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Chapter One

Malice, as his friends fondly referred to hiarden of the Chase fa flowers sprouting froround

His name was Lord Chadwick Hennessey, Marquess of Malicorn, but no one had called hiiven it to hi breath

Which was likely why he hated being called Chadwick It held tooat a sri and straining to flourish, the very ground that was supposed to nurture hi him back into the dirt

He straightened his back, drawing in a deep breath He wasn’t that child any longer He was a grown man noho never ed in self-pity

Standing, he stared down at the tiny plant He wouldn’t expend emotion on a flower but he could help it Just a bit He leaned over and brushed the dirt away frorow Satisfaction spread through his lireen stock came into view

“Oh,” a feies, my lord”

He stopped, his fingers still in the dirt He’d been caught caring about a tiny plant Even worse, it was her who had htened Despite the fact this was only the second time they’d met, he knew the sound of Lady Cordelia Chase’s voice without even looking at her

Malice had carefully fostered a reputation of reckless abandon sprinkled with a healthy dose of sarcastic indifference He rarely showed e He most definitely didn’t want Lady Cordelia to think he was a sappy sort It would give her the wrong ihtened, giving her a long look as he glared down at her How odd

She pushed up her glasses, nibbling at her lip “For interrupting Had I known anyone was out here, I would have come with a chaperone”

He relaxed, his shoulders slu tiny plants “No need to apologize” He cared not if she were chaperoned, despite the fact that she was a tender debutante “How goes the wedding breakfast?”

Cordelia turned back to look at the house “Very well If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just return inside”