"Anthony Piers - Incarnations 3 - With a Tangled Skien" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

He sighed. "That they will. But I am not so naive as
to think 1 could force my attention on a woman who

doesn't love me."

He had an excellent grasp of the fundamentals and he

expressed them well. "Oh? You have been loved be-
fore?"

He shook his head, embarrassed. "Never. I lack ex-
perience."

"So do I," she admitted.

"But you are supposed to lack it!"

She had to laugh. "Cedric, I am sure that had you been
permitted to wait until you could marry at my age, you
would have had it. But I hardly condemn you for this
particular lack. It means you come to meЧpristine."

"I'm only sixteen," he reminded her defensively.
"Aye, there's talk among boys, but I'll wager I'm not the
only one who neverЧ" He shrugged.

Piers Anthony 15

"Of course," she agreed quickly. "A double standard
is hypocrisy. It is best that a man and a woman come toЧ"
She hesitated. "To learn together."

"It is hard toЧ" He, too, hesitated. "If you loved me
as I love you, it would beЧ" He faltered as he saw her
react, then blushed.

"What did you say, Cedric?"

"'Twas a slip o' th' tongue," he said, slipping back
into his idiom as he reddened further. "I apologize."

"You apologizeЧfor loving your wife?"

"But you know," he said miserably. "It isn't real!"

"The marriage, or your love?"

He scuffed his foot. "Oh, you know. You're such a fine
woman, so lovely I get lightheaded just from looking at
you, and you know so much, you're so poised, you de-