Otherwise Engaged by Amanda Quick Read Free Book Online Page B

with the coffee pot. Penny’s jaw tightened.
    Amity flushed a vivid shade of pink.
    “I regret to say that is the case,” she said.
    He grappled with that for a moment and decided that it would probably be best not to tell her that he wished it were true. He forced himself to focus on the problem at hand.
    “What does the gossip have to do with the fact that you were nearly murdered?” he said instead.
    Amity took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “According to the press, the Bridegroom chooses female victims whose reputations have been tarnished by scandal.”
    She spoke so quickly—practically mumbling—that he was not certain he heard her correctly.
    “Tarnished by scandal?” he repeated to make certain he understood.
    “Yes,” Amity said, her tone clipped and brusque.
    “You’re telling me that the rumors about you or, I should say, ussomehow reached the killer’s ears and that is why he fixed his attentions on you?”
    “That appears to be the case,” Amity said. She poured a little cream into her coffee. “I fear the gossip has been circulating in certain circles for some time.”
    “Ever since the Channing ball, to be precise,” Penny added. “As far as I can determine, it started the morning after that affair.”
    Benedict frowned. “Did you two attend?”
    “No,” Penny said. “But it was not difficult to establish that the rumors began circulating immediately afterward. Polite Society is a small world, as I’m sure you’re aware, Mr. Stanbridge.”
    “True,” he said. “And an overheated hothouse when it comes to gossip. I do my best to avoid it.”
    “I’m not particularly fond of it, myself,” Penny said. “But thanks to my late husband, I spent some time in that hothouse and I still have my connections. That is how I learned where and when the rumors began.”
    “Did you discover who was responsible?” he asked.
    “No,” Penny admitted. “That sort of thing is more difficult to pin down. Until Amity was attacked our chief concern was that the gossip might cause her publisher to change his mind about publishing her book.”
    Benedict looked at Amity. “You’ve finished your travel book for ladies, then?”
    “Almost,” she said. “I am making one or two small changes but I had hoped to send it to Mr. Galbraith later this month. Unfortunately, what with the rumors about my association with you and now this situation involving a killer, things have become quite complicated.”
    He considered various possible solutions to the problem while hedowned the last of the eggs. Then he sat back to savor the rest of his coffee.
    “The problem of ensuring the publication of your book is simple enough to resolve,” he said.
    Amity and Penny stared at him.
    “What, exactly, do you mean by simple, Mr. Stanbridge?” Amity asked. She was clearly wary. “Do you intend to threaten or intimidate Mr. Galbraith? Because I assure you that, while I appreciate the gesture, I really cannot countenance such an approach.”
    “You would appreciate the gesture?” he asked.
    She smiled the first real smile she had bestowed upon him since he had arrived. It was the kind of smile that warmed her eyes and the atmosphere around her; the kind of smile that made him feel very, very good deep inside.
    “It is kind of you to offer to intimidate Mr. Galbraith in order to help me get my guidebook published, but I fear that under the circumstances that might be somewhat awkward,” she said.
    “Well, in that case I will save the option of inducing fear in your publisher as a last resort,” Benedict said. “In any event I don’t think it will be necessary to take such drastic measures if we apply the simpler, more straightforward solution that I have in mind.”
    Penny still appeared somewhat bewildered, but a faint gleam of comprehension lit her eyes. “What is that, sir?”
    “From what you have told me it is obvious that the easiest way to deal with the question of Amity’s