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and led her to the hackney. She obeyed his prompting to enter the carriage, and wondered why he
looked so grim.
I m not returning to the boating party, he said. You ll have to go back alone.
Wh-what? Lidian was utterly confused. You& you seem angry with me. Eric, you don t think this is
my fault, do you? You can t possibly believe that I went with him willingly!
I don t know what to believe, he said coolly.
I loveyou , not Chance!
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Not long ago you would have given anything to be with him.
But everything s different now. I thought you understood. She clambered out of the hackney as he
strode toward the chestnut gelding he had ridden. Where are you going?
I don t know, he said over his shoulder. At the moment I don t care.
Hurt, afraid, anxious, Lidian tried to think of how to convince him to stay with her. He must be made to
understand how much she loved him, wanted him, enough that she wouldnever have gone anywhere
willingly with Chance Spencer. You must listen to me
I m in no mood to talk now.
She watched in disbelief as he took the gelding s reins in hand and swung easily onto the horse.
Eric! she called, but he didn t seem to hear. All at once she remembered the whistle around her neck.
He had once promised to come to her whenever she used it. She fumbled with the small object and
managed to bring it to her lips. Using all her strength, she blew until it produced a shrill, piercing blast.
Eric stopped at the sound. Slowly he turned his head, and their gazes locked. Lidian didn t dare breathe
as he approached her. Eric stared at her with frustration, anger, and an odd flicker of amusement. What
the hell do you want?
To be alone with you.
Tension built in the silence that followed. Later, Eric finally said.
Now, she insisted softly.
He contemplated her for a moment. Finally he reached a hand down, and she grasped his taut wrist. His
fingers closed around her arm, and he pulled her up to the saddle in front of him.
Lidian was filled with relief as she felt his arm close around her, holding her steady as he signaled the
horse with the pressure of his thighs. They did not speak for the next few minutes, each of them lost in
private thoughts and questions. At the end of the short journey, Eric reined in the horse in front of an
elegant town house with an ivory Palladian-fronted facade.
Is this yours? Lidian asked.
He nodded, dismounting the gelding and helping her down. A servant appeared to take the horse while
Eric escorted Lidian inside with a firm hand on her elbow. The interior of the house was cool and
refreshing, the walls tinted cream and pale yellow, with French furniture and hangings of burgundy and
gold. Lidian had a brief impression of an imperturbable butler and a pair of servants who politely went
about their work and hid any trace of surprise that their master had brought an un-chaperoned girl there.
Eric took her to his private suite, a receiving room decorated in cream and slate blue, with a
bedchamber visible through the doorway.
Well? He slanted her a questioning glance, arching one brow as he waited for her to speak. But his
expectant, slightly mocking expression was wiped clean as Lidian removed her cloak and unfastened the
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top button of her bodice. Nervousness made her fingers slightly clumsy, but she progressed to the second
button and then the next. She paused to see if he was watching her and discovered that she had gained
his complete attention.
Chance forced me to go with him, she said, unfastening yet another button. It happened so quickly
that I had no opportunity to alert anyone. I had no choice in the matter. The bodice of her gown began
to sag from her white shoulders. Carefully she removed the blue ribbon from her neck, and dropped the
whistle to the floor. Chance is a vain, cruel, shallow man, and I was a fool for ever thinking I loved him.
You re the only one I want& the only man I trust and love and desire. She eased her arms from the
bodice, her upper body clad only in a thin chemise that revealed the shadow of her cleavage and the
pointed tips of her breasts. Eric s gaze was riveted on her.
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