Dominic (49 page)

“I will c
h
a
n
ge when necessary
,
” s
h
e replied
d
e
fiantly, deter
m
ined to retain her breeches, feeling
m
ore secure in their weari
n
g.

Slightly
di
s
illu
s
ioned
with his
l
o
ve,
Lord
W
r
oxham dee
m
ed
it
p
r
udent
to r
e
m
ain
silent
on
the
su
b
j
e
ct
of
attir
e
, reasoning t
h
at when she beca
m
e his wife, she would be co
m
pelled
to
con
f
orm
to
h
is
r
u
ling
on t
h
e
m
atte
r
.
Perceiving
her attitude toward the wearing of such unsuitable
gar
m
ents as Vale’s influence on her, he deter
m
ined that once t
h
ey were
m
a
rried he would soon rectify the situation.

Silence reigned. There was no
t
hing
lover-like
in
this elope
m
ent, Sophie seeing it
m
erely as flight,
w
hilst Lord
W
roxh
a
m, apprehensive of his friend’s discovery of his deed, wished nothing
more t
h
an to get the ceremony over as soon as possible.

*****

“I
tell
you,
Marcel,
she
has
not even
slept
in
her
bed,” cried
the
d
uchess,
stan
d
i
ng
in the
library
of
Blake
House and
infor
m
ing
her
husband
of the
discovery
of
Sophie’s absence. “I know not where the child could have gone.”

“
W
hat
new
f
olly
is
thi
s
?”
exclai
m
ed
the
d
uke, forsaking his desk to go to his wife.
“
W
here could she be? Was anyone
m
ade aware of her going
?
”

“I only knew of her absence
when she did not co
m
e
down to breakfast
,
”
replied the duchess
.
“
I thought
perhaps she was unwell and
s
ent Isabella
to
s
ee if she needed
anything,
but she was not in her roo
m
.
W
e
have looked
everywhere
for
her
but
to
no
avail.
I
know
not what to do.”

“Fetch her
m
aid,” com
m
anded the d
uke. “She must be
aware of her mistress’s actions
.
Surely
she
must
ha
v
e so
m
e
info
r
m
ation
as
to
where
she
m
ay
be.
I cannot
believe that she could have disappeared so easily.”

The
m
aid
ca
m
e
hesitantly
into
the
room and
dropped
a slight curtsey to their grace
s
. “Co
m
e now girl,” de
m
anded the
d
uke. “Do you know ought
of your
m
i
stress’s disappearance,
has
she
confided
in
you?
Speak
now
for we
m
ust know her whereabouts.”

The
m
aid reddened and appeared flustered and taking the
m
i
ssive
from
her
pocket
pre
s
ented
it
to
the
d
uchess.
“I have
but
just
found
this
addressed to your
grace
,
”
she
lied valiantly. “It had slipped to the floor and escaped
m
y notice
.
”

Taking
the
note
eagerly
from her
hands
the
d
uchess broke open the wafer and sc
a
nned the page. “Oh, Marcel, the
child
begs our forgiveness and thanks us for our kindness,” she cried, tears co
m
i
ng to her eyes. “She says she can no longer trespass on our generosity.”

“
W
hat
foolishness
is
this
?”
i
n
te
r
polated the duke
hotly. “I had thought her to have
m
ade her ho
m
e with us. Was she not happy?”

“I
cannot
believe
it,”
cried
the
d
uchess with
much feeling
as
she
read
further.
“She
is
to
m
arry
W
r
oxh
a
m. She has eloped with hi
m
,
though I know she does not love hi
m
. If only Do
m
i
nic were here...”

“
W
hat
the
deuce
has
it
to
do
with
hi
m
?
”
queried
the
d
uke forcefully.

“The
child
loves
him
not
Wroxha
m
—there
is
so
m
ething
terribly
wrong
here
.
W
hy should she elope
with one when she is in love with the other?”

“There
is
n
o
need
for
her
to
elope
with
either,”
stated the d
uke, “though I ought to have known Do
m
i
nic would feature
so
m
ewhere
in
this.
W
herever
there
is
a
proble
m
, he
is
a
l
wa
y
s
at
t
h
e
ro
o
t
of it.
W
ell,
if he
is
t
h
e
one
she wants, he is the one she shall ha
v
e! He will not evade t
h
e issue
a
s
ec
o
nd
ti
m
e.
Have
the
c
a
rri
a
ge
prepa
r
ed.
I
will
p
u
t
a stop to this elopement
.
It
may
still
be
possible
to
overtake them and restore Sophie to her ho
m
e.”

“Then
I
’ll
c
o
m
e
with
you Marcel,”
de
clared
the
d
uchess. “Should
you be
in ti
m
e
to
stop the
m
arriage,
s
h
e
will
be
in need of f
e
male co
m
pany.”

“Then hurry in your preparation
s
,
my love,” said the d
uke,
“for
we
m
ust
leave
here within the hour if we are to have any c
h
ance of forestalling the
m
arriage.”

*****

“Drummond
had
the
right
of it,”
stated
Fit
z
william
f
eeling
h
is
jaw
as
they left
Rimmington’s
Barn
in
his lordship’s curricle. “You do have the
m
ost punishing left, Vale;
by
Gad
but
you
do.
It
is
as
well
that
he
wasn’t present to see how well you thrashed
m
e. It would have done
m
y credibility no good at all.”

“You presented
a few good blows yourself,” laughed Vale.
“I
have
the
evi
d
ence.
W
e
must
repeat
the
m
atch when back in London.”

“It’s
as
well
that
Dru
m
m
ond
was obliged
to
go
into
Kennington
and
m
issed
the
outi
n
g,”
said
Fitzwillia
m
, grinning,
“though
m
y
bruises
will bear witness to my de
f
eat, they will not
b
e
h
idden.”