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There was one other confession fro that she would not only keep to herself, but take to her grave:

Mama’s "marital duties" lesson had come in useful after all

Chapter Sixteen

When Piers opened the door of his bedcha, he’d scarcely shaken his arms free of his topcoat before he noticed a s his coat on a peg with one hand, unfolded the paper with the other, and read the single line of script:

I need to speak with you

It wasn’t signed, but he knew it could only be Charlotte And if she’d risked thisthat the corridor was ehtly on the door of her chamber

No answer

He rapped again "Charlotte"

Nothing

He tried the door latch

Locked

He freed his stickpin from his cravat and inserted the sharp end in the lock He was typically able to keep impatience and frustration at bay, but this tiers fu clattered to the floor, rolling into a darkened crack between the floorboards Curse it

Piers stood back froet down on hands and knees to search for the pin, and he wasn’t going to head off in search of another one, either She ought to have heard him and opened the door by now, unless

Unless there was so and delivered a swift kick with his right, breaking the door latch and sending the door swinging inward on its hinges Not theinto a room, but undeniably effective

As usual, her chamber looked to have been ransacked His mind told him the reason for the shale--but his heart wasn’t so easily convinced His pulse accelerated as he searched the room

"Charlotte?"

The carpet was littered with piles of discarded clothing A pelisse and bonnet draped over a bedpost gave the look of a scarecrow A hodgepodge of hairbrushes, ribbons, and tins of dusting powder covered the dressing table

As he made his way to check the , he tripped over a boot and went sprawling Luckily, a heap of petticoats and cheain his feet, a task which required disentangling himself from yards of sweetly scented linen "Godforsaken son of a--"

"Piers?"

Charlotte stood in the doorway that led to her suite’s s room She looked first at the broken door Next, at the flouncy lace petticoat in his grasp

And then, finally, her gaze ?"

Excellent question

Goingthe cool detachment and sharp instincts he’d amassed over the years, certainly

He couldn’t even enjoy the relief of seeing her in nothing but a thin, half-unbuttoned che below her shoulders in thick waves