Ford glanced at Cash, then off to the side. He didn't know whether Miss Farley was likely to have told anyone (because he didn't really know her, did he?) but he had run through a few scenarios in his head. If she had been in the coatroom with someone she actually liked prior to his arrival, Ford assumed she would have told them — or maybe wouldn't have had to tell them, because they would have already known more about what had happened that night than he did. He could imagine that one of the things Miss Farley or her parents were doing in the day and a half between the coatroom and when Mr. Farley had arrived in his parlor to make demands might have been trying to find that bloke and make demands, and that he had refused — or else there was some other thing that prevented him, and Ford had been the last remaining option. But there was a chance that she hadn't been having an exceptionally good night even before Ford showed up — she was undressed and alone, and even in the moment he'd thought it strange that whoever had undressed her would have abandoned her before even helping her lace her corset back up. And in that case, no, he didn't imagine she would have told anyone — but he also didn't imagine she'd be keen on the idea of a wedding night.
"Depends what happened before I got there, I guess," he said. Contemplating this made him uncomfortable and he had so far decided to try not to think about it, since there was nothing he could do about it, so he had little intention of dwelling on it now. He took a hefty drink. "But yeah, probably not."
"Depends what happened before I got there, I guess," he said. Contemplating this made him uncomfortable and he had so far decided to try not to think about it, since there was nothing he could do about it, so he had little intention of dwelling on it now. He took a hefty drink. "But yeah, probably not."
Set by Lady!