The suggestion was so shocking that Verity stopped short in her tracks. There had been rumors floating around for weeks that Miss Farley was engaged, and, while Verity was confident she wasn't engaged to Ford, a marriage was now the only way the idiotic girl's reputation would be saved. Ford's too, for that matter. This scandal would haunt them for years otherwise, and that was only if Miss Farley could find someone else to marry her.

Verity stared at Ford with a mixture of rage and disbelief. He'd done this to Miss Farley, and for what? A few minutes of pleasure that couldn't have been pleasurable enough to make this worth it. He'd done this to Grace and Clementine, ruined their chances of a successful marriage, and thought he'd get out of this without a single sacrifice.

"Of course you're going to have to write to her, Ford. There's- this - this isn't a ridiculous Witch Weekly article!" It was difficult to keep her tone level, to refrain from shouting at him on the street. She took a breath and pulled her cloak tighter about her shoulders so that her hands had something to do other than tremble. Then, only a bit more calmly Verity added, "you're either going to be a heartless rake or her husband — there's no compromise here."

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