My Once and Future Duke (The Wagers of Sin #1)(69)
What would he do about Sophie, if he found himself unwittingly engaged to marry Lucinda Afton?
Chapter 21
Sophie knew she was running a tremendous risk by continuing to see Jack. Every night that he came to her door was another chance for a nosy neighbor to spy him and start malicious rumors that could upend her life. She’d already had to tell Colleen, after Jack left his gloves in the hall one night and Colleen discovered them the next morning, and even though the maid promised to be discreet, Sophie was acutely aware that most servants gossiped. More than once she told herself to make a clean break with him, for her own good and for his.
But then he would tap on her door, and she would fling it open without hesitation, her heart soaring as he slipped in and caught her close for a passionate kiss. It was enough to make her abandon her own rules, despite the risks. Love might be making her stupid, but it was also making her the happiest she’d been in many years. At times she felt like she was glowing with joy, just thinking of him, and therefore she resolutely refused to think about how or when it might end.
There was one test she dreaded, though, and before long it arrived. Sophie had put off her friends again and again. She knew they had heard something of her scandalous wager. At first she had brushed their questions aside, calling it a momentary and mortifying lapse in judgment. That was true, and it aligned with the story she put out to everyone else. Once Jack began spending almost every night in her bed, though, she couldn’t maintain the lie, not to her dearest friends—-but neither could she settle on what to tell them. She postponed their regular tea and responded to their letters without mentioning a word about Vega’s or Jack or much of anything, really; she wrote of the weather and the new shoes she bought.
It wore on her. She didn’t want to lie to Eliza and Georgiana, but neither did she want to drive them away by being distant and secretive. When Eliza sent a note asking if they would take tea together as usual after several weeks, she replied in the affirmative. The gossip about her wager seemed to have died down. No one in London seemed to know about her affair with Jack. She could only hope her friends had lost interest in the whole thing. And if they hadn’t, and asked directly about the wager or Jack . . . she would have to remind herself that it was for their own good that she didn’t tell them everything. The Countess of Sidlow was very vigilant of Georgiana’s associations, and even Mr. Cross, who had been such a friend to her, might balk at letting his only daughter spend time with a loose woman.
She went down to her tiny drawing room when Colleen announced Eliza’s arrival. “Eliza! It’s so good to see you again.”
The other girl smiled and returned her embrace. “And you! I’ve been perishing of curiosity to hear from you, and you’ve been a terrible correspondent of late.”
She had been, deliberately. But if she meant to continue seeing Jack, she’d better learn how to carry on with her life and still keep her secret.
Sophie flipped one hand carelessly and took a seat. “I’m much the same as ever. How have you been? I trust your father is well.”
“Papa is very well,” said Eliza, beaming now. “As am I. Oh heavens—-I can’t keep my news secret any longer! Sophie, I’ve met a gentleman!”
Sophie gasped. “You have? Eliza, how wonderful!” It was clear from Eliza’s flushed happy face that she had more than met a gentleman. Eliza had met many gentlemen . . . who were all well aware of that fact that she was sole heiress to her father’s considerable wealth. None of them had made Eliza blush and smile as she was doing now. “Who? When did you meet him? How have you not said a word about him before?”
Eliza laughed. “He’s wonderful! He really notices me, Sophie. He’s engaged in some business with Papa, so he comes to call regularly, and he pays attention to me as no one else ever has.” She rolled her eyes and gave an embarrassed laugh. “Of course, he’s so charming, he may treat every young lady that way, which is why I didn’t say anything sooner . . .”
Sophie scoffed. “Only if they are as sweet and kind as you, but so few are. I don’t see how all the decent gentlemen in London don’t fall in love with you.”
Her friend blushed. “That’s ridiculous and you know it. But . . . oh Sophie, I’m in love!”
Even though she felt genuine joy for Eliza, even though the starry look in Eliza’s eyes made her truly pleased, Sophie felt a sharp pang in her chest. She couldn’t say that she too had fallen in love, because her love was not the respectable kind that might lead to a happily--ever--after. Her throat felt tight and her smile a little wistful as she said, “Tell me everything.”
Eliza didn’t need to be begged. She moved to the edge of her seat, her eyes shining. “Everything! There isn’t much to tell, not really. I thought he was merely another of Papa’s business partners when he first came to call, but before long he began making a point of seeing me—-just politely, you know—-when he came to see Papa. One day he arrived early, while Papa was still out, and we walked in the garden for quite a while, talking. I’d no idea how fast the time had gone by until Papa came and said he’d been home and waiting for half an hour! And then he apologized so handsomely, even Papa couldn’t be annoyed, and you know how he dislikes waiting.”
Sophie laughed. “He does!” When she spent holidays at the Cross home, she had learned not to be even a moment late to dinner. “Does your father know you care for him?”