She was dressed for staying at home in a modest sprigged muslin gown, her hair pulled up in a simple chignon instead of a mass of ringlets. He had been worried she might not even be up yet. After staying up almost until dawn at his telescope, he was awake this early only because of his father’s outraged roars upon seeing the newspaper.
Miss Parnell came forward slowly and gestured for him to be seated.
Alistair waited until she had settled on the sofa before taking an armchair across from her. “I do apologize for my early arrival, but I wanted to warn you—”
“About the announcement in the paper?”
Damn. “You’ve already seen it?”
“As has my brother. He’ll be joining us in a few minutes, by the way. He was a bit affronted you did not approach him about the marriage settlements before send
