Lords of Honor (41 page)

Now
the
newly wedded couple sat within a carriage
alone
, side by side
.
They were strangers to one another, save they knew each other’s bodies well
.
C
leve and
Lachlan
rode outside
along with five o
f Newt’s men
to keep watch
.
They were expecting an attack by Brown Coats at some point in their journey
.
If not along the road, then
they could expect
an attack
when they
neared Horethorne Hall just outside
Templecombe
.

Lyon started when he felt Sophia
’s head
slump onto his shoulder.
She slept.

He put his arm around her
and
moved
her head
to a more
comfortable position against hi
s chest
.
He g
azed upon her beautiful face
.
A knife cut his heart when he wondered if she would ever look upon him without hatred in her eyes
.
He could not help himself
.
He reached to smooth a coppery curl from her
forehead
.
H
e bent and lovingly kissed her cheek.
He l
et his thumb skim her jaw line
.
He whispered,
“Sophia
.
I wish we could have met under normal circumstances
.
I wish you could look at me with happiness instead of anger and sorrow in your eyes.”

Sophia was
already
awake, but had
n’t
open
ed
her eyes
.
She woke when he
r husband
moved her
head to
his chest
.
She would have to
gaze
at him if she
opened her eyes
.
S
he knew he watch
ed
her
.
She felt it
.
She
feared
see
ing
disappointment
in his blue eyes
;
as she often did
.
When she felt his kiss
and
heard his loving words, she melted
.
She
knew
for days
now
that she could no longer blame him
.
She
was
frightened
initially and
felt so violated
, s
he blamed him
for everything
.

In truth, Lyon
was as much
a pawn in
Mr. Crow’s
dangerous
schemes
as she
was
.
Lyon
treated her with nothing
but gentle
ness
and kind
ness
once
he realized she was a virgin and a lady
.
Yet
she felt he did not want to marry her
, that he did so out of honor and
du
ty
.
Perhaps she was
mistaken
?

A sob escaped her then
.

“Sophia
?
Dear
?”
Lyon feared she dream
t
again
.
It
crushed
him to know how terrified
and unhappy
she was
.
And he was the cause of it
all, h
er pain
,
humiliation
, and her nightmares
.
Sophia
cried
out
in her dreams often
in
those days in the
beginning
.
Even last night
, w
eeks later
on t
heir wedding night
she
was restless, tossing, turning and even
sobb
ing
in
her dreams
.
He came late to her bed, unsure of what to do
, so he
did
nothing
.
He did not wake her
.
He made no advances
.
He merely
held her
and c
omforted her when her dreams frightened her or saddened her
.

“S
hh
.
It’s all righ
t, Sophia
.
No one shall harm y
ou again
.”
His hand rubbed her shoulder and arm
.
His lips grazed her temple.

“I’m not asleep anymore
.
I’m awake
.”
She opened her eyes
and
gazed
into
eyes of striking,
brilliant blue
.
She did not sit up
or pull away
.
She saw pain cloud
his eyes as he expected her to
remove herself from his embrace
.
He expected her to lash out at him, or cut him with hurtful words
.
“I do not hate you, my Lord
.
You have been nothing but kind since…since that night
.
I owe you a great deal
.
You could have left me there.”

“Never would I have left you
there
, Sophia,” Lyon was almost afraid to breathe
.
He
wait
ed
for her to berate him.
To r
emind him what a monster he was
.
He e
xpect
ed
to
see
hatred burning
vivid green
in her gorgeous eyes.

“No you would not,
I know this now
.
You are a man of honor
, my Lord
.
I am sorry you
felt you must
marry me to prove that
.
I know I cannot be the kind of wife you wanted
for
your Countess
.”

“I did not plan to marry for some years, Sophia, ‘tis true
.
However, I consider you the most beautiful woman
of my acquaintance
.
You
will
make a perfect Countess of Amesbury
.
I
am quite
happy to
have you for my wife
.
My only regret is that you do not find it a happy situation to be in.”

He thought
her
beautiful
?
Sophia blushed
.
Wished she could be happy
?
“Perhaps we could start afr
esh, my Lord
.
Begin anew
.
For,
I
too
would very much like us both
to
be happy with our situation
.”
His free hand rested
up
on his thigh
, the part of his body
that caused him so much pain
.
Sophia reached over
.
She t
entatively p
laced her hand on his
.
She l
ooked
up
to
him
with hope-filled eyes
.

Lyon entwined his fingers with hers
.
He l
ooked into eyes that did not hold anger
.
He saw her smile
.
At him
!
Her smile entranced him
.
He realized
at that moment
he
never before
witnessed
her
smile
.
He lowered his head
.
Lyon p
laced
a
tender kiss to her lips
.
“A truce and a new beginning for us then, my fair Sophia.”

“When shall we arriv
e at
Horethorne Hall
?” Sophia asked
, feeling suddenly unsure
.
H
er
hand
w
as
still en
cased
in her husbands
’
.

“Tonight
.
We cannot take a chance and stop along the way
except for necessities
, we are too few
.
And they need us there
at Templecombe
just as we need them,
” Lyon explained to his wife
.

“Will they al
l know…what happened between us?
”
Sophia swallowed hard
.

“I
honestly can’t say
,” Lyon answered truthfully
.
“I don’t know what Newt has told them
.
But I assure you, Sophia, there will be no cens
u
r
e
or judgment to
ward
you
.
You are
a
n innocent in all of this
, my darling
.
I shall have to atone for all my sins
.
For my loose mouth caused
Lady Elizabeth, sister to the Earl of Fitzlewis
,
to be kidnapped
, just as you were
.
Fortunately
, my friend
and colleague
,
Lord
Wincanton intercepted her in Andover quite by accident
.
He rescued her
from her captors
and
subsequently
offered for
her
.
They spent time
together alone and
without a
chaperone
.
Now they are married.
My selfish actions
have a
ffected and hurt so many
, Sophia
, y
ou included
.
I will spend the rest of my life making up what
I did
to you if
nece
ssary
, Sophia
.”

“My Lord, you were swindled
.
I do not
believe
you would have taken my innocence if you
knew
I was a virgin, and a gentleman’s daughter
.
You
cannot blame yourself for that,
”
Sophia protested.

“
Please, Sophia, call me Lyon,” he said softly
.
“
If I
was not
out of my mind, drunk,
and
in an opium haze, I would have
noticed
before I took you that something was wrong.”

“Lyon, I have thought about this
often
over the
last three weeks
.
I realized
had you not been in a drug induced haze you would not have
been in such a place, nor
come up those stairs
.
And I might very well be dead today
.
Or a slave in some
far away land
.
Regardless of what happened, you
removed me from
th
at horrible place
.
You saved my life
.
You treated me gently after
you realized
who I was
.
You’ve kept m
e
and my grandmother safe
.
You married me
.
You have behaved honorably and as a gentleman on all accounts afterward.
”