A Most Agreeable Murder (Beatrice Steele, #1)

by Julia Seales

“You and Daniel were friends, clearly, and you were the obvious choice to be his wife. Yet he had not made you an offer. Would a true friend have left a lady scrambling? He would have known about your concern for your family’s future and your dire financial situation. If he cared for you, wanted a wife, and had no reason to object, why wouldn’t he marry you at once? He was protective of you, concerned with your reputation, suggested that you assist me, and declared you the most upstanding woman in Swampshire. You are personable, witty, attractive….” He cleared his throat. “I mean to say, there is nothing objectionable to your looks.” “You flatter me,” Beatrice said dryly, but her cheeks felt warm. “The point is, there was no reason for him not to make you an offer of marriage. And then I remembered something that my mother wrote once in a letter to me.” Drake drew in a deep breath. “A single man in possession of a good fortune sometimes is actually not single. He’s often a total liar.”