Page 61 of Diana Adores the Puzzled Duke

“Ah, lad. Good on ya for being early. Come inside. Ya look like you be‘bout ta freeze solid as apole.”

They went inside and the butcher set him to working right away. All day long he worked. With only a crust of bread and a slice of cheese from the Misses, atnoontime.

Tommy was so exhausted that evening he flopped onto the bed and fell asleep right away. Doris had to wake him and make him eat some supper that his mother had put together from scavenging the market stalls at the end of theday.

The next morning Tommy and Mother were already gone when Doris got up and dressed, tying a ribbon to hold back her hair, taking a slice of bread for breakfast, putting on her thin coat, and heading out thedoor.

She was afraid she might be a little late as she ran toward the flower market. Once the flower sellers were done, an army of men with brooms descend on the market floor and begin sweeping up all the discarded flowers andtrash.

But Doris arrived in time and began picking through the debris on the floor looking for flowers she could use for her littlebouquets.

She always had a selection of ribbons in her coat pocket and she sat on a bench and made her smallarrangements.

Diana put down her pen when she noticed her mother coming along the garden path toward the house. Diana had worked right through lunch to make up for the time she had spent with Robert. It was now teatime.

She went into the kitchen just as Mother was putting on the kettle and taking down the box oftea.

“I just saw Adam heading our way,” Mother said. “He should be here any momentnow.”

And then there was a knock at the door which Dianaanswered.

Adam leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Hello, darling Diana, I have excellentnews!”

“You passed your exam?” sheasked.

“Not yet. But we are going to Greece on our honeymoon and I booked us on a boat that will stop at Genoa on the way home so we can spend a little time in Italy aswell.”

“That sounds splendid,” Diana said, taking Adam’s arm and leading him to thekitchen.

“Hello, Mrs. Browning,” Adam said as theyentered.

“Oh, Adam, you can call me Mother now that you are about to be my son-in-law.”

“Mother…” he said with a biggrin.

“Just fixing tea. You will have some, will younot?”

“I will, but I am embarrassed to say I did not bring anything from the bakery thistime.”

“I believe we still have some muffins from breakfast. Diana, will you get out the butter andjam?”

“Yes, Mother.” She put them on the table and sat down next toAdam.

“How are your exams coming?” Mother askedAdam.

“Almost done. But my dissertation is still a pain in theneck.”

“I imagine you will be very happy when you graduate. Are you going directly into your father’s firm?” sheasked.

“Not directly. I want to help organize the wedding and prepare for our honeymoon,” Adam said as he placed his hand on top of Diana’s, then taking her hand in his. But Diana found a way to extricate her hand by standing up and heating the tea pot with hot water from thekettle.

“Are you planning to publish any of Diana’s books?” Mother asked as she spooned the tea into thepot.

“No, Mother. I already told you. I am very happy with Sir Cecil as mypublisher.

“But soon the Earl will be publishing under your name. Would it not make more sense to have another publisher for your newwork?”

“No, Mother. Everything has been arranged, and I like the arrangement as itis.”