t stop the wrenching sobs that escaped her lips He did not love her He was about to watch her being launched and perhaps engaged to someone else

Could she give herself to anyone else? No … oh, no …

~ Twenty-Two ~

THE DUKE PREPARED to enter the Dyson Rout and watch his sprite of a woible bachelors

Pain filled his chest, and he wondered why it felt so tight He had to back away from her; only a complete scoundrel would stand in her way

She was, as Becky had dubbed her, a entle of heart, and wild to a fault She had kept him in a busy dance from the time he had lad she was in it

What then?

He was her guardian It was his duty to see her well established There was nothing for it but to keep hith and allow her to meet and review an array of suitors He had no doubt that one of them would steal her away and that his life would forever be empty without her in it