My Once and Future Duke (The Wagers of Sin #1)(95)

This time they both ignored it, but a moment later the knock came again. When it sounded a third time Jack lifted his head, his eyes blazing with irritation, and barked, “Yes?”

Sophie, her dress now unfastened and disarranged, lay still and quiet out of sight on the sofa as the butler opened the door. “Your Grace, there is a young woman insisting on seeing the duchess. Her name is Lady Georgiana Lucas.” Sophie gasped, and Jack pressed lightly on her chest to quell it.

“She is quite agitated, Your Grace,” added Wilson. “She says it is urgent.”

Sophie gripped his wrist in wordless anxiety. A muscle tensed in Jack’s jaw. “Show her to the Blue Room and assure her the duchess will see her soon.”

“Very good, sir.”

The door closed with a click, and Sophie scrambled up from the cushions. “What can Georgiana be doing here?”

“What, indeed?” Jack watched mournfully as she pulled her bodice back up and began trying to fasten it.

Sophie shook her head. “She would never come without warning unless it was truly, desperately urgent—-especially here. What can it be?”

“Trouble with her fiancé,” he guessed, reluctantly helping with her buttons.

“Perhaps.” Sophie was doubtful. Lord Sterling would have to do something very terrible indeed to spoil Georgiana’s regard for him, and he didn’t seem that stupid. Sophie had finally met the elusive viscount after her wedding to Jack; as predicted, Lady Sidlow’s objections to Sophie’s company had melted away once Sophie outranked her. Lord Sterling had come to call at Ware House with Georgiana, the very vision of a suave charmer. He’d expressed his envy that Jack had been able to whisk Sophie to the alter in a matter of days, while Georgiana’s brother, the Earl of Wakefield, dragged out the negotiation of their wedding settlements for an eternity. Sterling had held Georgiana’s hand and looked like a man in love.

“Family,” was Jack’s next idea.

Sophie shook her head. Georgiana knew her family was eccentric and sometimes stuffy, and she laughed at them affectionately. “I can’t imagine what would bring her running to Chiswick.”

“Then I suppose I cannot keep you from her.” Jack pulled her close and kissed her hard. “Go, my dear. I shall sit here and work on my sketch.”

“Without me posing for you?” She affected disappointment as she wound her hair into a knot.

Her husband winked and released her. “I have it fixed in my head, precisely how the sketch should look.”

“Have I got any clothes on in this sketch you can see in your head?” she asked with a laugh.

“Not a scrap.” He scooped up his pencil and pad. “Hurry back and allow me to check my memory.”

Still shaking her head and smiling, Sophie hurried to the Blue Room. Unlike the first time she’d seen it, today the room glowed like a sapphire in the sunlight streaming through the tall windows. The garden was a riot of color outside, and just stepping into the room made her smile. But the expression quickly died when Georgiana turned to face her.

“What’s wrong?”

Georgiana rushed across the room. She looked wild, her eyes red--rimmed, her hair swinging free in a braid and her pelisse buttoned wrong. “You’ve got to come back to town with me, Sophie. It’s Eliza.”

Her heart stopped. Eliza should be at home with her own new husband. A fortnight after Sophie wed Jack, Eliza had become the Countess of Hastings, radiant and blushing with joy. The three friends had shared a wonderful moment of tearful happiness, reflecting on how splendidly things had worked out for each of them in love. A dozen years ago, playing illicit card games at Mrs. Upton’s, Sophie never would have guessed they would all find such happiness at the same time. “What’s happened to Eliza?”

“I don’t know,” cried Georgiana, wringing her hands. “She didn’t say, and Lady Sidlow won’t allow me to go on my own. I’m so very sorry to intrude on you, when you and Ware must be so cozy and happy away from London, but I’ve no one else I can ask! Please, Sophie. We have to find her.”

“Find her?” Sophie repeated sharply. “Georgiana, explain!”

Her friend drew a deep breath. “I saw Eliza just two days ago at the Montgomery ball. She was radiant, happy, and looked the picture of bliss. I even saw her dance with Hastings, and I swear they gazed at each other with stars in their eyes. But this morning—-” She broke off and dug in her reticule. “She sent me this.”

Sophie took the crumpled note and recognized Eliza’s handwriting. She read the two sentences it contained, then read them again. Stunned, she looked up at Georgiana.

Georgiana nodded grimly. “She’s left her husband. And no one knows where she’s gone.”