Dominic (52 page)

W
roxh
a
m fell
gasping
and
coughing
to
the
floor,
his ashen
countenance
now suffus
e
d
with
color
as
he
fought for
his
breath.
W
ith
fists
clenched,
Vale
stood threateningly over hi
m
,
his green eyes ablaze with fury. “So, it was not your intention to
m
a
rry her but to debauch her with e
m
pty pro
m
ises of weddings?”

W
r
oxh
a
m
raised
his
arm to
ward
off
the
blow
that
m
ust surely
co
m
e
and
in
a
cracked
voice
he
scarce
recognized as his own cried, “No! No! Believe
m
e, that was not
m
y intention.
S
ophie
is
too
dear
to
m
e.
I
would
not
treat
her so,
but
it
is
plain
that
she
do
e
s
not
return
m
y
affection
and
to
contin
u
e
with
the
m
arria
g
e
would
be
disastrous.
It
was
ever
you
,
Vale.
It
is
plain
she
has
no
thought
for
anyone else.”

“Get
up,”
com
m
anded
Vale,
the
e
f
fort
of
controlling his
anger
plain
upon
his
dark countenance.
“
Y
ou
do
not know
how
nearly
your
actions
cost
you
your
life,
but
I will
not
be
branded
a
m
urderer
for such as you. You repulse
m
e. I would not soil
m
y hands with your death.”

As
Lord
Wroxham continued
to
cower
on
the
floor, Vale took him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him roughly to his feet.

Bringing
his
face
closely
up
to
W
r
oxha
m
’
s
he
seethed in a harsh whisper, “She is
m
i
ne, do you hear
m
e, and
i
f you value your life,
y
ou will n
o
t forget it. Our past friendship
w
ill n
o
t guarantee your
pr
otection.”

Unable to discern Vales words, but understanding
that the
m
o
m
ent
of
danger
had
pass
e
d and he did not intend to take
any mortal
action
against
Lord
W
r
oxham,
Sophie quietly crept out the door and
ran up to her room. Hastily throwing off her gown, she changed quickly into her breeches before fleeing her cha
m
ber. She had never seen Vale in such a violent mood and it terrified her lest he should turn his anger against her.

Unaware of her leaving, Vale continued to battle
again
s
t t
h
e al
m
ost o
v
erwhel
m
i
ng desire to throttle
h
i
s fo
r
m
er
fr
i
end
before
f
i
na
ll
y
flinging
him from h
i
m as
if
he touched so
m
ething distasteful.

“I will give you but ten
m
i
nutes to quit this place,” he stated
hars
h
l
y.
“Be
but
grate
f
ul
t
h
at
f
or
m
y
little
one
’
s
sake,
I
spare
you.
No
scandal
m
u
s
t
attach
itself
to
her.
You
know
m
e
well
enough
to
know that
I
speak
the
truth when I tell you I shall have no co
m
punction whatsoever in finishing what I started today should you so
m
u
c
h as look in
her
direction.
Am
I
understood?
Do
you
comprehend my
m
eaning?”

W
ith what dignity he could
m
uster, Lord
W
r
oxh
a
m drew hi
m
self up and atte
m
pted
to straig
h
ten
h
is cru
m
pled clothing.
“
S
he
was
always
yours, Vale,”
he
croaked,
still finding
it
difficult
to speak. “No matter
what my actions, there
was only
ever
you. You don’t realize
the influence you
have
over
her.
You
are
m
o
re
fool
than
I
thought
if you don’t secure her.”

“That
is
exactly
m
y intent
i
on,” replied Vale, flinging from
the
roo
m
.
Seeing
the
l
a
ndlord
hovering
uncertainly in the
corridor,
he instantly
demanded directions to Sophie’s
bedcha
m
ber
and,
taking
the
narrow
stairs
two
at a ti
m
e, immediately we
n
t
in search
o
f
her.

The room was e
m
pty. He saw the gown she had been wearing cast across the bed and the cloak bag on the floor, but
other
t
h
an
that
there
was
no
s
i
gn
that
the
apart
m
ent had ever been occupied. Rais
i
ng his
f
i
sts to the heavens he swore,
“Obstinate
brat!
God
preserve
m
e
from the
m
achinations of
the female mind
.
If
such
i
s
t
o
be
m
y future, I
m
u
st needs have
m
y wits forever about
m
e.”

Leaving
the
inn,
he
set
out
on
foot,
reasoning
that
in the
ti
m
e
that
had
elap
se
d
she
could
not
have
gone
far.
It did not help his
m
ood that it
had started to rain heavily.

*****

Feeling the rain
s
trike
k
ee
n
ly through her light jacket, Sophie
looked
around
her
for
s
om
e
form of
shelter,
but none
presented
itself.
Instead she was obli
g
ed to trudge further do
w
n the lane, hedgerows
standing high on either side.
She
knew
not
in
which
direction
she
went,
instead she
f
ollow
e
d the la
n
e
u
ntil it n
a
rr
o
wed to a
m
e
re t
r
ack and only then did she pause to look about her. She cared not that
she
w
as
soaked right
through
or
that
her
shoes squelched uncomfortably. Afraid of Vale’s anger and not knowing what reprisal he would take, she wanted to be assured that she was out of his reach. The fury on his face when
he
had
entered
the
inn
was
still
f
resh
in
her
m
i
nd and, realizing how foolish had been her actions in atte
m
pting to
m
ake her escape with Lord
W
roxha
m
,
she dared not face hi
m
.

Percei
v
ing
a
ra
m
shackle
barn
in the
di
s
ta
n
ce,
she forsook
the
lane
and
ran
across the
adjoining
field
in
its direction,
hoping
to at
least
find
shelter
from
the
rain, pausing only as she gained
the door. The farmhouse, to which the barn belonged,
see
m
ed at a distance
and having only half a roof, appeared uninhabited. However, the barn itself proved to be quite dry despite its broken down appeara
n
ce.
The
s
m
ell
of
old
hay a
s
sailed her
n
ostrils as with so
m
e
difficulty she pr
i
zed open the door and slipped inside,
closing
it
s
e
curely
behind
her.
The
interior
was very poorly lit by way of three
o
penings in the walls through
which
the
rain
blew
and
it
took
a
few
mo
m
ents for
her
e
y
es
to
beco
m
e
accusto
m
ed
to
the
defu
s
ed
lig
h
t
.
There
still
re
m
ained
a
ricke
t
y
ladd
e
r
lea
d
ing
to
the
lo
f
t
and, after testing the first t
w
o rungs, Sophie climbed into the
darkness
above,
finding
the
l
o
ft to be full of old hay. Stripping o
f
f her
j
a
cket
she
l
a
id
it
o
ut
in the h
o
pe
th
a
t
it would
dry,
but
retai
n
ed her
s
h
irt
and
breec
h
es
le
s
t
she should
be
obliged
to
make
good
her
escape.
She
could hear
the
scurrying
of
the
m
i
ce
in
the
shado
w
s
but,
her
m
i
nd
being
elsewhere,
it
worried her not, and after a short while,
confir
m
ed in her escape,
the
tension
left
her body and
she
lay
back
on
the
hay.
Her
eyelids
beca
m
e
heavy, the
effects
of
her
sleepl
e
ss
n
i
ght
taking
its toll, a
n
d involuntarily she drifted into an uneasy sleep.