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She gave Mr Stanton her stoniest of looks “Thank you for enlightening me”

“My pleasure, dear gel Now I must take roup of gaunt, shackled hu on the ship’s wooden deck and his short secretary tagging along behind

Virginia scowled at his back The British needed to go home, and the sooner, the better

“I say, old man” She heard his voice filter back as he addressed his servant “I do wish the pretty wench were for sale A bit too saucy, perhaps, but I do so like a challenge Quel doe, a real pity, don’t you know”

A vision of herself tackling the dandy and stuffing his lavender-tinted wig down his throat brought a smile to her lips She could do it Sometimes she pinned down her brother when he torht be frowned upon in Boston This was not the hilly region of North Carolina that the Munro family called home

And the dandyhirih-heeled pumps Why would a man that tall need to wear heels? Another pair of lavender bows served as garters, tied over the tabs of his silk knee breeches His silken hose were too sheer to hide padding, so those calves were truly that muscular How odd

He didn’t mince his steps like one would expect fro, powerful strides, the walk of a th and masculinity

She found herself exa the amount of hard muscle hidden beneath the silken exterior What color was his hair under that hideous tinted wig? Probably black, like his eyebrows His eyes had gleaainst his tanned face

Her breath caught in her throat A tanned face? A fop would not spend the necessary hours toiling i

n the sun that resulted in a bronzed complexion

This Mr Stanton was a puzzle

She shook her head, deter ht buckskin breeches, boots, no wig, no lace

The sun bore doith increasing heat, and she pulled her hand-painted fan from her purse and flicked it open She breathed deeply as she fanned herself Her face tingled with ascent of Mr Stanton’s handkerchief

She watched with growing suspicion as the man in question postured in front of the wo them with a practiced eye Oh, dear, ere the horrible man’s intentions? She slipped her fan back into her purse and hastened to her father’s side

Ja quietly to a fettered youth who appeared a good five years younger than her one and twenty years “All I ask, young e, ye’ll have food, clean clothes, and a clean pallet”