Frankly, after her talk with Reverend Danford, which had come about because he’d wanted to make sure she knew, if she was ever going to get around to getting married, that he’d need at least a month’s notice to reserve St. Luke’s Chapel for her, she was beginning to think that what happened to her with Thomas might turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
Offering women lessons in defense was just the first step Daphne had taken to address the problem of women being abused by men. At Reverend Danford’s suggestion, she’d begun speaking of the matter at suffrage meetings. Her goal with that was to allow women to realize that it was not acceptable for men to behave so poorly, and better yet, to realize that it was not the woman’s fault for being abused.
In the process of telling her story to other women, she’d come to a rather unexpected realization—that being the notion that God had never ignored her prayers for courage and that He’d continued to answer them to this day. It had taken more courage than she knew she possessed to get up in front of a room filled with women and speak about a topic that was considered unseemly, but she had.
Given the number of ladies who’d approached her afterward with their own stories of abuse, it was clear it was a subject that couldn’t be ignored any longer. She could only hope that more women would speak up, and that someday they’d have a way to seek justice for the abuse so many of them had experienced.
“Would you look at that, she made it.”
Shaking herself from her thoughts, Daphne almost let go of the rope when she realized she had made it to the very top of the rope, something she’d never been able to do before. Looking down, she grinned at everyone now assembled underneath the tree.
Eunice was grinning back at her, as were Elsy and Ann. Gabriella and Nicholas were clapping their hands, and Winston and Precious were wagging their tails, although that might have been because of the clapping. Herman was simply smiling at her, watching her closely, no doubt worried she might fall.
Not wanting him to worry, she eased her way down the rope, sending Cooper a nod as she shook out arms that now felt rather weak and peeled off the gloves that had protected her hands from the rope. “I’ll be taking myself off to speak with Herman about my book now, if it’s all the same to you.”
Grabbing Herman’s hand as Cooper’s laughter drifted through the yard, she tugged him into the boardinghouse, not stopping until they reached the parlor. Herman waited until she took a seat on the divan before he sat down beside her, leaned forward, and kissed her.
It took a great deal of effort to pull away from him.
“You don’t want to continue kissing me?” he asked, a trace of amusement in his voice.
“Of course I do, but I would think you’d take the supreme effort it just took me to discontinue our kiss as a compliment.”
“I’m not certain why I would take it as that.”
“You should because obviously, I value your opinion as a writer so much that I’m willing to stop an activity I adore so that I can hear your thoughts about my book.”
He smiled as he pulled her manuscript onto his lap. “It’s brilliant.”
She smiled as well. “Brilliant is an excellent word.”
“Indeed, but I couldn’t help noticing that the hero seems familiar.”
“Does he?” she asked, her smile turning into a grin.
“He does. I especially enjoyed the part where he saved the heroine when their boat sank.”
“Did you notice I included the bustle?”
“Phillip will be thrilled with that.”
“I also put in the bit about the possibility of love after first sight.”
“I noticed that, as well.”
“Did you notice anything else?”
He leaned closer to her. “I noticed that you ended the book by having the hero ask to court the heroine. That might be a problem.”
For the first time in what seemed like forever, Daphne felt a distinct need for her smelling salts. “A . . . problem?”
Herman took hold of her hand and lifted it to his lips, placing a kiss on the palm of it. “Yes, but it’s not a problem that will be difficult to rectify.”
“How will I go about doing that?”
In the blink of an eye, he was kneeling on one knee, holding her hand as he caught her gaze. “I believe the only way to rectify the problem will be to draw from real-life experience.”
Her throat went dry. “Oh.”
“Yes, oh.” He slipped his other hand into his pocket, withdrawing a blue box that could only have come from Tiffany & Company. “Two months ago, I told you that I knew the moment I saw you that there was a distinct possibility I could fall in love with you. Now I realize that wasn’t exactly true. I believe I did fall in love with you that day, and my love has only intensified over the time we’ve spent together.”
“Oh . . . my.”
“Nice to see you’re adding words to your sentences, but with that said . . .” He opened up the small box, revealing a beautiful diamond ring set in platinum, two emeralds nestled on either side of the diamond.
“Goodness” was all Daphne was capable of saying, earning another smile from Herman.
“Perhaps I should move on quickly before you lose all ability with words.”
He caught her gaze again. “Miss Daphne Beekman, you took me by complete surprise when you charged into my life—and by charged, I mean that literally. You’re an adventure in and of itself, and I want to spend every day for the rest of my life enjoying the adventure that’s simply you. I would be the happiest man alive if you’d promise to share your adventures with me from this point forward and agree to marry me.”
She blinked as tears blinded her before she gave a nod, unable to get a single word out of her mouth.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, slipping the ring on her finger and then gathering her close, pressing his lips against hers in a kiss that left her head spinning, but in a marvelous way instead of the way that normally left her swooning.
Far too soon, he pulled away and smiled. “Now then, not that I wouldn’t love to continue kissing you, but I believe you have an epilogue to write. One where your hero delivers a most romantic proposal and your heroine truly makes him the happiest man alive by accepting his proposal and agreeing to marry him within a month.”
“A . . . month?”
“If that would be acceptable to your heroine.”
“I don’t think she’ll have a problem with that,” Daphne whispered as Herman wiped away a single tear that had escaped her eye.
“Wonderful. Do know that we’ll get back to kissing soon, but for now, go write. You know you’re itching to get to Almira.”
Wondering how she’d gotten so fortunate as to find a gentleman like Herman, the perfect hero for her, Daphne gave him one last kiss and rose from the divan, anxious to write an epilogue she knew was going to make her story the best one she’d ever written—one that still had mystery in it but included a large dollop of romance, as well.
That dollop was only possible because she’d had the courage to convince Mr. Herman Henderson to hire her—an unlikely inquiry agent if there ever was one. She never imagined that the courage she always felt she lacked, but that God had certainly granted her, would be responsible for bringing her the love of her life—a good man she was going to be able to call her own forever.
Named one of the funniest voices in inspirational romance by Booklist, Jen Turano is a USA Today bestselling author, known for penning quirky historical romances set in the Gilded Age. Her books have earned Publishers Weekly and Booklist starred reviews, top picks from Romantic Times, and praise from Library Journal. She’s been a finalist twice for the RT Reviewers’ Choice Awards and had two of her books listed in the top 100 romances of the past decade from Booklist. She and her family live outside of Denver, Colorado. Readers can find her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and at jenturano.com.
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Table of Contents
Cover
Half Title Page
Books by Jen Turano
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Contents
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Epilogue
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
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