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She shook her head vigorously, rather too vigorously considering the deplorable state of her attire “It was too dark, and he approached olden buckles He se exotic spice”

Tristan gestured to the exposed undergaraze on her face “That could be any one of a hundred gentle”

She put her hand to her chest “Oh, what am I to do? Should anyone see my like this I shall be ruined beyond redemption”

Tristan suspected that was his mother’s intention

“Just give ers to his forehead and rubbed in the hope soo and find Lady Fernall,” he said turning back to face a distraught Miss Smythe “You e and see you safely home”

For a ht fall to her knees, such was the depth of gratitude expressed on her pretty face “I cannot thank you enough,your mother I would not have dared to venture out here alone” Miss Sown in a sudden fit of temper “Oh, I have often mocked those for their naivety, and now I am the most foolish of them all”

“Calm yourself, Miss Smythe” Tristan waved his hands in the hope it would help “Now, you must hide in the shrubbery and wait for Lady Fernall to arrive She will call out to you, so—”

The sound of a gentleman’s foul curse punctured the already tense air Tristan scanned the topiary hedge, the frantic shuffling of his feetof his eyes

Miss Smythe stepped closer, put her hand on his arm “Oh, we are too late, my lord”

With that, Matthew Chandler appeared froerow He stopped before theled to catch his breath

“This is not what it looks like,” Tristan said, though when it came to Chandler, he had no need to defend his actions

“I know,” Chandler said straightening “That’s why I a to the exposed curve of her soft bosom He blinked and shook his head “You have approxi around the periarden find you here”

“Bloody hell!” Tristan pushed his hand through his hair His mother kne to execute a plan to perfection “Tell me this is soive me, Miss Smythe I did not mean to curse”

Miss Smythe clutched her throat “What are we to do?”

“I would have suggested h the arch,” Chandler said, “but nuarden”