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out, and grasping her hands, pulled Claudia even closer. Her head only reached his chest, and despite the difference in their ages, this made him feel protective. He put his finger under her chin and lifted her face to his. Claudia turned away quickly in embarrassment, and then gave a surprised gasp of pain.
    “What is it?” asked Tony with concern. Surely he couldn’t have frightened her?
    “My earring. It is caught.” Tony leaned down and smiled to see her dangling ear-bob tangled in a tendril of hair.
    “Hold still,” he whispered. He had to lean very close to see what he was doing, and the sensation of his warm breath on her neck was delightful. She could feel him tug on her ear as he gently pulled the earring free. But when she could tell it was again hanging as it should, he did not move away, but kept his hand in her hair.
    “Now I am caught,” he said, as he ran his fingers through her curls. She shivered.
    “Surely you could not be cold, my lady?”
    “No, Lord…Tony, I am not cold.”
    “Do you shiver in anticipation of this?” he asked, and turning her head towards him, he kissed her gently on the lips. Her mouth opened immediately under his, and their kiss became more passionate. After a moment or two, Tony pulled back. “Do you wish to go back inside, Claudia?”
    “Not yet, Tony.”
    This time she reached her arms up and pulled him down to her. Their kiss was long and deep, and when Claudia felt him run his thumb gently under her breast she thought her insides were dissolving.
    When they finally broke apart, she laughed shakily and reached up to straighten his cravat.
    “Yes, well, you look a bit disheveled too, my lady.”
    Claudia reached up again, this time to smooth her hair.
    “Your gown too,” said Tony, with a wicked gleam in his eye. “Here, let me,” and he pulled the bodice of her gown back in place.
    “Claudia, I want you to know that I do not make a habit of attacking young women on balconies.”
    “What about older women, my lord?” she teased.
    Tony blushed. “Truly, I never think of you as older, Claudia, although I know you are by a year or two.”
    “Five.”
    “Why, that is nothing, my dear. And you don’t look a day over—
    “Thirty-four. I am thirty-four, Tony, and you are twenty-nine.”
    “Age does not matter, Claudia. Not when there is affection and attraction. Do you really care what other people think?”
    “Not about our ages, Tony, but there is other gossip,” said Claudia hesitantly.
    “You mean that I am a desperate young man with a ruined estate, pursuing you for your wealth,” Tony replied, his expression set and serious.
    “Yes.”
    “Is that what you think me, Claudia?”
    “I am a very wealthy widow, Tony.”
    “I am not going to pretend that your money does not matter to me, Claudia. You know my family’s situation. But there are at least two other available widows this Season, my dear. If I were only interested in money, I would be spreading my charms around to see whom I could trap first. The truth is, I have felt a special sympathy between us, my lady.”
    Tony said “My lady” not as though it was merely a courtesy. He said it caressingly as though it were true: that she was his lady.
    “As have I, Tony. We both know what it is to lose someone we love. And although you are not that much younger than I am, you remind me a little of my younger self, too early saddled with responsibility.”
    “Twenty-nine is hardly comparable to seventeen, Claudia. I am not a boy, but a seasoned soldier,” said Tony, sounding mildly insulted.
    “I do not mean to offend you, Tony. I am not sure I can explain it myself.” She could, but she feared he would not want to hear that she sensed that a part of him was still seventeen or so, carefree and dreaming about freedom and the glory to be gained on the battlefield. As a younger son, he had always been somewhat in limbo, with nothing to be committed to or responsible for except himself.
    “I care