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“You lose, Malcolratulate the other contestant as re a corpse

Was it only dissolute aa to heat the blood

She watched froed the woman away to the bushes to claim his prize After her waltz with Matthew, she understood the need to rouse lust in a man But lust was easily sated A woman needed to woe a man with more than her body

Priscilla returned to her bed If the flurry of illicit activities in the garden were anything to go by, the party would soon be at an end

Recalling Isabella’s comnoring shrieks and banging doors to concentrate on her plans for tomorrow

The sound of raised voices travelled up from the hall Deep,of incoherent sentences In the distance, the rue wheels on the cobblestones convinced her the guests were departing

It would not be long now

After a period of constant noise that left a thru in her ears, the house fell silent

The trudge of footsteps on the stairs and the creak of floorboards on the landing alerted her to Matthew’s presence At least he’d not gone out on another one of his mysterious appointments Many London streets were unsafe in the daytientle forced out of his conveyance by a broken carriage wheel

As she strained to listen out for hisIn the end, she crept into the dressing roo door

Mattheas pacing about in his chamber The clink of crystal led her to conclude he kept a decanter of liquor by his bed Perhaps the effort it took to entertain scoundrels took its toll

A loud sigh forced her to her knees to peer through the keyhole Though the rooe of the bed, well, one half of hilass and placed the vessel on the floor before tugging on his cravat Pulling the material from around his neck, he threw it onto the bed The waistcoat soon followed, along with his stockings and shoes Jued his shirt fro loose

Priscilla pressed her eye closer to the keyhole, but it wasn’t the cold draught breezing through that forced her to draw back Matthew had dragged his shirt over his head to reveal his muscular torso

Heavens

Her heart haainst her ribs