“Ah, Mr.Farthingale.Perfect timing.I was just coming to look for you.”
John arched an eyebrow.“And for what reason might that be?”
“Has Caruthers not told you?Well, he might be a little sore because he has lost this courtship battle.I just proposed to your ward,” he said, glancing at Tulip, “and she has accepted to marry me.”
A collective gasp arose from the throng of curious onlookers who had followed John out of Lady Fullerton’s house, one that ended in disappointment because there was no scandal in a couple kissing upon a marriage proposal.Not only was there no scandal, but murmurs of frustration could be heard from several marriage-minded mamas and their daughters who now realized that the Duke of Davenport had just been taken off the marriage mart.
Lord Julius Thorne, who was Davenport’s best friend, made his way through the crowd.“Davenport!Well done!May I be the first to extend my hearty congratulations?Gory,” he said, referring to his wife, the former Lady Gregoria Easton, “will be thrilled when she learns of this.”
“Thank you, Thorne,” he said with a gracious nod, offering no hint that his life had just been upended by a wayward Farthingale.
Oh, Tulip felt so bad about this.
How were they to fix this mess?
The slight tightening of Davenport’s arm around her waist was his way of warning hernotto confess anything, and certainly not the truth.
She fully intended to follow his lead because she was quite out of her depth at this moment.
Julius’s brother, Ambrose, Duke of Huntsford, offered the same warm cheers.“Adela and I shall happily second my brother’s good wishes.”
Adela, his wife who was standing beside him, nodded enthusiastically.“Oh, yes.We offer our hearty congratulations.Davenport, you’ve chosen wisely.Tulip shall make you an excellent wife.”
“I know,” he said with surprising conviction, smiling as he glanced at Tulip.
Oh, dear heaven.
The Thorne brothers and their wives had to be aware this was all a ruse.
While Davenport had become good friends with the Thorne brothers, she had become best friends with their wives.They all knew she had spent the last few months runningawayfrom Davenport and not encouraging their acquaintance.
Having issued his congratulations, Julius had to now be silently trying to figure out what had really just happened.Tulip noticed him staring at Davenport and gesturing with raised eyebrows, as though trying to communicate in a secret code.
Well, they would all learn the truth soon enough.
But for now, they would go along with this sham of a marriage proposal because this is what friends did.
Supported each other.
Davenport had saved Julius’s wife, Gory, last year after she had been involved in the mystery surrounding her uncle’s death, so Julius was going to stand by his friend no matter what later transpired.
Davenport, not then a duke and merely known as Alexander Havers, top investigator for the London magistrate, had been assigned to solve this difficult crime that everyone was still talking about because Gory’s uncle, the Earl of Easton, had been murdered.
Worse, suspicion had fallen on Gory.
It was Davenport’s keen mind and sharp observation abilities that probably saved Gory’s life, for not only was she innocent, but the killer intended her to be the next victim.Of course, Julius had been by Gory’s side at every step, intent on protecting her and doing a very able job of it.But it was Davenport who had figured out how the crime had been committed and who had done it.
He was brilliant.
All of London knew this.
Tulip smiled up at this man whose kiss still lingered pleasantly on her lips.“Davenport is quite excellent himself.A better man than I ever realized.I was surprised, but most grateful for his offer of marriage.”
“I’m not,” Julius said with a satisfied nod.“Well, I am only going by what Gory told me.She saw the spark between the two of you immediately and hoped for this happy outcome.”
Tulip suspected this was a complete exaggeration.
Gory was engrossed in bones and medical dissections, and now caught up in preparing to give birth to their first child, for she was about eight months along.
