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First New American Library E-Book Printing, August 2011
Copyright © Ashley Henderson, 2011
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ISBN: 978-0-451-53339-0
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Chapter 1
London, April 1849
Cecily kept her head lowered as she walked, the rain washing down her face and soothing her fevered cheeks. Another sob erupted from her lips, refusing to be contained. Releasing her skirts to wrap her arms around her waist, she huddled into herself as though she might become small enough for the pain to disappear.
âMilady,â the footman called behind her. For a moment his umbrella hovered overhead, creating a gray curtain of rain, a numbing deafness of sound as it drummed above her. Cecily increased her pace until the rain poured over her headâstreaming past her neck and beneath her collar, soaking the lilac muslin day dress. Her petticoats dragged against her legs, slowing her steps.
Today she would not be cosseted or protected; today she couldnât bear to act content to remain wrapped inside her tidy box of pampered indulgences and practiced sophistication.
The storm slung thick locks of hair across her face. It pelted freezing water against her skin, little stinging pins which slapped at her forehead, her cheeks, the hands she raised to peel the wet strands away from her eyes. She slogged forward, grateful for the cold, the wet, the physical misery thatâfor a short while at leastâsubdued the aching devastation of her heart.
When again a shelter formed overhead, Cecily bit her lip to suppress the cry rising in her throat and whirled around to face her servant. She blinked through blurred eyes, focusing first on the black gloved hand holding the
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