Dominic (43 page)

“
I’ve
heard
tell
you
strip
to
an
advantage
,
”
said
Fitzwillia
m
.

“I
like
to
s
p
ar,”
ad
m
itt
e
d
Vale,
calling
f
or
his
tankard to be re
fi
lle
d
.

“I would not advise you put him to the te
s
t
,
” stated Drum
m
ond. “He has the devil’s own left, and I should know. I’ve felt it on se
v
eral
o
ccasi
o
ns. A real
pr
i
m
e ‘un in a
m
ill. You would be a
f
ool to go up again
s
t hi
m
.
”

Ignoring
his
friends
warning,
Fitzwilliam offered,
“I’ll spar with you, Vale, if you have a
m
i
nd to it, I always enjoy a good turn-up.”

Thoughts
of
a
bout
certainly
a
p
pealed
to
the
e
arl
and he
grinned,
saying,
“I
accept.
Tho
u
gh
I
m
ust
warn
you,
‘tis
so
m
e
months
since
I
h
a
d
an
outing
and
am
so
m
e
what out of tri
m
. However, I too am
not
a
verse to a match.”

“Then it shall be a
rr
anged,” enthused Fit
z
willia
m
. “Now, if you have finished that disgustingly robust
m
eal, we
had
better
re
m
ove
ourselves to
the
Cross. It
would
not
do
that
we
should
be
late
and miss the contenders
arriving.”

*****

At
m
uch
the
sa
m
e
time
as
the
friends
arrived at
t
h
e ringside for the projected bout, Sophie was receiving Lord
W
r
oxh
a
m at Blake House.

“Have you seen Do
m
i
nic
?
” were the first words that crossed
her
lips
as
hi
s
lords
h
ip
was
issued into
her presence.

The
welco
m
ing
s
m
ile
on
W
r
oxha
m
’
s
lips
faded so
m
e
what
as
he
advanced
into
the
roo
m
.
“Strap
m
e,
but must
you
always
find
it
so
necessary
to
be
harpi
n
g
back
to hi
m
?
” he complained. “It
m
akes one feel deuced
de trop
.”

“I
do
ap
o
l
o
gize,
John,”
she
said,
s
m
iling
briefly
and indicating
that
he
should
be
seated.
“It
certainly
is
not
m
y intention,
but
I
thought
I
m
ay
have
heard
from
him
and
I
have not.”

“Disappeared off the fa
c
e of the
earth,
m
’dear,”
replied
W
r
oxh
a
m, showing not the sligh
t
est interest in my lord’s whereabouts.
“Last
I
heard
he was
at
Ridleys
and
drinking heavily, which could
m
ean anything with Vale.
W
ho knows where he
m
ay have got to, could have gone off on one of his
m
ad starts,
w
ho can tell?
You know how unpredictable
he
can
be.”
S
eeing the dejected look that flitted
acr
os
s
Sophie’s
countenance
he
relented.
“Thought I
m
i
ght
persuade
you
and
Regina
to
walk
out
with
m
e.
It is reported that they have
r
eceived a new batch of books at
Hohok
a
m
’s
Library
and
I
thought
you
m
i
ght
find so
m
ething there that would inter
e
st you. It is said that they have the new novel by Mrs. Carli
s
le and it is set to be the rage.”

Thankful
for
this
diversion, Sophie
sent
the
foot
m
an
in search of
R
egina and atte
m
pted to da
m
pen her disquiet. A
f
ter
all,
s
he
re
a
soned
to
h
e
rself,
she
could
not
expect
Vale to be forever dancing attendance
on her, but she so desperately wanted to see h
i
m
. Endeavoring to convince herself
that
just
sig
h
t
of
him would
be
sufficient,
she excused
herself
from Wroxha
m
’
s
presence
to
change
into her
walking
dress
and
boots.
Per
h
a
p
s
she
would see
h
i
m about the town.

Left alone,
W
r
oxh
a
m rose to stand before the window, hands held behind his back. He
could not believe his luck and
it
occ
u
rred
to
him that
this
could be
his
cha
n
ce
to
ta
k
e advantage of his friend’s absence. Away from Vale’s influence,
Sophie
m
i
ght
be
induced
to
look
m
ore favorably on his own suit. He would contend with Vale’s presence
w
hen
once
he
c
ondescended
to
m
ake
his reappearance,
and
perhaps,
by
then,
it
m
ay
be
too
late. Here was his chance to attach Sophie’s
affections
before his friend should return. To this end, he deter
m
ined to
m
ake
h
i
m
self as agreeable as possible, recklessly ignoring the
fact
that
he would
be
ser
v
ing
his
l
o
rdship a backhanded turn and would be laying h
i
m
self open to his retribution.

*****

As
the
m
orning
progressed
and
the
young
ladies
found it
ne
c
ess
a
ry to
vi
s
it
n
ot
only
t
h
e lib
r
ary
b
u
t
also
a
m
illiner’s, a
drap
e
r’s a
n
d
a
d
e
lig
h
t
f
ul
little
sh
o
p
th
a
t
s
o
ld reticules,
Wroxham
found
his
resolve
being
hard
worn. Not
only
did
the
fact
that
he was
e
x
pected to
carry
all
the packages irk hi
m
,
but he was also quite shocked when commanded to com
m
e
nt upon the suitability of certain pistols in a guns
m
ith’s window.

“
My
dear
Sophie
,
of
what
possible
interest
could
pistols
be
to
you?
You
are
hardly
likely
to
co
m
e
into
conta
c
t
with
one.
Ind
ee
d
it
is
n
o
t
a
t
all
s
ee
m
ly
that
you should enquire of their ra
m
i
fications. Most unladylike.”