Laughter filled the room, and Damaris was glad that the tension she had felt earlier, upon meeting the man who was the brother of her husband-to-be, had slowly washed away.
He had asked her questions, and she had given him an answer with which he was satisfied.
"Ah, do not worry about the damaged door," Ethan said. "From what you have said so far, it is clear that my dear brother has spoken nothing of me to his bride-to-be. So I will have you know that I am quite capable of paying for a ruined door."
Damaris' eyes widened.
"Really? It is quite an expensive door, and—"
"Oh, do not fret, my dear. Though a poor gardener he may be, I, on the other hand, am quite well-to-do. You may say I am a merchant of sorts."
"Is that so?" Damaris asked with undisguised interest.
"Aye. I have ships bringing in foreign goods even as we speak," he said, and Damaris' eyes instantly shifted to Zuri, as though silently asking if his brother's words were true.
