Dominic (39 page)

“Do you not
?
” he enquired g
e
ntly as he atte
m
pted to draw her to hi
m
. “I believe that you do.”

“
I certainly do not
,
” she
cried
pressing her hands
against his chest. “But I
w
ould ask you why you found it quite so necessary to prove your regard for her in such a public
p
l
ace as the gardens.
”

“You saw?” he asked incredulously. “I would have saved you that. As for regard, I have no regard
w
hatsoever for her...”

“Then shame on you, sir, for acting so. Have you no thought for her feelings?
Now let
m
e go, I would return.”

He
did
not
relinquish
his
hold, in
s
t
e
ad
he
h
eld
h
er
s
t
ill more fir
m
ly to hi
m
. “Sophie, you do not understand,” he pleaded. “
L
isten to
m
e, let
m
e explain...”

“
Keep your explanations, sir, for those who would
value the
m
. I would have none of your excuses.”

For
a
m
o
m
ent
he
s
a
id
nothing
but
stood
looking inte
n
tly
into
the
f
ace
r
a
ised to
his,
then
of
a
sudden
his resolve broke and bending he ground his
m
o
uth cruelly onto
hers,
de
m
anding
her
understanding.
But
none
ca
m
e.
‘Till,
as
h
e
would
ha
v
e
m
oved
his
lips
to
he
r
face
and neck,
he
at
last
beca
m
e
aware
of
her
distress
at
his
actions. She did not move, but her eyes, wide with fear, beseeched hi
m
.
I
m
m
e
diately
he
relinq
u
ished his hold on her and turned
away,
his
breath co
m
ing
harshly
from between
his lips.
“Forgive
m
e,
I
know
not
wh
a
t
I
do,”
he
said,
his voice al
m
ost inaudible as, u
n
able to believe his own foolishness
,
he
struggled
to
bring
his
emotions
under
control.

She
stood
for
a
m
o
m
ent
unable
to
move,
her
thoughts in tur
m
oil. Then finding her power of speech she cried, “I am not your Bird of Paradise, Do
m
i
nic, you treat
m
e sha
m
e
f
ully.”

“I
can
only
once
m
ore
beg
your forgiveness,” he said,
regai
n
ing some of his control and turning
to face her
. “Co
m
e,
we will
r
etur
n
. I have
played
the
fo
ol
to
m
y detri
m
ent
a
nd destroyed your confidence in
m
e
in the process.”

“
Never
th
a
t
,” she whispered to herself as he took her arm and
le
d
her
out
of t
h
e
coppice
toward
the
abbey.
“I love you too
well
.”

The
drive
b
ack
to
Bla
k
e
House
was
achie
v
ed
in
an awful
silence,
neither
knowing how
to
approach
the
other, both
regretting
their
actions, wishi
n
g
to
r
e
li
v
e
the
sce
n
e once
m
ore
so
that
other
words
could
be
said,
other
actions
taken.

Chapter
Twelve

The soiree at Lady Buck
m
aster’s proved to be a very popular
affair.
It
would
seem that
half
of
London
society had
graced
it
with
their
presence.
S
o
fierce
was the
p
r
ess that t
h
e e
arl al
m
ost im
m
ediately
m
ade the deci
s
i
on to retreat
to
his
club
as
s
o
on
as
courtesy
allowed.
However, he
resolved
to
see
Sophie
before
he
should
m
ake
his exit. There
had
b
een
a
considerable
feeling
of
disquiet
raging within
his
breast
when
he
had
h
e
l
p
ed her
to
alig
h
t at
Blake House
earlier
that
day,
and
he
m
ust
speak
to
her
again for his
own
peace
of
m
i
nd.
He
nee
d
ed
to
assure
hi
m
self
that he
had
not
f
illed
h
e
r with
an
irrep
a
rable
f
eeling
of
repugnance for him; not destroyed her trust
.
These
f
eelings we
r
e co
m
pletely new to him. Hitherto it had n
o
t occurred
to
him
that
in
any
way
his
actions
could
affect his
standing
in
the
fe
m
a
le
eye, so
sure
had
he
been
in
his own ability to conquer. Never before had his
ow
n feeling been so heavily
involved
as for it to
m
ake any i
m
pact
on his conduct.

If
this
is
what
love
is
like,
then
h
eaven
preserve
me from its consequence
, he thought, tossing back yet another glass of burgundy.

He
had
searched
in
vain
for
sight
of
his
fa
m
ily
but
as yet
he
had
not
witnessed
their
arrival.
However
he
had seen
that
Wroxham was
prese
n
t
and
deter
m
ined
to
have words
with
him
as
the
night
progressed,
to
leave
him
in
no doubts
as
to
his
conde
m
nation
of his
action
in
telling
all
to Sophie and so placing her in danger.

After what see
m
ed an age, t
h
e Duke of Lear’s party finally
arrived
and Vale’s
attention
was
i
m
m
ediately clai
m
ed by the
paleness
of Sophie’s face
as his
m
other introduced her to their hostess. Sophie
m
ade
her
curtsey prettily
en
o
ugh but there was none of her usual vivacity and
his
lordship
felt
a
pang
of
guilt
at
having
robbed
her of her accusto
m
ed sparkle and wondered at
h
i
s reception when he should present hi
m
self. Nonetheless, present hi
m
self
he
must,
the
matter
could
not
be
left
as
it
stood.
H
e
m
ust
m
a
ke
an a
t
t
e
m
pt
a
t
rede
m
p
tion; he could not bear that it should be otherwise.