“I’ll make all the arrangements.”
“What arrangements?” she asked, adding, “I’ve never done this before, so I’m unaware of the conventions.”
“There are no conventions in our case,” he said. “We’ll make it up as we go along.”
She gave him a sideways glance. “You mean you’ve never had a mistress before?”
“No.”
“Oh. I thought all men had them.”
“Not all men.”
“Then what are these ‘arrangements’ you’re talking of?”
“Do you plan to take me to your bed here, then?”
She gasped. “With Lucy in the room above me? And the Tweeds and Mary knowing? Of course not.”
He smiled. “And presumably you wouldn’t want to come to my bed, with my daughters sleeping upstairs—and I’ll warn you now, they have a tendency to jump on me in bed at appalling hours of the morning. Generally with a cat in tow.”
She laughed. “Oh dear, and do you sneeze?”
“Invariably.” They’d reached her back gate, and he held it open for her. “So, my dear Alice, will you agree to leave the arrangements to me?”
“I suppose I must.” She hesitated. “Do you know, er, when...?”
“I’ll let you know.”
***
Lucy, having gone to sleep with her windows open, was woken early by the twittering of the birds outside. She lay there a few moments, snuggling dreamily in the warmth and comfort of her bed, contemplating the day ahead, when suddenly she remembered.
And sat straight up.
The announcement would be in the papers this morning. She was—officially, if not actually—betrothed. To Gerald, Lord Thornton. A proper lord!
Across London, people would be seeing the announcement about herself, plain Lucy Bamber, and Lord Thornton. It was a strange thought. With any luck, Papa would be one of them, reading the newspaper announcement at this very minute—well, soon; he was not an early riser—and come around here to give Alice back her letters.
When would Alice see it? It was her habit to drink a cup of chocolate and glance through the newspapers before dressing and coming down to breakfast.
Hasty footsteps sounded in the hallway outside. Alice. She knocked on the door and entered, waving her copy oftheMorning Post. “Lucy, the strangest thing! Someone has put a notice in the paper announcing a betrothal between you and my nephew, Gerald. I don’t know how it happened. It’s clearly a mistake and—”
“It’s not a mistake.”
“We’ll have to get it withdraw— What did you say?”
“I said, it’s not a mistake.”
Alice blinked. “It’s not?”
“No. Gerald put the notice in yesterday.”
“You’re engaged to my nephew, Gerald?”
Lucy nodded.
Alice flew across the room and embraced Lucy. “Oh, my dear girl, that’s marvelous. I’m so happy for you.” She sat down on Lucy’s bed, tossing the newspaper aside. “Now, tell me all about it. How did this happen?Whendid it happen? I must confess you’ve completely taken me by surprise. I thought you two were at daggers drawn.” Beaming expectantly at Lucy, Alice folded her hands and waited for the details of the romance to be revealed.
