Page 107 of A Murder at Kew Gardens

"I know who the devil he is, Rosie, what I cannot see is why he is—" He gestured toward our obviously disheveled state.

"We are engaged to be married,” she said.

William's mouth, which had been open for a further objection, closed. Opened. Closed again. "Since when."

"Since approximately a quarter of an hour ago."

He looked at me. He looked at his sister. He looked at the small piece of furniture that had gone over earlier and was still lying on its side near the window. He looked back at me.

"A quarter of an hour ago,” William echoed.

"Yes," I said.

“So you thought you’d anticipate your wedding⁠—”

Rosalynd made a sound—the beginning of a laugh—and then she closed the distance between her and her brother and embraced him. “William, welcome home.”

Chapter

Thirty-Eight

Plans are Made

Needless to say, the aftermath of Warwick’s proposal and William’s arrival was sheer madness. The entire family descended upon the morning room with shrieks, tears, questions, embraces, and so much talking at once that for a full five minutes hardly anyone made sense.

Eventually Warwick managed to tear himself away—he had a special license to arrange. But before he left, I pulled him into the small closet off the hall reserved for coats, hats, gloves, so we could properly say goodbye. We didn’t get far before the door was pulled open by Honeycutt. His expression could have frozen boiling water.

“The wedding ceremony has not yet taken place, Your Grace.”

A laughing Warwick placed his hands on my butler’s shoulders. “Honeycutt. Don’t ever change.”

A shocked expression rolled across Honeycutt’s face. “Your Grace. It is not seemly!”

“It is if I do it.” And then Warwick strolled out, but not before promising to return for supper.

I left Honeycutt to recover his composure and headed toward my bedchamber where Tilly was waiting for me.

The moment I entered, her face broke into a grin. “My lady! Congratulations!”

I took her hands, and we danced around the room like a pair of fools. When lack of breath forced us to stop, she said. “You’ll be a duchess.”

More than that. I’d be the Duchess of Steele. Only then did the reality of what I had agreed to strike me. I was going to leave Rosehaven House. My family. My brothers and sisters. For years I had known where each of them slept. Who needed new shoes. Who had quarreled with whom. Which child had a cold, which needed coaxing and which needed scolding.

Marriage would change all of that.

Not Petunia, of course. She had already made her intentions perfectly clear. She was coming with me whether Warwick and I invited her or not. She adored him, and he in turn adored her. But the rest of them⁠—

A knock sounded on the door.

Tilly opened it to find Laurel standing outside. “Rosie, may I come in?”

“Yes, of course.” I bit my lip to keep from getting teary-eyed. Once I married Warwick, I would rarely see her. She would live with Cosmos and Claire on the other side of Yorkshire. I didn’t know how I would bear it.

Laurel joined me on the bed. “I was thinking.”

“A noble endeavor.”

“Do you think the duke would mind awfully if I came to live with you?” she asked in a small voice.