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While they were in the country, it was easier to pretend that the stares and whispers didn’t matter, but once the family was back in London?

The differences pressed in upon her. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t go out to a ball or a rout here or there, because she enjoyed dancing and there was usually delicious food offered, but she refused to compromise when it came to marriage.

If the man offering was a bore, a dullard, a cheat, an abuser, or someone who wanted a brood of children, her answer would always be no.

“I said that’s enough,” their mother uttered around what sounded like clenched teeth.

No doubt the family would return to ignoring Caroline, which they often did, because she simply wasn’t like them and they couldn’t understand that.

With a nod, their mother sailed onward. “We should discuss gowns for the ball that will close the house party.”

“How fun!” Debra nodded with enthusiasm. “I have a couple in mind that might need alterations, but I’m leaning toward the green.”

“Well, if you will excuse me?” Caroline gathered her things. “It doesn’t matter what I wear since I’m not the focus of this party, so I’ll go find something more exciting to do just now. I shall see you in the morning.”

Her brother frowned. “Where are you going?”

“Stargazing.” She held up her telescope. “If I’m fortunate, at some point during the summer, I might be able to see a comet or a nebula or something wonderful like that. Perhaps I shall write a paper about it.”

Her father glanced up from his newspaper. “Your latest hobby, I assume?”

“Yes, for a while at least. If you don’t mind me staying in Kent for the summer.”

“It doesn’t matter to me. Your mother and sister will go to London at the end of September when I go up for parliament. Do whatever makes your heart happy. ”

“Thank you.” She moved to his chair, then bussed his cheek and ruffled his hair. “You are the best papa.” And some of the time, he was the only one who believed in her… when he wasn’t cowering beneath her mother’s plans. Which meant sooner or later, he’d demand she marry.

Then, before they could protest, Caroline left the room.

Twenty minutes later, she strode through the tall meadow grass in the twilight, heading for her favorite hill on her father’s property. Unless she wanted to climb a tree, that was the highest point on the estate.

As she skirted one of the ponds that a swift-moving stream fed into, the sound of frogs and insects filled her ears.

Then, when a bout of vigorous splashing erupted onto her senses, she frowned.

Thinking it might be a waterfowl in trouble or having some sort of excitement, she went in that direction to investigate.

Only to stop in her tracks when she figured out the source of the noise was a man, fully nude, and in the pond with the water lapping at his navel.

Merciful heavens!

Before she could be seen, Caroline ducked behind a stand of thick shrubbery.

A sensible, innocent woman would turn right around and run away as fast as she could, but curiosity brewed strong in her chest. She couldn’t help but spy on him, for how often did she have the opportunity to look upon a man, and a naked one at that?

As carefully and silently as she could, Caroline peered at him from between the shrubbery branches.

He was quite gorgeous with the rays of the setting sun turning his blond hair into molten gold.

Stubble of the same color, perhaps a shade darker, clung to his cheeks and jaw, while a golden mat of hair spread across a broad chest in an abstract butterfly pattern.

Nice strong shoulders kept her gaze glued to him, and for a few moments, he tipped his head to the sky, closed his eyes, and just stood there.

All the while, she couldn’t tear her regard away, for he was quite handsome.

Mouth-watering, really, if she were honest, and as her gaze traveled down his chest to his flat stomach, she tamped the urge to huff with frustration, for the surface of the water prevented seeing the lower half of him.

And still she quietly observed him while the water slapped against his navel as if trying to desperately embrace him.

What would it feel like if that actually happened, but to her? Would those arms be like bands of iron about her or would he be more gentle in an embrace?

Seconds later, he blew out a breath then walked toward the edge where the reeds and cattails grew. Her pulse accelerated, for the waterline barely stopped just above his length, and she knew an acute need to lick the droplets off that still-flat abdomen.

What is wrong with me?

Never had she had that sort of reaction to any of the other men she’d met over the years.

Though, to be fair, most of them had been older, had a paunch, had already fathered children, or possessed breath that stunk of garlic.

When this man retrieved a bar of soap from a small basket on the bank where his clothes and a cane rested, he eased deeper into the water once more—with a bit of a limp—and the breath finally left her lungs in relief, for he was again covered with a modicum of modesty.

As he began the task of running the bar of soap over his hair and then his body, she wished she were in the water with him, for exploring that form would be quite a new adventure.

When he turned and presented her with his back—even if he didn’t know she was there, she lightly held her bottom lip between her teeth because her view was blocked, but every so often, as the water lapped at his body, she was afforded a glimpse of a pale buttock.

Just when she thought he would continue washing and rinsing his skin, it seemed he was doing something else entirely.

But what? Creeping about the shrubbery for a better view, she was soon afforded a clue as to his activity when a series of groans blended with the sounds of the rapidly gathering night.

His right hand had disappeared beneath the water, and it was moving faster and faster…

Dear Lord!

Heat filled her cheeks. Surely, he wasn’t pleasuring himself!

She’d grown up with an older brother who had friends who were always around in the country, so she knew a bit of what men got up to, had even accidentally spied on a groom who had done much the same once, right outside the orangery windows.

But still, this was quite the scandalous scene for her to remain watching.

I should leave… Yet it was criminal for a man to look so wonderful sans clothes, and she was far too curious to move.

Additionally, the man’s form was delicious, so why shouldn’t she continue to observe his actions?

It might serve her well in the future, if she ever did manage to land a husband.

Faster and faster his hand moved, then after a few moments, he bit back a curse, uttered a loud groan. His body jerked a couple of times then he relaxed.

“Damn, perhaps I do need a woman. I’m growing weary of taking myself in hand.” That baritone held her captive and managed to set off a flurry of odd flutters in her lower belly where a curious need had set up since she’d first looked at his naked form.

Unfortunately, in her attempt to continue spying, Caroline accidentally tread upon a fallen branch that snapped. It echoed overly loud in the silence.

The man in the water whirled about. In the dying light of the twilight, his brown eyes were intense as he froze, gaze scanning the immediate area. “Who’s there? Show yourself this instant.”

She remained silent, for what else could she do? Reveal herself and land into the biggest scandal of the summer, the night before her sister’s house party began?

“I mean it. Spying is what cowards do. Show yourself.”

Well, she certainly wasn’t a coward. Taking a deep breath and letting it ease out, Caroline shivered.

“I don’t want to, and let me just say that I didn’t mean to spy on you.

I came upon you by accident, so I’m just going to go and continue on my way.

” She took one last peep at him through the shrubbery branches, but the water still covered his bits. “Um, goodnight!”

Quickly, she fled with heat in her cheeks. Who was he and would she see him around the area again? She didn’t know, but for the first time in a long string of nights, she wasn’t thinking of the stars.