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Ethan did not reply to that. He just looked pointedly at him and poured himself another glass.

Daniel felt like kicking himself for his quick temper. It was not like his friend was scorning him for his past. Far from it. Ethan only reminded him that it was all behind him right now.

And how far he had risen from it all.

“At least I offer the highest wages—both at Ashton Hall and the gaming hell,” Daniel muttered.

“I doubt you came here just for me to tell you what a good man you have been,” his friend pointed out to him wryly. “But you, of all people, know better than to put little Evie in such a position. If Colin was here?—”

“Evelyn is already a grown woman, and she does not need a bunch of men dictating to her how she is supposed to live her life,” Daniel put in bluntly. “Besides, I could not let her marry that oaf after I…”

He immediately shut his mouth when he realized that he had just volunteered information that he had not meant to. Ethan was his friend—and among the very few heactuallytrusted—but for one who dealt with a great amount of secrets, it was strangely uncomfortable to reveal his own.

“You mean you could hardly allow her to marry the Earl of Sidmouth after that kiss?” his friend asked him with a raised eyebrow.

Daniel’s hand immediately tightened on his glass. “Who else knows?”

“I did not know, Ash. It was simply a guess, and a lucky one at that.” Ethan raised his glass to Daniel and smiled self-deprecatingly. “You know what they say about broken clocks—it still gets the time right twice a day.”

“You certainly give yourself too little credit.”

“I could never compare to you.” Ethan laughed.

Daniel scowled at him. “Well, this marriage is nothing like what you are thinking, so you had best put those thoughts to rest.”

“Whatever type of marriage it turns out to be, you still have to tell Colin about it,” the Duke of Sinclair pointed out. “You cannot just marry the lady and not inform her brother about it. Just because you are his friend, though, does not mean he is going to like it. Or you.”

“Colin will understand once he learns of the precarious situation Evie is in,” Daniel muttered. “And he should know, seeing as he was the one that mostly put her in that position by announcing to everyone just how generous her dowry was.”

“A dowry like that would propel any young lady to the height of popularity—not that little Evie needs it.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes at his friend. “You had best keep away from such thoughts about my betrothed.”

“You have hardly announced your engagement to anyone other than the man who once intended to marry her, and now you are acting like a jealous husband.” Ethan chuckled.

“I have already sought the approval of her grandmother and obtained a special license from the Archbishop of Canterbury. That should give me more rights than anyone to tell you toback the hell off.”

Ethan put his hands up defensively. “Hey, you need not be so quick-tempered about it. Besides, you still have to inform Colin, andheshould have as much authority as to whether you could marry his sister or not.”

“He has handed that authority to me in his absence.”

“Yes,” his friend replied in exasperation. “But I doubt Colin intended for you to actuallymarryEvie when he did that. At least write him a letter, won’t you? It will not do any of us any good if he returns to find out thatyouhave married his beloved baby sister.”

“You make it sound like such a bad thing.” Daniel scowled. “And I told you, she is already a grown woman.”

Even I have been made painfully aware of that ever since I woke up to find her in my bed…

CHAPTER 14

Daniel was right.

She had initially thought that he must have been exaggerating when he said that news of their supposedly secret engagement would soon spread through theton.

But it did. Likewildfire.

“What a vile woman that scribe is!” her grandmother sneered as she tossed the pamphlet that had made its way into Ashton Hall early that morning. The wordsLady Spalding’s Society Paperswere neatly printed at the top on the very front of it, a delicate flourish highlighting the scandal writer’s chosennom de plume.

Noone could be sure who Lady Spalding really was, although she caused a great deal of grief amongst theton, mostly due to her incendiary writing. No one was spared from her scathing remarks. It seemed that Lady Spalding herself lived toantagonize just about everybody, and this time, she had turned her sights on Evie.