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Chapter One

Greenwich, November 1882

THERE WAS NO WAY FOR Miss Rose Sweetly to set down her packages All six of them were balanced precariously under one arers encountered used pencil nubs and a letter folded in half; her burdens shifted slightly, sliding away… If that dratted key ring was not in this pocket, and in the opposite instead—ah!

Thu her find in triumph when a voice interrupted

“Good afternoon, Miss Sweetly”

The sound of Mr Shaughnessy’s voice—that lilting velvet—set the inevitable in motion First the book wrapped in paper slipped; then, as she grabbed for that, her notebook began to fall She could co avalanche of packages resulting froravity Rose had time to make only one decision: save her slide rule or save the shopping?

Her slide rule won She grabbed hold of the leather case with her fingertips just before it hit the ground

Her other burdens were not so lucky Splat went the book The shopping landed with a s Three oranges escaped the bag entirely and bounced crazily down the pavement

Mr Stephen Shaughnessy stood two doors down from her His eyebrows rose at this minor catastrophe, and Rose felt her cheeks heat But there was nothing to do now but brazen it out

She gave him her most brilliant shnessy”

The case slipped slightly, but she reater disaster ensued

Mr Shaughnessy had taken the house just down froo In all that tied to shake the nerves she felt around hi to warrant that nervousness, unfortunately; he was unfailingly polite

As proof, he didn’t abuse her for her clumsiness now He didn’t even remark on it He simply came toward her He took three steps forward—and she drew back one—before she realized that he only intended to pick up her oranges

Any other reason he ination

She set down her slide rule carefully and picked up her shopping bag It was canvas, and most of the contents hadn’t spilled The s…well, she’d check the suspicion that she and her sister would be having oone awry She picked up an apple, not looking in his direction

But she didn’t have to look directly at hi man—scarcely a few years older than she He was tall and built on lovely, well- ladies who intended to stay innocent were not supposed to notice He had a friendly smile, one that made a woman want to smile in response, and the faintest hint of an Irish accent He had dark hair, dark eyes, and a much darker reputation

But he picked up one of the offending fruits and ses bounced, but the apples did not?”

His sht in the solar plexus And so Rose adjusted her spectacles on her nose and said the first thing that came to mind