Chapter 87

When Lady Eugenia returned a short while later, apologizing for having abandoned me, I brushed it aside and informed her that I had come on a pleasurable task: to invite her to my engagement party.

“Oh, Warrick, you’re going to marry Eira? How splendid!”

“Er, no, Lady Eugenia. I’m going to announce my engagement to Delicia Corbyn.”

Her face fell, and then she blushed. “Please excuse me. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. I was under the impression that Eira is carrying your child. Obviously, I was mistaken.”

“You weren’t.” My hand in my pocket closed over her son’s undergarment. “Eira refused my offer. At any rate, Father has seen to all the arrangements.” Including the proposal. I hadn’t seen Delicia Corbyn since we had taken tea together, shortly after the incident in Eira’s shop. I dragged my mind back to the present. “He’s very pleased with her. She’ll make an excellent wife.” Lady Eugenia would have offered me a hug, but I stepped back. “May I count on your presence?”