How many times did he have to say that he hadn't slept with Begonia Belby? Maybe he needed to be more explicit. He'd said there were no moments of passion or stolen moments, but maybe Verity actually did think a woman might become pregnant from something less than that. Though if she needed a sex talk, Ford was — entirely unprepared for that particular task. That wasn't the sort of thing fathers were supposed to do, was it? He needed to run this by Noble.

"I highly doubt she's with child," he said, rolling his eyes. "And if she is, it's certainly not mine. "But I should hate for anyone to think less of her because some busybody saw her talking to me once at a party." He'd done enough damage to her self-esteem, he thought, without ruining her reputation, too.

He thought he'd already gotten the gist of the article from glancing over it when it had still been in Verity's hands, but unfolded the pages now and skimmed it over again, just to be sure.