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She saw the progression of eehaer, and then suspicion "Who is he?"

"Why should I tell you?" Annabelle asked with a cool s, you devious bitch!"

"Believe what you like," she eha to seize her and shake a confession froarded her with a fury-mottled complexion "I’ his fleshy lips "Not by half" He left her with crude abruptness, too incensed to bother with a show of courtesy

Annabelle stood withoutanxiety that settled in her bones Had what she told Hodgehah to keep him at bay? No--it wasdays he would be watching her closely, scrutinizing every word and action to ascertain whether or not she had been lying about having a protector And there would be threats, and barbs, designed to shred her nerves But no ement that he had shared with her mother It would kill Philippa, and certainly it would ruin Annabelle’s chances of hts, and she stood motionless and taut-framed, until a quiet voice nearly startled her out of her slippers

"Interesting What were you and Lord Hodgeha, Annabelle whirled around to behold Simon Hunt, who had approached her with catlike quietness His shoulders blocked the profusion of glittering light fro room In his utter self-possession, he seeeha inwardly as she heard the defensiveness in her own voice

"Nothing," he said smoothly "I merely saw your face as the two of you talked Obviously, you were upset about so"

"I was not upset You misinterpreted my expression, Mr Hunt"

He shook his head, and stunned her by reaching out with a single fingertip to touch the upper part of her arlove "You turn splotchy when you’re angry" Looking down, Annabelle saw a pale pink patch of color, a sign of her skin’s wont to color unevenly during ti brush of his fingertip, and she stepped back from him

"Are you in trouble, Annabelle?" Hunt asked softly

He had no right to ask soentle, almost concerned manner…as if he was someone she could turn to for help…as if she could ever allow herself to do so

"You would like that, wouldn’t you?" she retorted "Any predicaht you to no end--then you could step in with an offer of help and take advantage of the situation"

His eyes were narrow and intent "What kind of help do you need?"

"Nothing from you," she assured him curtly "And don’t use my first name I’ll thank you to address me properly from now on--or better yet, don’t speak to aze for another o findherself to the chair beside the vanity table, Philippa stared at Annabelle with an ashen face Annabelle had waited until they were safely enclosed in the privacy of their room before she had told Philippa the disastrous news It seemed to take her mother a full minute to assimilate the inforuest at Stony Cross Park Annabelle had half expected her mother to dissolve into tears, but Philippa surprised her by tilting her head to the side and staring into the shadowy corner of the room with an odd, weary smile It was a smile that Annabelle had never seen on her face before, a whimsical bitterness that indicated there was never any use in trying to improve one’s situation, as fate would invariably have its way

"Shall we leave Stony Cross Park?" Annabelle o back to London immediately"

The question hovered in the air for what seemed to be minutes When Philippa responded, she sounded dazed and contemplative "If we did that, there would be no hope at all of your oing to ith Lord Kendall toeham to ruin your chances with him"

"He will be a constant source of trouble," Annabelle said quietly "If we don’t go back to town, it will turn into a night in that disco way "My dear, if you don’t find sohtin"

CHAPTER 8

Bedeviled by worry, Annabelle slept for a total of two, perhaps three hours When she awoke in the , her eyes were shadowed, and her face was pale and weary "Hell’s bells," sheit to her face "This will not do I look a hundred years old this "

"What did you say, dear?" ca behind her, dressed in a worn robe and threadbare slippers

"Nothing, Mahly to bring soht"

Coarded her closely "You do look a bit tired I’ll send for so closely at her red-veined eyes in the looking glass, she added, "Two pots"

Philippa smiled sympathetically "What shall ear for our ith Lord Kendall?"

Annabelle wrung out the cloth before draping it on the washstand "Our older gowns, I think, as it may be rather muddy on some of the forest paths But we can cover them with the new silk shawls fro tea and taking a few hasty bites of cold toast that aShe studied herself critically in the looking glass The blue silk shawl knotted over her bodice did own beneath And her new bonnet, also fro, its periwinkle-shaded lining bringing out the blue of her eyes