Perhaps the wolf wasn't quite so dangerous as he pretended. Unfortunately, there was only one way to find out for sure——give him a little rope and see if he hung himself.

And pray that he didn't tie her up with it instead.

Rogue turned to her, his face no longer quite so hard. A curl of smoke rose from the pistol in his hand. Rotten apples fell from the tree, splatting at her feet. "Poor little girlie," he said, and there did seem to be pitty in his voice. "I told you you'd get your fingers bit.

I don't want her to know the truth about us."
"I'm merely going to explain to explain that I'm not Nathaniel's mistress."
"You can't talk about mistresses to a well-bred Englishwoman. It violates every propriety."
"To speak in a forthright manner violates propriety?" She rose to stare at him with thinly veiled amusements. "No wonder you English lost the colonies. What with all the lying and the 'propriety' and the evasions, how do you ever get anything done?"
As she crossed the box to sit down beside Evelina, he stared after her in fascinated amazement. Americans were mad—that’s all there was to it.

I swear, Oliver, when did you become such a stick-in-the-mud?”
“I’ve always been a stick-in-the-mud.” Her brother cast her a thin smile. “I just hid it beneath all the debauchery.”
She sniffed. “I wish you’d hide it again. It’s quite annoying.

Lady Kingsley, when you read this, do attempt to keep an open mind.”

“I will if you will,” she retorted hotly.

To her surprise, he chuckled. “I daresay neither of us will. It’s a pity, too, because if we could ever see our way clear to agreeing on a matter, we might accomplish a great deal of good in this world.”

It infuriated her that he could pretend to care even one whit for these boys. “Now you’ve confused me. I’d assumed that your reason for serving on so many charitable boards was to further your political aims. Yet all the time you were merely hoping to accomplish some ‘good in this world.’ How very astonishing.”

Just that quickly, his amusement vanished. “While I don’t pretend to be as morally superior as you and your late husband, my intentions are good, no matter what you make of them. It may shock you to learn that those of us with character flaws sometimes do as much good as those of you without.

Mother nature is a fickle and forgetful bitch," she snapped. "She needs a helping hand and I am trying to hurry her along for their sake.