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ing plates of fish and fresh peas from the small garden. She had a role to perform, after all. She was a servant. There had never been such characters in the modern comedies on which she'd worked, but all serving wenches she'd seen in old movies were lighthearted and merry. |
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But who knew what the actresses hid inside? |
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She made it a point to speak with Will Shepherd. "How do you like our fare this evening?" she managed with a flirtatious smile, though she felt distant, as if she were watching someone else on a movie screen. |
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"I prefer a young, plump hen," he said with a leer at her breasts, causing a round of guffaws from the other soldiers at his table. |
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"And I prefer an older, more seasoned rooster myself," Mariah retorted, never losing her grin. Whoever wrote her lines was doing a good job. |
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Her comment caused even more laughter, and Will grew pink as one of his friends cried, "You need to do a bit more strutting, Will, so this pullet will pull your" |
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"Now, mind your tongue," Holly interrupted, breezing over to refill the tankards of ale. |
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Mariah heard the renewed laughter, the increasingly boisterous chatter, the suggestive comments as though in a fog. This Will Shepherdhe seemed like all the rest of the soldiers. Though there'd been a glumness about him before, now he was acting as animatedly ribald as the rest. He looked young, not out of his teens, despite his dark beard and mustache. His eyes were a pale shade between green and hazel, but the only unusual thing about him was the frequency with which he glanced at Thorn. |
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But was that really so unusual? Mariah did the same thing. |
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Her employer seemed to be enjoying himself with Ainsley. He seemed happier now than at any other time since she'd come here. Still, he looked in her direction often with a question in his gaze. A hint of sorrow, now and then, too. |
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Several times, she sashayed in his direction, watching herself play her role to the hilt. "More fish, Sergeant Ainsley?" she asked. |
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His overbite became more prominent as he grinned, re- |
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