Richard considered him silently, his eyes narrowing as he recalled the passionate embrace he’d stumbled upon and the fact that the man hadn’t rejoined him as he’d expected. Just how long had Daniel been in Suzette’s room in the end? He tried to work it out, running through the events of the evening.

“I haven’t tumbled her,” Daniel snapped, apparently reading his thoughts, and then he sighed and admitted, “But it was damned close, and only you know who’s presence prevented it in the end.”

“You know who was in the carriage,” Richard said at once.

“Yes, well, so were Suzette and I,” Daniel muttered.

“You had Suzette in the carriage with you know who?” he asked with horror. “Did she know you know who was there?”

Daniel grimaced. “Can we not think of another name for him? This is getting annoying.”

“Answer the damned question.”

“Well, of course she didn’t know. Hell, I didn’t know until I got in. In fact it was my attempt to distract her from his presence that led to the ‘damned close’

bit.” He sighed and added, “So it’s ironic that it was also his presence that brought an end to it.”

Richard almost asked how that could be, but then decided he didn’t really want to know. Running a hand through his hair, he asked, “If you haven’t bedded her, why consider marrying her? It’s rather sudden, isn’t it? You hardly know the chit.”

“Well, I know her as well as you know Christiana and you’re marrying her.”

“Christiana is a special woman and our situation is not a common one.”

“Well Suzette is just as special and our situation is not common either,” he shot back, and then sighed. “She proposed to me at the ball, and then when she found me in her room thought I had come to tell her yes. Rather than explain my real purpose in her room I let her believe it because I couldn’t come up with an alternate explanation for my presence there. I am still trying to come up with one. But I am also considering her proposal seriously in the meantime.”

“Why the devil would she propose to you?” Richard asked with surprise. “She wants a husband in need of money who will agree to her terms.”

“Yes, well, I may have misled her as to my financial status,” Daniel muttered.

Richard raised his eyebrows. “Why?”

“Because when she asked me about my income I assumed she was just another fortune seeking debutante and lied,” he admitted wryly. “You can imagine my surprise when rather than scaring her off, it prompted a proposal.”

No doubt he’d also been a little fascinated, Richard realized. They were both used to fortune seeking debutantes and their mothers chasing them about. Other than this last year and a half when he’d been absent, it had happened on a regular basis. A woman who wanted just the opposite would make an interesting change.

“So rather than just tell her that you have money—”