When he finished kissing her, he left his forehead pressed to hers. “You are a minx and a managing mother,” he accused gently.
“When I need to be,” she admitted. “Now we just have Addy and Daniel to marry off...” She stopped at seeing his expression of uncertainty, a look of alarm appearing on her own face when she noted how his eyes brightened. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Ertugrul spoke with me this morning. I’ve given him my permission to wed Addy if... if she agrees. Did she say anything to you today?”
Elizabeth’s mouth formed an ‘o’ as a series of emotions played over her face. “No,” she said. “Although she seemed happier than usual. Her color was rather high. But she didn’t say a thing about it.”
“Then he hasn’t yet proposed,” he reasoned. There wouldn’t have been an opportunity.
“This is...”
“Unexpected, I know,” George murmured.
“Not really. They’re like two peas in a pod,” she commented before her eyes rounded. “Our daughter could one day be a sultana,” she added in an excited whisper.
“We Bennett-Joneses do seem to marry well beyond our stations,” he commented. “Poor Daniel is going to have to find a European princess or a queen.”
Elizabeth tittered. “I wouldn’t put it past him,” she said.
“We need to dress for dinner,” George reminded her. “Act like we don’t know anything.”
“Agreed,” she replied before she sighed, knowing it would be next to impossible to hide her excitement for her daughter.
An hour later
“Where do you suppose he is?” Elizabeth asked when Elkins appeared at the parlor door. She and George had been about to head down to the dining room for a quick meal before they departed for the Royal Theatre, their son and daughter close behind. Ertugrul hadn’t yet made an appearance, though.
“His Eminence sends his apologies,” the butler said. “He will join you at the theatre before the start of the opera.”
George and Elizabeth exchanged curious glances before George turned to regard Adeline. “I thought he was going to spend the day designing a palace.”
Adeline’s eyes widened. “He did,” she replied before turning her attention on her brother. “His drawings are in the library.”
“Don’t look at me,” David said. “I’ve barely seen him since the Weatherstone ball.”
When Elkins cleared his throat, all four turned to stare at him. “He wished to acquire clothing suitable for the theatre, but Mr. Garth was still performing alterations when a courier was sent with news of his delay and a wrapped bundle containing the clothes he was wearing when he left.”
George chuckled. “A courier?” he repeated.
Elkins winced. “A street urchin, sir. Apparently overcompensated for the errand,” he added as he arched a gray brow. “He was quite excited to have performed an errand for the emir.”
“I hope Ertugrul isn’t being fleeced,” Elizabeth murmured.
“I’ve warned him,” David said as they descended the stairs. “And it isn’t his first time in England.”
“If he’s at Garth’s shop, he’ll be fine,” George said, referring to Jeffrey Garth, a tailor of some renown. “And end up better dressed than any of us.” He turned to Adeline. “Have you seen him since breakfast?”
“I haven’t, but he was obviously here for part of the day because there are designs in the library. On the table,” she repeated.
Adeline knew he’d left and returned to the townhouse at least once that day, for when she’d gone into the library to retrieve the book she had left there the night before, she found the library table covered with large sheets of parchment.
Studying the pairs of connected lines and curves, Adeline soon determined she was looking at an overhead view of a building with many rooms. She couldn’t read the words written in the middle of the rooms, though, as they were in a language foreign to her.
Determined to leave the drawings the way she found them, Adeline had carefully lifted the top sheet and gasped at the sketch of an exterior view of the building. The Mogul architecture featured a dozen onion domes, ornate windows, and a huge door.
The sheet below was from another view, but unfinished.
“We must have missed him by only a few minutes,” she reasoned when she considered how long it must have taken him to do the drawings. “He probably thought his dinner clothes wouldn’t be formal enough for the theatre.”
