Dominic (48 page)

The
note
she
received
f
r
om Lord
W
r
oxh
a
m was
brief and to the
p
oint—

My love,

I will be
e
t
e
rnally
g
rat
ef
ul for the t
r
ust you have
placed
in
me and assure you
of
my undying devotion.

The carria
g
e will
be at the
end of the
road at
midnig
h
t,
bring
o
nly
th
a
t
which
is necessary. Whatever other requirements you shall ha
v
e, will be pu
rc
hased later.

Until t
h
en,

Your devoted servant,

W

She read
and
re-read
the
m
issive and
could
not
help
but draw co
m
parisons. Should Do
m
inic have been the author and not Lord
W
roxh
a
m
,
what different e
m
otions would be surging through
her breast,
add
i
ng
joy
to
her
heart;
but
he was not. It only increased her pain to conte
m
plate this;
therefore
she
must
put
such
thoughts
aside
.
She
had
chosen
her
course
and
must
now
channel
her
a
t
t
e
ntions
in
a different direction.

*****

Supper
at
Blake
House that
evening was a very gay affair. Regina and Lord Bannington being the
center
of attention with several toasts being drunk in their honor, none noticed that Sophie was so
m
e
what subdued, her face drawn. Even Isabella had been allowed to j
o
in in t
h
e cele
b
rations with
a
gla
s
s
of
wine.
The
d
uke,
appearing
in an
expansive
m
ood
and
being
well pleased with his eldest daughter’s projected
m
atch, presided over the
w
hole in a most
m
agn
a
ni
m
ous
m
anner.
Sophie secretly thought that she had never seen him appear so genial.
H
er resolve al
m
ost broke under the weight of her thoughts and she found
it
difficult
to
conte
m
plate that
in
so
short
a
ti
m
e
she was to leave
this happy f
a
m
ily, who had so readily e
m
braced
her
with
an unparalleled
kindness. Mentally taking
herself
to
task
f
or
her
se
n
t
i
m
ents,
she
raised her
glass once again to toast the happy couple, barely
touching it
with
her
lips.

As the evening wore on, Sophie became more and
more
anxious
that
she
would
be
prevented
from
m
eeting
Lord
Wroxham
,
as
none
seemed
inclined
to
bring
the
celebrations
to
an
end.
However, just
as
it
lacked
fifteen
m
i
nutes to
m
i
dnight, Lord Bannington stated his intention of
quitting
f
or
the
nig
h
t,
in
f
or
m
ing
the
d
uke
th
a
t
he
had an
early
start
in
the
m
orning,
as
he
was
to
attend
a
sitting at The Hou
s
e. As every
o
ne gathered in the hall to witne
s
s his leaving,
Sophie slipped quietly
away to her apart
m
ent, none
noticing
her
going.
Here,
with
the
aid
of
her
m
aid, she
hastily
changed
f
rom her
evening
gown
into
her breeches.
S
he
gave
the
letter
for
t
h
e
d
uchess
to her
m
aid and
cautio
n
ed
her
not
to
present
it
until
as
late
into
t
h
e next day as possible, therefore allo
w
ing her sufficient ti
m
e to be away from
London.

Sweeping her hair up under h
e
r tricorn, she took up the s
m
all
cloak
bag
which
held
a
change
of
clothes
and
the few
essentials
she
required,
and
checking
that
the
corridor
was e
m
pty, left her apart
m
ent.

Chapter
S
ixteen

Using
the
back
staircase,
Sophie
made
her
way
down to the servants’ quarters at the rear of the house, knowing that the staff would be either abed
o
r
e
m
ployed
in clearing away all signs of the celebrations in the roo
m
s
above. Clutching the bag under her ar
m
, she quietly opened the outside door and slipped through into the rear garden. Creeping around the side of the house, she kept well in the shadows before stepping warily
into the des
e
rted stre
e
t
.

At first, she did not im
m
ed
i
ately perceive the carriage, but as she approached the end of the roadway, she saw Lord
W
r
oxham pacing
i
m
patiently
beside
the
vehicle, taking out his pocket watch to check the ti
m
e. As she approached, she saw that he
did not recognize
her and instead
looked
frowningly
past
her toward Bla
k
e House, sighing heavily in his i
m
patience to be away.

“John,
‘tis
I,”
she
called
as
quietly
as
she
could.
“Am
I
lat
e
?”

“My
God,
you
come
as
a
boy
?
”
his
lordship expostulated,
hastily
taking
t
h
e
bag
from her
and
assisting her i
n
to the coach.

“I
thought
it
would
cause
less
com
m
ent
if
you
were seen
traveling
with
a
boy,”
she
said,
sitting
back
against the squabs.

“
My dear, this is totally
unnecessary
,
”
he
replied
, taking the seat opposite and giving the order for the coach to be on its way. “Think of the i
m
p
r
opriety.”

“I do not see the
i
m
propriety,” she replied rebelliously. “None but you will be aware that I am a girl. D
o
m
i
nic...”

“I will n
o
t hear Val
e’
s opinion
o
n the
m
atter,” he snapped. “It is of no consequence at this
m
o
m
en
t
. Do you have a gown
?
”

“Yes.”

“Then
you
must
change
at the
first
opportunity.
I
will not travel with you as a
b
oy, it offends
m
y sensibilities.”

“It see
m
s, sir, that we are not well suited,” s
h
e said haughtily.
“If
we
are
to
quar
r
el
over
a
m
ere
m
atter
of dress, t
h
en I can see t
h
at we will not do at all. Let
m
e down, I will
m
ake my own arrang
e
m
ents.”

“Co
m
e,
m
y
love,
be
calm,”
he
said
cajolingly,
co
m
i
ng to
sit
beside
her
and
attempt
i
ng to read her countenance
in the
s
h
adows.
“You
shall
wear
whatever
you
desire,
though I
m
ust
own to
being
decidedly uncomfortable with you in that garb.”