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“Ah, but he’ll rise again to—er—fight another day,” he said

“I daresay” She turned fully toward the painting andin it Again Surely she’d seen equally beautiful works—in the Louvre, for instance But this

Its owner arded it in silence, an acute physically conscious one on her part

“Venus’s expression intrigues ”

“There’s one difference between ”

“Somebody must think,” she said “And it does so often seem to be the women”

“I alonder why they don’t go to sleep, too,” he said

“I couldn’t say,” Leonie said She truly couldn’t Her understanding of the physical act between men and women, while as detailed and precise as her eldest sister could make it, was in no way based on personal experience—and this was not the tiine the experience, she reminded herself Business came first, last, and always Especially now “What occupies me is a lady’s outward appearance”

She opened her reticule, withdrew a save it to him It was a beautiful card, as of course itthe foremost establish card and elegantly engraved and colored, it was nonetheless a trade card for Maison Noirot, Dressmakers to Ladies of Fashion, No 56 St James’s Street

He studied it for a time

“I’m one of the proprietresses,” she said

He looked up froaze “You’re not the one more?”

She couldn’t be surprised he was a cousin of her newest brother-in-law All the Great World seemed to be related to one another, and the Fairfax fae in its s and vines

“That’s my sister Sophy,” she said “For future reference, she’s the blonde one” That was the way Society thought of the three proprietresses of Maison Noirot, she knew: the Three Sisters—sometimes the Three Witches or French Tarts—the brunette, the blonde, and the redhead

“Right And one of you is married to the Duke of Clevedon”

“My sister Marcelline She’s the brunette”

“How good of your parents to make you easy to tell apart,” he said “And how kind of you to explain Were I to more for you, and make a stab at flirtation, her brute of a spouse would try to do me a violence, to the detri it”

Leonie was an experienced businesswo lady She examined the neckcloth in a businesslike reat deal ht to be

Below the finely chiseled angle of his jaw, his neckcloth was not only iht have been carved of marble

The rest of his dress was inhumanly perfect, too So were his face and physique

The inner woood tiarded the neckcloth with a critical eye “You employed your time to excellent effect,” she said

“Not that it makes the least difference,” he said “No one looks at the other fellohen he’s about”

“He,” she said

“My poetical cousin I’m overburdened with cousins Oh, there they are now, blast it”

She beca from the central staircase

She turned that way as hats and heads rose into view Torsos soon followed After a roup, allery in which she stood There they caree of unladylike pushing and elbowing The clump of women opened up to entle with theatrical flair

“Him,” Lord Lisburne said

“Lord Swanton,” she said

“Who else could it be, with two dozen girls looking up at hi the same besotted expression”

Leonie’s gaze took in the woer, except for a handful of e of Lord Swanton’s worshippers and their reluctant attendants she spied Sophy’s new sister-in-law, Lady Clara Fairfax, looking bored Her ladyship stood with a plain young wo

Leonie’s spirits soared She’d co to add to her clientele This was more than she’d dared to hope for

For aAlmost She beat down her excitement and turned her attention back to Lord Lisburne

“Thank you,like the unfortunate artist’s easel,” she said “Thank you for choosing that particular painting to lend to the exhibition I don’t care for scenes of violence, which see But this experience was sublime”

“Which experience, exactly?” he said “Our acquaintance has been short but eventful”

She was teood at it Moreover, in addition to being beautiful he was a noble that, popular or not, was probably priceless Beyond a doubt he owned several hundred other priceless or at least stunningly costly objects, along with two or three ie expanses of Great Britain If—or more likely, when—he took a wife and/or set up a e, horses, etc etc—and,

But the girl, Clara’s friend, looked out of sorts and seemed ready to bolt A prize like that didn’t turn up every day Leonie had already obtained Lord Lisburne’s attention, in any event He’d saunter into the shop one of these days, if she was any judge of men

“It has, indeed,” Leonie said “However, I came on business”

“Business,” he said

“Ladies,” she said “Dresses” Sheher ense for this event “Advertising”

Then she made a quick c

urtsey and started toward Lord Swanton and his acolytes She heard a muffled sound behind her, but she couldn’t take the ti on Lady Clara’s arm

Leonie walked more quickly

Eyes on Lady Clara’s companion, she didn’t see the canvas cloth in her way

The toe of her brodequin caught on it and she pitched forward

She are of a collective gasp, interspersed with titters, as she went down, arracefully

Lisburne hadn’t noticed the artist’s cloth, either He was too busy taking in the rear view of Miss Noirot, though he’d already fully eth—at a distance as well as at improperly close quarters—while she stood before the Botticelli, oblivious to hi else When she’d turned to look up at hi Botticelli’s Venus had come to life: the saly imperfect nosethe ripe ht or troublesoly determined chin

His ht have wandered into indecorous fantasies but his reflexes were in sharp working order He ht her, and swept her up into his arms in one smooth movement

Ladies’ dress had only grown land, nearly six years ago It was hard to tell which parts of a girl were real and which were created for artistic effect While he appreciated artistic effect, he was happy to discover that what seeloriously shapely for by the warm parts hich he was in contact, her body was as lavishly rounded as he’d supposed She sood, too

He saw her eyes widen—eyes of a vivid blue that put sapphires and Tuscan skies to shahtly