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not again.”
    “ Pity that.” Why he said that, he didn’t know. It was one of the things that irritated him most about her: her loose lips and stubborn streak.
    “ No pity. Ladies must remember to be mindful of their reputation.”
    “ I see. And that requires them to mind what they say?”
    “ Exactly. What I just spoke was inappropriate and...and...I apologize.”
    He bit back a grin at the grimace on her face as she spoke those words. Belle had never been one ready to apologize. Ever. He cocked his head to the side. “Tell me, is your newfound desire to apologize for speaking your mind part of your pretending to be a lady?”
    She glared at him, but simply said, “I am not pretending.”
    “ No, I suppose you’re not.” He hoped she wouldn’t challenge him on that for he’d hate to reveal so soon just how much of a lady she was. He sighed. But she wouldn’t challenge him. He could see that quite plainly on her face. Her eyes said she wanted to demand he explain his cryptic statement, but only after she accused him of not being able to recognize a lady if there were a parade of one hundred of them led in front of his face. Her slightly downcast face, complete with closed lips and lowered eyelashes spoke volumes of her new position as a “lady”. One who didn’t issue challenges or demand answers.
    A wave of an emotion he couldn’t name—shame, embarrassment, anger, perhaps—washed over him. It was because of him that she’d become this stiff creature who felt being a lady meant she couldn’t speak.
    “ Tell me, Belle, do you have an interest in the gentleman you were just dancing with?” he asked to change the subject and staunch his feelings.
    “ Mr. Appleton?” she asked with a slight hitch in her voice that he couldn’t place. At his nod, she continued. “We’re...uh...friends.”
    “ I see.” He twirled her around their spot on the floor. “And do you wish to become better friends with him?” He chuckled at her blush and pulled her even closer. “Is he the one you’ve set your cap on, Belle?”
    “ No.” She tried to distance herself from him, but he wouldn’t let her. “As I said, we’re just friends.”
    “ Are the two of you friends in the same way that the two of us are friends?” he asked before he could think better of it. But now that he’d asked, he wanted to know. He’d watched the two of them dance. Their exchanged smiles. Her missteps and his practiced hands holding her. There was certainly something there.
    “ If you mean to imply that I intend to trap him into a marriage he does not desire, the answer is no that I do not,” she said abruptly, shocking him to the toes.
    His shock so jolting and sudden, and her will so iron-strong, she managed to free herself from his hold with nothing more than a sidestep. And for the second time that night, she issued him a social insult that would undoubtedly make the scandal sheets tomorrow; meanwhile intriguing him all the more.
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    It was nearly a week before Isabelle was ‘at home’ and accepting callers. The day after the ball at Lord and Lady Rutherford’s house, her name had been bandied about in every gossip column in the country, and probably a few on the continent, too. Of course, she wasn’t the only one mentioned, Sebastian’s name was listed there, too. Just like five years ago when she’d first come to London. Also like five years ago, every feeble-minded author who thought to entertain the population with embarrassing stories and embellished anecdotes thought it prudent to mention all the known details of Isabelle and Sebastian’s tumultuous relationship. Every single one of them.
    “ Would you like for me to have our engagement announced in the Times ?” Edmund offered from where he sat on the blue settee that was nearby.
    “ Thank you, Edmund, that’s very sweet, but no.” She offered him a slim smile. “I don’t want you to bear the shame of my actions.”
    “