A Bright Particular Star (27 page)

“D
o you i
ntend to stay in
London
long,
Cavanagh?
”
said
Grey
, casting Theo a penetrating glance
.

“
Perhaps a
week at most
,
”
Theo
replied.

“
Oh
!
T
hat is
a pity
,
”
Sophie
blurted out, feeling
suddenly
downhearted
; she had not envisaged him
leaving
so soon.

“
I have som
e business to attend to in the country
,
”
he explained
.

“
You won
’t
ne
ed any company but mine
,
”
Peregrine assured
her.
“
I
’
ll be happy to squir
e you around the sights
.
”

He then
shouted for
a servant
and t
he lack of i
mmediate response sent him
striding
out into the hallw
ay, grumbling about the
servic
e and intent on
obtaining a pack of cards.
Mr
Grey went out too, promising to
procure
a pot of
coffee for Sophie and Olivia
after
discussing an urgent matter
with his valet
.

A short time later,
Olivia went upstairs
to collect
her shawl and
Sophie
found herself alone with Theo
.
As she had been doing all evening, she sto
le surrept
itious glances at him
, greedily
committing
every
detail to memory
.

She noted h
ow the
candlelight picked out threads of dark gold in his hair and glinted off the faint growth of bristle along his jaw
, and
h
ow his hair
curled into the rigid nape of his
neck.
She
loved the
humour
around his firm mou
th
and the smile
lurking
in his eyes.
H
e had pro
ved himself to be kind and thoughtful
, yet she
also
knew
the
s
teely, passionate depths
beneath his
easy—
going exterior.
They had so
little time left
together
.
In a few hours
,
they would go their separate ways
and
Sophie
felt
c
lose to tears at the prospect
.
She ought to
be overjoyed at the thought
of seeing
Ja
mes again, but instead was
conscious
only
of the bitter taste
of unhappiness
.
Misery
clogged her throat
and her heart gave a slow, painful roll
.
“
I
-I think I
’
ll retire
—
”
she began
.

Olivia
returned
and
Sophie knew at once from her expression
something was wrong.

“
What
’s
the matter?
”
she prompted.

Olivia da
rted a glance at Theo.
“S
ome
one has been in our room
.
”

Sophie star
ted forward.
“
What!
Has it been
ran
sacked?
”

“
No, nothing like that,
”
said Oli
via, in an urgent
voice
.
“
Indeed, I probably would not hav
e noticed anything at all
, but
my shawl was in a slightly different place
from
where I left it.
”

“
Are you sure you a
re not mistake
n?
”
said
Mr
Grey, who had just
strolled
back
in
and overheard
.

Olivia
shook her hea
d.
“
I had folded it as
I always do, yet it had bee
n refolded in a different way
.
Nothing seems to be missing
though
.
”

“
Yet more mystery,
”
said Theo
.
“
Any ideas,
Grey?
”

He raised
an eyebrow.
“
Why
ask me?
”

“
I thought you might have some suggestions.
”

Mr
Grey regarded hi
m steadily
.
“
A few, but all of them implausible.
”

“
None of us
left the room during dinner,
”
pointed out Sophie.

“T
rue,
”
acknowledged Theo,
“
but
the person responsible
might have used
an
accompli
c
e.
”
He concluded with an accus
ing
look
at
Grey, who stared back, his expression impassive.

A long, uncomfortable
pause ensued.

When Grey finally spoke,
his tone
was
clipped but not uncivil
,
“
When we were at
T
he Pelican
, I made a comment about you trusting me, Cavanagh.
It was spoken somewhat flippantly at the time,
which I now regret.
You are cautious on Miss
Devereux
’s
behalf and
I
understand
you
r
wish to keep
your cards close.
But it is not always
the best way
.
Shared knowle
dge can be
far more useful
.
”

“
You might apply that advice to yourself,
”
retorted Theo.

Mr
Grey smiled faintly, lifting his hand in the manner of a fencer acknowledging a hit.
“
T
ouch
é
,
”
he murmured.
“
Very well.
P
erhaps you will feel
more
inclined to con
fide in me
when
Miss
Devereux
is inst
alled in the Verney
house
hold.
”
He pushed bac
k his chair and
bow
ed briefly
.
“
Ladies, I bid you goodnight.
I f
ind I have no taste for
cards t
onight after all, and am for
bed.
”
His gaze lingered
on Olivia.
“S
leep well, Miss Sloane.
”

He went
out, passing Peregrine on the way,
who
voiced his disgust
when he learned Grey
’s
objective
was bed rather than a hand of piquet.

T
hey set off
promptly after breakfast
.
Sophie
had spent a miserable night
tossing and turning
in her bed
in a way that left the sheets and blankets crumpled and askew,
even though
there had been no intruders
to distur
b her
.
When she awoke to find the room full of sunlight, she was glad to get up and dressed, but
she felt exhausted and
a
dull headache throbbed in her temples.

Now the time
for meeting James
was drawing near
she
was entertaining every conc
eiva
ble doubt
.
W
hat
she would do if he was not at home
?
Worse sti
ll, what if he was there and
so disgusted with her behaviour that he gave
her the cut direct?

No, that w
ould not happen
.
He
could not have changed so drastically
in the interveni
ng years.
At least
in Madame Lavalle
’s
outfit
sh
e
would
not arrive looking like a
provincial
ragamuffin.

She was prey to a wild mixture of emotions
.
S
he wanted
to see James again
—
it
was the object
of her journey
after all
—
but
she dreaded
saying goodbye to Theo.
It was hard
to believe she
’d
only known him for
a short time
.
L
ast night
she had realiz
ed
with
sudden and
devastating clarity how
much
she
would
miss him
.

Unable to resist
this last
opportunity to study
his
profile, she
peeked at him
as he sat next to her in the carriage.
H
e
was sterner
than usual
, but nothing
in his expression or his
manner gave a clue to any other
feelings.
H
e
had been the perfect gentleman
du
ring the journey.
As for
whe
n he
had almost ki
ssed her, he
must be
regretting that aberration now.
He wasn
’t
interested in
someone like her
.
How could he be?
Theo
Cavanagh
could
have
his pick of
women
so what could
he see in an
impulsive
ingénue from the country
?
She would never be the sort
of woman he would want
.
Duty and honour
was all that
bound hi
m to her side
; h
e had admitted
as much
a
t T
he Castle.
This dismal reflection made he
r utter an involuntary
sigh.

“
Nervous
?
”
inquired
her companion.

Sophie
, unwilling to reveal the real direction of her thoughts,
forced a smile.
“
A little.
Understandable, I suppose, when I have not seen James for several y
ears.
I hope he will be
pleased
to see me
wh
en he has recovered from the
shock
.
”

“
He
’s
a fool
if he is not,
”
he said after a pause
.
“
Where is
the Verney
townhouse
?
”

“
Upper Brook Street.
”

“T
hen we sh
all take our leave of
Peregrine
soon
if he
is staying at Limmer
’s
.
”

“
Where
is that?
”
she asked, hoping it
was not too near Upper Brook Street.

“T
he corner of Conduit
Street
and Hanover Square
.
It
’s
usually see
thing with sporting bloods
and
,
since y
our cousin
fancies himself among their number
,
it will suit him per
fectly.
”
He glanced
at her
, his gaze anxious
.
“D
on
’t
let him bother you, will
you?
H
e intends to insinuate himself i
nto your company
, but you
can
refuse
.
And if he will not be gainsaid, get Vern
ey or his mother to send him
packing
.
”

Sophie shrugged.
“
I’m
not
concerned about Perry
.
”