Danielle waved a hand. “Let’s start with three and see how it goes.”
“Triplets?” Andrew asked in alarm.
Tittering, Danielle said, “Of course not. One at a time,” she added. “If only you could have seen your face just then. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so frightened.”
“I was, if only for your sake,” he explained. “Mother has complained many a time about how difficult it was for her when she was expecting Anthony and me.”
“My mother, too,” Danielle said.
“I do not wish for you to suffer. And I cannot bear the thought of losing you.”
Danielle inhaled as Andrew made his claim, touched by the sadness in his voice. “I do believe I love you, Andrew Comber,” she stated.
Andrew stilled, his meal forgotten. “I really wish I didn’t have to take you home this evening.”
Danielle’s eyes darkened. “Who says you do?”
The sound of a clearing throat had the two of them turning their attention to the man who stood in the dining room doorway. “I do,” David Fitzwilliam, the late Earl of Norwick, announced.
“Father!” Danielle said in surprise. “You told him he could keep me here overnight,” she added in a whine.
“If you didn’t agree to marry him,” the ghost countered. “There will be plenty of time for bed after you’re wed.”
Her brows furrowing, Danielle asked, “Whatever happened to your cheek?”
He paused, a hand going to the side of his face. “Never mind about my shiner. Your future brother-in-law packs quite a punch when he’s incensed.”
Danielle gasped.
“I’ll see to taking her home as soon as we’ve completed the dessert course, sir,” Andrew said, his eyes round with fear. He had stood as soon as he saw that it was the late earl who had interrupted their dinner, and now he wondered what had his brother so angry he would punch the ghost.
“Well, do stay long enough so you can have a glass of port,” David said, waving a hand.
Andrew exchanged glances with Danielle before he said, “I shouldn’t wish to leave my bride-to-be all by herself in the parlor, sir.”
David rolled his eyes. “You can have the port while she has a glass of claret,” he argued.
“Yes, sir. Very well, sir.”
“Have her home by eleven.”
“Yes, sir.”
Andrew once again glanced over at Danielle. When he returned his attention to the door, the ghost was gone.
Very slowly, Andrew settled back into his chair. “He’s gone.”
“He does that,” Danielle murmured, returning her attention to her meal.
“Do you suppose he’ll continue to pay calls like that even after we’re wed?” Andrew asked on a wince.
Danielle furrowed a dark brow. “I rather doubt it. Mother implied he hadn’t paid a call since shortly after his death—before she wed Uncle Daniel,” she explained.
“So... once your mother was remarried, he stopped appearing?”
She nodded. “Exactly.”
His eyes darted sideways. “I’ll see if Father will lend me the blunt for a special license,” he said, thinking if they wed quickly, the ghost would leave them alone. “Perhaps we can be wed in a couple of days.”
