Otherwise Engaged by Amanda Quick

unexpected events. In addition to locating the inventor I had hoped to interview, I am happy to announce that I am engaged to be married to Miss Amity Doncaster.”
    It took a lot to make Hodges blink. He blinked twice. Then something that might have been astonishment lit up his long, stern features.
    “Would that be Miss Amity Doncaster, the lady globetrotter who writes travel reports for the
Flying Intelligencer
, sir?” Hodges asked. “The same Miss Doncaster who was very nearly murdered by the fiend called the Bridegroom?”
    “One and the same. I see you are aware of Miss Doncaster.”
    “I expect everyone who reads the papers is aware of her, sir.” Hodges cleared his throat. “And also that your name has been linked with hers in a romantic fashion.”
    No wonder Amity and Penny were so concerned about the rumors that had been circulating, Benedict thought. He was inclined to ignore gossip for the most part, so he sometimes forgot how quickly it could spread and how deep and wide it could reach. Amity was right to worry that her publisher might cancel the publication of
A Lady’s Guide to Globetrotting
.
    “Of course our names have been linked in a romantic fashion,”Benedict said. “As I told you, we are engaged. We were waiting to make a formal announcement until I returned to London.”
    “She sounds like a very interesting lady,” Hodges said. “Mrs. Hodges is a great fan of her travel pieces. I do hope Miss Doncaster is recovering well from her recent ordeal.”
    “I went to see her before I came here. I found her eating a hearty breakfast and reading the morning papers.”
    “That is quite impressive, sir. A hearty breakfast, you say? I expect that most ladies would be subsisting on tea and toast after such an experience.”
    “Miss Doncaster is unique, Hodges.”
    Hodges did not actually smile but approval flickered in his eyes.
    “Obviously, sir,” he said. “I would not have expected you to become engaged to a lady who was anything less than unique.”
    “You know me better than I know myself, Hodges.”
    “Will you be wanting breakfast, sir?”
    “No, thank you. I ate it at the home of my fiancée and her sister, Mrs. Marsden.”
    Hodges elevated his brows a fraction of an inch. “Would that be the Mrs. Marsden who is the widow of Mr. Nigel Marsden, the gentleman who broke his neck going over a fence in the hunt several months ago?”
    “I believe so, why?”
    “Nothing, sir.”
    “Damn it, Hodges, what are you not telling me?”
    Mrs. Hodges spoke from the doorway. “What Mr. Hodges is trying to say is that Mrs. Marsden is no doubt grieving very deeply. She inherited a tidy fortune from her late husband, yet according to the rumors, the first thing she did after the funeral was let all of the staff go. They say she has retreated from the world.”
    Benedict studied Mrs. Hodges, who bore a striking resemblance to Mr. Hodges, except for her housedress and apron.
    “You are well informed, Mrs. Hodges,” he said. “Anything else I ought to know about my future sister-in-law?”
    “I don’t believe so, sir.”
    Benedict started up the stairs. “In that case I am going to bathe and change my clothes, after which I must call on my brother and then visit my uncle.” He paused midway up the staircase. “I suppose it would be too much to hope that there has not been any recent word from Australia?”
    Hodges picked up the silver salver on the console. There was a single envelope on the tray. “As a matter of fact, a telegram arrived this morning.”
    “Damn and blast. I suppose that is no surprise.” Resigned, Benedict changed course and went back down the stairs. “If the gossip about my association with Miss Doncaster is all over London, then naturally it has reached my parents.”
    “The invention of the telegraph was an amazing thing, sir,” Hodges said. “I believe the undersea cable that linked Australia to the rest of the world was laid more than a decade