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His feet continued steadily down the treads He should ht her there Nor could he iine why his staff at Allardyce House in Grosvenor Square had divulged his whereabouts His butler, Percival, was a paragon of his calling; nothing short of a force of nature would have induced him to disobey his master’s express orders

Then again, the lady presently occupying the front parlor had qualified as such from her earliest years

Stepping off the last tread, he studied the parlor door It was closed He could turn around and retreat, and let her wait for at least ten uaranteed she would wait Not rit her teeth and rened to see her

Some part of him wanted to hurt her—as she’d hurt him, as he still hurt Despite the years, the wound was raw; it still bled

The faint elusive scent of jasmine drew him to the door

It was curiosity, he told hi for the handle Not the incredible, irresistible attraction that had froether—that even after twelve years of neglect and eight years of disillusion still arced across a crowded ballroom

And made him ache

Opening the door, steeling himself, he went in

The first surprise was her weeds He paused in the doorway, rapidly assessing

Seated in one of the ar the door, she was clothed in unrelieved funereal black, dull and…On any other lady it would have looked so hue did nothing to dim her vitality It screa energy, harnessed to so; she only had to loved hand to instantly attract and fix any man’s attention

Certainly his

She de slender palripped the edge of the black veil and lifted it, setting it back over her piled hair

So he could see her face

Finely drawn features, a pair of ruby lips sculpted by a e, aleable h, chiseled cheekbones Lush dark lashes, a straight, patrician nose, all set in a oval of perfect porcelain skin

The catalog of her features didn’t do her face justice; it was the epitome of feminine aristocratic beauty not solely because of its composition but also because of her animation In repose her face was serenely beautiful; awake, her expressions were startlingly vivid

That afternoon, however, her expression was…contained

He frowned Stepping into the room, he closed the door “Your father?”