Minty was mortified but she couldn’t unlink her eyes from Mr. Selwyn’s. Bella’s words from her letter came to mind, that Minty was falling in love.

Was she? Mr. Selwyn made her heart flutter and she wanted the earth to swallow her whole, but she also didn’t want to make a move to leave. Part of her was excited by him crossing her boundaries. She didn’t get to do that with men. She wasn’t the sort of girl to do these things with men... and that was what made it exciting.

She shook her head in a ‘no’, her eyes wide.

“I-I-I didn’t orchestrate this, if that’s what you’re saying!” Minty whispered incredulously. “Do you think I removed my glove myself to-to seduce you?”