A Bright Particular Star (37 page)

“
More
,
”
admitted Theo
.

At this,
Marguerite, the Dowager Countess, who had been studying her son thoughtfully,
dabbed he
r napkin to her lips to hide a
smile
, but said nothing
.

Julia
was not so circumspect.
“
Really
?
”
she said, her
eyes dancing.
“
And to think
you used to talk
of marrying a
mouse of a g
irl who would give you a quiet
life!
Well, I am
relieved
you have not decided upon
an insipid Almack
’s
debutante
because
you would be bored within a month
.
Sophie
sounds
exactly
the sort
of girl I
would have chosen for you.
”

Freddy, smiling indulgently
as his wife delivered this
candid
observation, held
up his hands when Theo
’s
gaze
shifted
to him.
“D
on
’t
ask
me for
advice
!
”
he said,
laughing and
shaking his head.
“
Useless
where
ladies
are concerned
,
and
that
’s
the sum of it.
”

“D
arling, that
’s
not true—
”
began Julia.

“
Oh yes, it is,
”
said
Freddy
bluntly.
“
Never been able to understand them
!
Not
that it matters anymore
because
I’m
married to the only woman in the world who understands me
,
and I adore her
for it
.
”
He swept
his wife
’s
fingers
to his lips
before adding
,
with a wink in Theo
’s
direction
,
“
Besides
,
I
wouldn
’t
want to mak
e
a greater mull of things
for you
, Theo
.
I took
your
advice
on a
previous occasion as I recall
and it led to a disastrous evening with Julia.
”

Theo grinned at the memory.
”S
o it did
!
”

“
I can safely
say that we will
never
be
under
stood by men and a good thing
too
,
for how else can we ho
pe t
o keep them intrigued?
”
observed
Marguerite.

More l
aughter follo
wed
this remark
,
and
although
the
rest of the meal passed in a lively fashion
, by the end of the evening Theo felt
unbearably restless
.
He was in
an
agony of hope and despair
.
A
llowing Sophie to meet her childhood sweetheart before declaring himself might have been well
-
intentioned, but it had also bee
n a mistake.
His
preoccupation with
doing the
honourable
thing
meant
he had lost sight of what was
important.
N
ow he
had to
fight for his future.

He
would have preferred to drive
back
through
the n
ight, but
resigned
himself to a
n early
morning
departure
when
he
would make better time
.
T
he
thought
of Sophie
marrying anyone
else
was excruciating
.
He felt
overwhelming des
pair
at the prospect of her
becoming betroth
ed, then married and all that marriage
entailed.

Sharing meals, sharing laughter
,
sharing the same name.

Sharing the same bed.

He groaned.
Frustration and j
ealousy
were
eating away
at his soul
like a
n insidious
poison
.
His only
hope was that
, on
careful
reflection
,
he did not think he
had imagined Sophie
’s
partiality for his company
.
Could
that mean she had
some
feelings
for him
after all?

Sophie was in the saloon
with Lady V
erney when the butler announced
Pere
grine
’s
arrival
.
S
ophie
’s
spirits sank
.
This was Perry
’s
fo
urth visit
in as many days
and
she had already been as uncivil as she dared
in refusing
his invitations
.

He
had
looked so
downcast that
Sophie
could al
most have believed he meant it.
He was certainly persistent
, brushing aside
whatever
object
ions and excuses she raised
.
This, c
oupled
with
the subtle
but very real
pressure James and his mother were bri
nging to bear, meant
Sophie
’s
resolve
was being tested
to the limit
.
She
did not want
to offer Perry
any encouragement, but
at the same time
she
felt increasingly cornered
.

Lady
Verney
, after
requesting
Peregrine
be shown into the saloon
,
urged
Sophie to be kind.
“
He
is
eager to please and a little consideration
for his feelings
can do no harm.
I never saw a man so en
amoured.
Can
you not see it
yourself
?
”

“
I
ndeed I cannot
,
m
a
’
am.
I have known Perry for three years and
,
in my experience, he
is
only ever enamoured
of
himself.
A
ll I see is a man whose pride is piqued
by my refusals.
”
Sophie
saw
the troubled frown
on her ladyship
’s
brow
and
was moved to add,
“
But
I will
try
to
be civil
for your sake
.
”

Lady Verney
lea
ned
forward
.
“
And you will not refuse him?
”
she asked eagerly.
“
Pray,
pray
, do not!
It would make me
happy if you accepted his offer
.
H
is offer to drive out with him, of course
—
I did not to mean to suggest anything else
at this stage
,
”
she explained, twisting the fringe of her shawl between her fingers.
“
But
he has charming manners and I cannot understand why you
are s
o set against him.
”

“
Would my agreeing to go with Perry
mean so
much
to you
?
”

Lady Verney flushed,
but she met
Sophie
’s
gaze
directly
.
“
Yes, for
I feel sure it
would
lead to a
better understanding between you.
Ah, such a delicate topic
!
I
pref
er not to broach it, but
I must.
I
t
has been delightful
having you here
and I would not
ask you to leave
until you are ready
, but
I believe James has spoken to you of his plans and
one cannot deny the situation
is
a trifle
awkward
.
Lady Penelope,
you know
…a
nd her family
.
”

She paled, unable to
repress a shudder.
“
Her father is
an
insufferably proud
man who
places great store by the family name and reputation
.
Odious creature
!
He takes snuff and has
a way of looking at people through his quizzing glass
that
puts them in a quake.
I suppose o
ne
can understand it
when they can trace th
eir line bac
k to the Conquest,
but they are
so superior
I
doubt anyone
but r
oyalty could meet their standards
.
Indeed,
they exert
influence over James in all manner of things
.
”
A
guilty flush crept into her
cheeks as she hurried on,
“
Wel
l, we will not talk of that now!
Suffice to say
I live in dread
of
them
hearing about your presence here
.
You know how p
eople
like to
gossip
and stir up trouble.
There is nothing impro
per
in it
, of course, but being unaware of the
circumstances
surrounding your stay
, they might think—Ind
eed, Lady Penelope could assume—
”
She
sighed and
gave up her attempt
s to elucidate
, adding only,
“
I’m
sure
you understand me
, my dear.
I
t
would be disastrous if Penelope
were to reject James, or i
f her family forced her to
because of this Awkward Situation
.
Goodness
, one does n
ot know what to do for the best!
”

Her
voice
faltered
as she reached the end of this speech
and she appeared
close to tears.
Sophie
, regarding
her doubtfully,
forbore to point
out
that the
A
wkward
S
ituati
on could be easily remedied
.
R
aising
the subject
of rented
houses and
paid
companions
again
was useless as
Lady Verney considered
th
e
notion as scandalous
as her son
did
.

“T
here is no need to e
xplain
further
,
”
she replied.
“
I do not want
to trespass on your kindness
a moment longer than necessary, or make things difficult for you or for James
.
I promise to do all my conscience
allows in
quitting
Brook S
treet as
soon as possible
.
”

Lady Verney se
e
med satisfied with this response
.
Sophie did not doubt she
as
sumed it referred to marriage, but
Sophie meant something else entirely.
Her hosts
did not know
it yet, but
Sophie
had
taken matters into her
own
hands.
She would have given anything to see Theo
again
and
,
in
her darkest moments, she acknowledged she would never lov
e anyone as she loved him.
But
she could not d
well on something that was not
to be
and,
since
s
he
refused to be married off
to Perry or anyone else for
reasons
of
expediency, she had to carve
out another life
for herself
.

Through
careful
questioning of
one of
the footman,
she
had
discovered
the London office of
her father
’s
lawyers was
located in Lincoln
’s
Inn
.
She
had
dashed off a note
to
Messrs
Smithson and Sands
and received a
cordial reply
from
Mr
Sands
himself
,
who suggested
she c
all at his chambers when
he
would be pleased to discuss her requirements.
The meeting had been
duly
arranged
for
tomorrow
afternoon
and
, notw
ithstanding her heavy heart, Sophie
felt a little
more positive
about the future
.

Perry
’s
entrance
dragged
her
away
from thes
e
reflections
.
He
took a seat on the sofa
, taking
care not to crease his coat tails
, and it struck Sophie that
he
had
dresse
d with more than usual attention
.

He
wore the
customary
dark coat,
Hessians, neck cloth
and pantaloons
, but his coat was a deep burgundy colour, while his
waistcoat
and neck cloth were
of the palest
pink
.
A
ruby
pin glittered among the intricate folds of his
cravat and
about his neck was
a new silver and diamond—
mounted quizzing glass,
suspended on a red
velvet ribbon.
His
m
ood seemed
propitious and he spent t
he next quarter of an hour
being
agreea
ble
.

If she had
been following the discussion more closely
, Sop
hie would have found these
efforts
as
amusing
as his fashion choices
.
A
s it was, her mind was
soon once more
occupied with
her plans
and
she
gave abstracted
answers
to his questions.

T
his
l
ed
to her
unwittingly
agreeing
to accompany him
to the British Museum
.
A
s soon as the
words
were out
of her mouth
, she regretted them,
and
more so when she saw
the victorious gleam in his
eye.
Lady Vern
ey
’s
delight was obvious
.
Sophie bit her lip
, furious with herself and
acknowledging
it wa
s her own fau
lt
for not
paying
more
attention
.

There was no way of extricating herself now
.
Her
best
option was
to
make the outing
work to her advantage.
Besides
the
terrors
of boredom and irritation,
there could be
no
other
danger
in
spending an hour
with Perry
among
the
crowds
.
She had never been afraid of him
physically
, only afraid of
finding herself married to
him, but he held no sway here
.
And
if she agreed
to go with him now
, it might
relieve
her
of his
most
pressing
attentions
as well as appeasing
her hostess
, who was
close to succumbing to
nervous spasm
s about the Awkward Situation
.
In s
hort, going with him
w
ould buy
Sophie
time which was
what she nee
ded most.
An
hour or two
’s
discomfort
was a price worth paying
to be free to
concentrate on more important matters
.