Summers, True
Page 47
"I was in a state of despair and affliction," Poppy vowed.
"Her reticule had unfortunately shot her husband," Dex explained. "Only lightly, but he was a man who seemed to bring on a looseness in triggers."
"Her reticule?" Daisy said thoughtfully. "I see, And you feel she perhaps has some small affection for you?"
"Except at times when I have been forced to send her away from me, for her own safety. Personally, I have always held her in high regard. As I said in Paris, I've wanted her from the first moment I saw her, and every moment since."
"I see," Daisy repeated, even more thoughtfully. "Poppy, my sweet, exactly what is your objection to this marriage?"
Poppy jumped to her feet. "Do you think I want to spend my life with a man who thinks he has only to be in the same room for me to run and throw myself into his arms?"
Daisy nodded. "H that's it, I think you had best be married so all your children will be legitimate. As your mother, and speaking to you as a young woman under my protection, I think I may urge most earnestly that this marriage take place as soon as possible." Then she pursed her lips and murmured, "For myself, I've always had a fancy for the name Lilly."
"His name will be Dexter, combined, of course, with other family names about which I will be happy to consult you," Dex said.
"Rose is one of my favorites," Poppy said shyly.
"I think Blossom is a little common but there's May," Daisy mused.
"Violet?" Poppy suggested.
''Women!'' Dex thundered. "I assume you are not forgetting there is also a jade plant?"
"Mr. Roack," Lady Redford said, drawing herself up.
"His name will be Dexter. Then we might consider Wolfington."
"Or perhaps Amaryllis?" Poppy said.
Her eyes met Daisy's in a gaze of perfect harmony.