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She didn’t quite catch the muttered response, but felt sure it was neither polite nor a promise of compliance, as he merely continued striding purposefully toward the house.
Although it had been some little time since she had been carried in a gentleman’s arms, she remembered the occasion quite well. What she couldn’t recall experiencing, however, when she had foolishly gone and twisted her ankle all those years ago, were the peculiar sensations she was feeling now. There had been no odd fluttering in the pit of her stomach or beneath her rib cage during that one previous occurrence, she felt sure. And why there should be that pulsating heat in the area directly below her cheekbones when the rest of her was still experiencing the lingering effects of the atmosphere in the icehouse, she simply couldn’t imagine.
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Lady Pelham shook her head, as though at a loss to know why herself. ‘The truth of the matter is that, even though I was informed, shortly after her father’s demise, that Deverel Greythorpe had become Helen’s legal guardian, I never gave the matter a second thought. Her father never once attempted to interfere in her upbringing, never attempted to make contact at all, come to that. It never occurred to me to suppose that her half-brother might behave differently.’ A further sigh escaped her. ‘Believe me when I say that I didn’t deliberately keep the guardianship secret from Helen. All the same, I cannot help feeling that it would be a mistake to reveal it at the present time, while she is still viewing a certain unscrupulous young rogue through a rosy haze.’
Annis, having no difficulty understanding this viewpoint, at last began to appreciate the extent of her godmother’s grave concerns. ‘You fear that Helen just might be persuaded into believing a prolonged visit to Greythorpe Manor is a ploy on your and her guardian’s part to separate her from her beau?’
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