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Page 388

| was embarrassed to think that her dire need of a bath was the reason. |

| She took his hand and shook it, then when he took it away to grip the valise, she took a step away from him to give him more breathing space. |

| "Ma'am, I have ventured from England in search of you," Reginald said, unsnapping his valise. |

| Sasha's eyes were wide as she watched the man reach inside the valise and bring out several legal-appearing documents. "What is your reason for wanting to find me?" she asked guardedly. |

| Reginald lay his valise aside and spread the legal documents atop the nightstand beside the bed. "These are for your perusal," he said, motioning toward them. "Please read them slowly so that you will understand them." |

| He reached into his inside vest pocket and withdrew a leather drawstring bag. "And then I have something else for you," he said, opening the bag which displayed a vast number of coins and bank-notes. |

| Having never before seen such a massive amount of money, Sasha's heart skipped a beat. She looked slowly up at the dignified man, then back at the money, then at the documents. |

| Trembling, filled with so many questions that she was afraid to ask, Sasha went and picked up the documents. Breathlessly, she began to read. Her face became flushed with excitement and her knees became weaker the more she read. |

| When she had scanned quickly over them all, she clutched them to her and turned to Reginald with tear-filled eyes. |

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