Dominic (45 page)

As
the
coach
m
oved
fo
r
w
ard
in the
wake
of
the
d
uke’s carriage,
he atte
m
pted to possess hi
m
self of her
hand, but Sophie drew
it away and hid it
in the folds of her cloak.

“I see I have not yet earned the right to you hand,” he said
, his countenance
hidden
in the shadows of the
interior. “B
u
t
I trust t
h
at you will not deny
m
e the hope of one day achieving it,
m
y dear
?
”

Sophie
could
not
reply
and
he saw concurrence
in her sile
n
ce.
“
In
d
eed,
th
e
re
is
a
m
atter
of
great
i
m
port
of
which I would speak to you,
” he said,
“
b
ut now is n
o
t the ti
m
e. If you will allow it, we must talk later.”

Sophie still did not answer, but gazed thro
u
gh the carriage window her thoughts returning to when Vale had possessed hi
m
self of her hand and kissed her fingers at their
last
m
eeting at
La
dy
Buck
m
a
ster’s.
She
dared
n
o
t think of wh
a
t had transpired earlier in that day, in that day of
m
i
xed
emotions.
For
she
could
not
think
of
it
without the de
s
i
re for Vale to
o
nce
m
ore repeat
h
i
s actions. Even though
he
had
terrified
her,
s
h
e
could
not
but
long
for
his
e
m
brace.
However,
this
would
not
do,
and
she
knew
it. She had no right to such longings, though for a long ti
m
e now,
she
had
wished
for
him to
kiss
her
as
he
had
kissed
his Bird of
Paradise.
She had even been guilty of the
thought
that
though
he
had
no
wish to
m
arry
her,
if
he
so desired,
s
h
e
would
go
to
him
until
he
tired
of her,
so
was her love for hi
m
.

She knew a
m
o
m
ent’s irritation when Lord
W
r
oxham broke
into
her
reverie
to
a
nnounce their arrival and laying her
hand
on
his
ar
m
,
she
allowed
herself
to
be
assisted from
the
carriage,
j
o
ini
n
g
the
d
uke’s
party
as
t
h
ey
sto
o
d in the theat
r
e’s
f
oyer.

An
air
of
eager
anticipation see
m
ed
to
fill
the
t
h
eatre, everyone impatient to see Garr
i
ck’s perfor
m
ance. So
well-loved
was he as an actor that he
w
ould be sadly
m
i
ssed a
m
ongst the devotees of the art.
T
he d
uke ushered all before
him
into
the
fa
m
ily
box,
Lord
Bannington,
who had joined the co
m
pany, and Lord
W
r
oxh
a
m being forced to the rear
b
ecause of t
h
e press, the d
uchess, Regina and Sophie being seated overlooking the ri
m
, having a clear view of the stage.

As the play progressed, Sophie lost herself in the
m
agical world of
W
illiam Shakespeare and, watching her
f
eatures t
ra
ns
f
or
m
ed
with
t
h
e
delights
of
the
play,
Lord
W
roxh
a
m beca
m
e even more deter
m
ined in his inte
n
tio
n
s of securing her before the e
arl should return. He was no fool,
he
knew she did
not
love
hi
m
, but in his desire for possession, he was confir
m
ed t
h
at eventually
he could overco
m
e
this.
Indeed,
would
not
the
inte
n
sity of his
own regard
prove
i
m
possible
to
ignore?
He had
evolved
a
plan
that
would
not
be
put
aside
which
he
believed
would
further his suit and it was his i
n
tention to put it into action once he was able
to speak to Sophie alone,
convinced
he knew her reaction.

After the
pl
ay, and so
m
ewhat later than antici
pa
ted, as
m
e
mbers of the audience were reluctant to let Garrick go, the party returned to Blake House for a late
supper. Everyone
appeared
in
high
spi
r
its,
even
the
d
uke
joining in
with
the
good-natured
banter.
Much
to
Lord
W
r
oxh
a
m
’
s
annoyance, the
opport
u
nity
to
speak
to
Sophie alone
did
not
arise
until,
as
he
was
m
aking
his
departure, he drew her hastily to one side.

“My dear, I have news of Do
m
i
nic
for you,”
he whispered urgently, “but it is such news that I would wish to i
m
part it to you when we are alone. It is for your ears only.
Can you meet me on the morrow
?
Could you
perhaps take
a
walk
in
Kensington
Gardens
with
your
m
aid
around
noon
and
I
will
then be
able
to
reveal
my in
f
or
m
ation?”

Much perplexed, Sophie was on
l
y able to nod briefly in agree
m
ent,
a
feeling
of
trepidation
t
h
reatening
to overco
m
e her.
W
hatever could this infor
m
ation be that Lord
W
r
oxham
found it so difficult
to explain?

When everyone
had retired
to their
bedcha
m
b
e
r
s and Sophie had dis
m
issed her
m
a
id,
she
lay
propped
on
her pillows un
a
ble to find solace in sleep, all
m
anner of situations
presenting
the
m
selves
not
to
be
dis
m
issed.
In the few short days since she had last seen his lordship, the disquiet
in
her
breast
had
in
no
way
lessened.
It
helped
not that the d
uchess had discover
e
d her secret, for she could not go to her for comfort.
W
hatever sorrows she
m
ight have, she must bear alone.

If Dominic does not want m
e
, it would have been better that he should have let me go with Raymond
, she reasoned illo
g
i
c
a
lly.
I
cannot
remain
here
relying
on
the
d
uke’s charity forever. They must soon grow tired of my dependency, and then where have I to go? Back to Aunt Lydia?
I
think
not!
She
would most
defi
n
it
e
ly
n
o
t
welcome my return.

*****

If Vale had only been aware of the tor
m
ent evolving within
h
i
s
p
upil’s he
a
rt
he
would
have
quitted
Kennington
im
m
ediately, but he did not. An
equaling disquiet was
a
t that
m
o
m
ent raging within his breast but his resent
m
ent towards
W
r
oxham drove
all
o
t
her
thoughts
from
his
m
i
nd, finding
only
the
distance
between
them precluding
him from bringing
the
matter
to
a
satisfyingly
violent conclusion.
Fitzwilliam was
deter
m
ined
that
they
should spar,
and
to
this
end
had
gone
in
search
of
a
suitable venue. However, as so
m
any
of the
sporting
crowd still
patro
n
izing the
town
had
the
self
-
s
am
e
idea
,
he
was
having some difficulty in
m
aking the arrange
m
ents. Nonetheless,
returning
to
The
Pheasant
just
after
supper he
in
f
or
m
ed
his
lor
d
ship that
he
h
ad
been
able
to secure
a place
m
ent at Rim
m
ing
t
on’s Barn, where a ri
n
g had been erected
and a te
m
porary school
set
up
for
those
wishing
to indulge in the sport. Even though the appoint
m
ent was for two
days
hence,
he
cong
r
atulated
hi
m
self
on
his achieve
m
ent as there
w
ere so
m
any wishing to take part that there
w
ere those who would be sadly disappointed. However,
he
confided
that
the
laying
out
of
so
m
e
blunt had assured their chance of an outing.