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“Tell me what happened.”
Indy opened a cabinet and produced a bottle of sherry. “I think we both could use a dash of this in our tea.”
Viola sat with her at the table and Indy poured equal parts sherry and tea.
“Now, what’s happened?” asked Viola. “You went to your brother’s house?”
“It’s going to be all over the broadsheets soon, so I may as well tell you. I’ve done something impulsive.”
“You? Do something impulsive?” The feigned incredulity on Viola’s face made Indy smile.
“It’s shocking, I know.”
“What did you do?” asked Viola with a curious glance as she sipped from her cup.
How to explain what had happened when she couldn’t make sense of it herself? “While you were fending off boorish unwanted advances, I was succumbing to... temptation.”
“What sort of temptation?”
The wicked scoundrel sort.“It’s somewhat difficult to explain, but the heart of the matter is that the Duke of Ravenwood and I are to be wed.”
Viola set down her teacup and liquid sloshed over the side. “Have you gone quite mad?”
“It’s all hogwash. Don’t believe what you read about it in the papers. We’re not really going to be married.”
“You’re marrying... or you’re not marrying?”
“It’s only one of our battles. It’s all a game. The Grandest Wedding that Never Will Be. We’re seeing who will cave and bow out first.” Indy swallowed more tea. “It won’t be me.”
“I need more tea.” Viola poured herself more sherry, and no tea. “But how did this happen?”
“There was a misunderstanding.”
“What kind of misunderstanding?”
“We were arguing.”
“Arguing is grounds for marriage?”
“We may have been... argue-kissing.”
“What on earth is argue-kissing?”
“It’s when you’re half arguing and half kissing. Maybe a better name for it would be hate-kissing. Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and such. I’m sure it happens to people all the time.”
“I’m not sure of that in the least.I’venever been tempted tohate-kissanyone.”
“It’s... complicated.”
“I gathered as much. So... you were hate-kissing the Duke of Ravenwood and then what happened?”
“Then my brother, and Mr. Peabody from theObserver, walked in upon us.”
Viola sprayed tea, which was mostly sherry by now, in an unladylike manner. “What did you say?”
“My brother Edgar was being interviewed about the steam races and he wanted to show Mr. Peabody a model of his steam engine. He didn’t know what was happening in his library.”
“Hate-kissing,” Viola supplied helpfully.
