As he strode across the room after Lady Tarley, Maria found herself smiling. She ought to be furious with him, knowing that the gossip might make it into the London papers and get back to Nathan. So whywasn’t she?
Because he’d done it to save her from embarrassment. And because Oliver rarely said anything on impulse. Considering how he’d fought the idea of marriage, it was astonishing he would let something like that slip. It made her hope…
No, she’d be mad to hope for anything more from him-especially given his clear alarm over how he’d misspoken.
The woman Lady Tarley had been talking to hurried to Mrs. Plumtree, who broke into a cat-in-the-cream smile after the woman said a few words to her. Mrs. Plumtree glanced over at Maria, and to Maria’s shock, she winked.
Winked! Maria didn’t know what had happened in the past few hours, but somehow Mrs. Plumtree had gone from disapproving of her as a wife for Oliver to approving of her wholeheartedly.
Oh dear. She had a sinking feeling that this evening was about to head in a direction Oliver hadn’t anticipated.
And the worst part was that a tiny, ridiculous corner of her heart was glad.

Autore: Sabrina Jeffries