One Night Scandal (3 page)
As she looked down at the hard planes of his face, she wished she could draw him. Not that she had any talent. She left all ideas of painting and drawing to Jennette. Her friend would do an amazing job at capturing his strong features.
She blinked and realized it was time to leave. Two candles lit the room, allowing her just enough light to find the clothes Mrs. Costa had left for her. After slipping into the serviceable brown wool gown, she walked to the desk in the corner.
She could not depart without at least leaving a note good-bye and telling him where to call on her. Finding paper on the desk, she pulled out a quill and dipped it into the inkwell. She thought about what she needed to say and translated it into Italian. Hopefully, she had made no mistakes.
Staring down at the note, she hesitated. What if she had been nothing but a quick tumble to him? She shook the nonsense from her mind. Her vision had shown her that all would be well. She folded the note and wrote his name on the front of the paper.
The stack of papers on the desk intrigued her. She might be able to find out a little more about the man who was her first lover. Glancing back to the bed, she noticed he slept deeply now. Her gaze returned to the papers and she bit her lip. She reached for a well-worn paper. The note looked as if it had been lovingly read over the years.
As soon as she touched the paper, she felt the hum of emotional residue on it. Whoever wrote this note meant something to Nico. Obviously written by a woman, Sophie realized that he loved this woman a great deal. She closed her eyes and focused on the emotions running through the letter. The woman loved him in return but in a different way.
Sophie opened her eyes and stared down at the note. She should put it back on the desk and walk away. But something drew her to it. Some force propelled her to unfold the letter carefully.
It was in English!
Here she had been speaking and then struggling to write in Italian when the man could read English. Reading the salutation her hands started to tremble. It did not read
Dear Nico
, but
My Dearest Nicholas
and was dated three years ago.
Dear Nico
, but
My Dearest Nicholas
and was dated three years ago.
The note was a warm letter regarding the social scene of London.
London!
She glanced back over to the bed. He could not possibly be English. She would have sensed it! If he were English then what happened tonight would be a mistake indeed. He would know or could learn who she really was—the bastard daughter of an earl and an actress.
God help her if he was truly English.
Biting down on her lip, she continued to read the letter but stopped when the woman mentioned the name Banning. It had to be a coincidence. Banning was Jennette’s brother and married to Sophie’s dearest friend Avis.
Unable to contain her curiosity, she scanned to the bottom of the letter for the signature. The paper dropped out of her hands, fluttering to the desk.
Sophie couldn’t move. She sat staring at the paper for at least a minute. The signature taunted her.
Jennette.
How did Jennette know this man? Sophie scanned a few of the papers on the desk until she found another letter written to Nico . . . Nicholas.
Only this letter was written to Lord Ancroft.
Lord Ancroft.
Sophie clutched the desk as her world began to spin around her. She could not have just spent the night with an English lord. An English marquess!
A man who’d paid his mistress to leave London and their daughter behind for him to raise. While not one of the biggest rakes in town, he’d had more than his share of mistresses and widows.
Her entire body shook. This was going to get even worse if her memory served her correctly. Not only was Lord Ancroft a friend of Jennette and Banning’s, he was Elizabeth’s cousin.
There was no hope for a loving relationship with Nicholas. She was a nobody while he was a marquess and future duke.
Oh, dear Lord! She crumpled the note she’d written for him and tossed it into the glowing embers of the fireplace. Perhaps he would think she meant this to be just for tonight. She prayed he would not attempt to find her. Sophie backed out of the room, watching the sleeping man as she went. This was the worst mistake she’d ever made.
She had slept with her best friend’s cousin.
Chapter 3
“What is wrong, Sophie?” Victoria asked.
Sophie glanced up from her tea to find all her friends staring at her with looks of concern on their faces. After returning to London three weeks ago, she still hadn’t talked to them about what happened. It was odd because all of them had confided in her about their men. It had taken her this long just to face them again. During the past few weeks, she had created several excuses for avoiding them, but today she knew she had to see them again.
Even now, as she sat in Avis’s parlor, Sophie’s nerves tingled every time she heard footsteps. She had no idea if Nicholas had returned to London, but knew it wouldn’t be odd for him to show up at Lord Selby’s home. The fact that they hadn’t met before was strictly providence. Before Avis and Jennette married their husbands, the only chance Sophie would have had for an introduction to Nicholas was at Elizabeth’s home. And the friends had rarely met there because of Elizabeth’s cantankerous aunt.
Nicholas had never called on his cousin while Sophie was there. But now, he might visit Avis’s husband Banning. Or call on Jennette and her husband. Or even Victoria’s husband Somerton. It appeared Sophie would at some point be introduced to Nicholas. Hopefully, her intuition would let her know before he arrived at the door. Not that she had one idea of what she would do. Nor did she trust her intuition at this point.
“Sophie, you have been exceedingly quiet since your return,” Avis said. “Won’t you tell us about your trip?”
“Yes, tell us about the trip,” Elizabeth added.
Of the four of them, there wasn’t one to whom she could confide. Victoria had married Sophie’s half brother in December, and Anthony had known Nicholas since childhood. Elizabeth was Nicholas’s cousin. And Jennette was the woman Nicholas loved. Even Avis, was the wife of one of Nicholas’s friends.
They all knew him and would believe he should offer for her after what happened in Venice. But Sophie knew he was not the man for her. In addition to being in love with Jennette, he was a marquess. As such, he would never marry the bastard child of an earl she couldn’t even name. And worse, since she’d left his room in the middle of the night, she had never been able to “see” him again when concentrating on her future. All she’d seen was the blackness again. Clearly, her addled brain had given her a vision of what she wanted at that moment. Not her true love or match. Her cheeks burned as she thought about just how much she’d wanted him that night.
“Sophie!” Avis scolded. “You are not paying the least bit of attention this afternoon.”
“There is not much to tell,” Sophie finally said. “Venice was lovely. The weather a bit cold but nowhere near as frigid as London in January.”
Avis laughed softly. “So after being in Venice for four weeks, all you can tell us is it was lovely and the weather fair. We all know you better than that, Sophie. Did you meet someone?”
She couldn’t stop the heat from crossing her cheeks. “I cannot talk about this, Avis.”
All four women giggled.
“If not us, then who?” Elizabeth asked. “We have all told you about our men. Even our experiences before marriage.”
Sophie looked over at Elizabeth. With her red hair, freckles, and green eyes, Elizabeth looked nothing like her cousin. Sophie closed her eyes and remembered his light brown eyes. She could have drowned in his eyes.
“Sophie, I have never seen you like this,” Victoria added. “Please let us help you.”
For once, the only woman in the group not urging her was Jennette. Sophie stared at her dark-haired friend, wondering why she looked so pale and out of sorts.
“Sophie!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
Sophie knew if she didn’t tell them something, they would likely continue to badger her. “All right. I did meet a man there. But it was three days before I was to leave. So nothing came of it.”
“Oh,” Avis said quietly. “But you wish something had happened, don’t you?”
Sophie knew she had no choice but to lie. There was no chance of anything happening between them again and her friends would never discover the man was Nicholas. “Yes. He was a lovely man.”
“I’m sorry, Sophie,” Victoria said, staring down at her skirts. “You matched all of us and you deserve a wonderful man, too.”
Sophie pressed her lips together and blinked furiously. “Thank you, Victoria. I’m just thrilled for you all.”
And she truly was happy for her friends. Jennette and Avis had young children now, and Elizabeth would be delivered of her first child in October. As Sophie gazed at Victoria, she smiled seeing the glow of an unannounced pregnancy on her sister-in-law’s face. That meant Sophie would be an aunt. All her matches had worked out perfectly.
Sophie started at the sound of boots stomping down the hall. Avis’s husband stopped at the threshold and leaned against the doorframe with a warm smile.
“I really do need to come up with a new name for you all,” he said with a laugh. “The Spinster Club just isn’t right now.”
As much as she liked Selby, his remark cut to the quick. How she wished she understood what was wrong with her lately. Every little thing seemed to make her want to cry.
“Banning, that was dreadfully unkind to Sophie,” Avis reprimanded her husband.
“I apologize, Miss Reynard.” He nodded in her direction and then glanced over at Elizabeth. “Your Grace, I have found your errant cousin.”
“Nicholas!” Elizabeth exclaimed.
Oh, God, please don’t let him be here, Sophie prayed. While meeting him was bound to happen, she could not deal with the explanations required today. She had been friends with these ladies for seven years and had never met him before. Perhaps her luck would continue to hold because the only other option would be to give up her friends. And she truly did not want it to come to that.
“Yes, he was at White’s this afternoon. He will be joining us for dinner tonight. In fact, why don’t you and your husbands join us?”
Avis smiled. “What a wonderful idea, Banning! I shall tell cook that we shall be ten for dinner.”
Sophie’s heart started to beat so fast she thought she might faint. “I am sorry, Avis, but I am meeting a client tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes. Had I known sooner I might have been able to change my plans.”
“Very well,” Avis said, standing. “I shall tell cook to plan on nine.”
Sophie released a long held breath. Now, she had to leave in case he arrived early.
Selby inclined his head and said, “Good afternoon, ladies.”
Most of them murmured some reply but Sophie could not move. She held her hands tightly together so no one would see her trembling.
“I did not realize you hadn’t seen Nicholas yet,” Jennette said to Elizabeth. “He called on us almost a fortnight ago.”
Elizabeth shrugged. “He and Will haven’t become the friends I’d hoped for yet.”
Nicholas had seen Jennette already. Sophie shook her head. What a fool she’d been to think she might mean something to him. He was still in love with Jennette.
“So who is your client?” Victoria asked Sophie.
“Lady Cantwell.” Sophie stood. “It was lovely seeing you all but I must leave now.”
“So does anyone want to guess what that was all about?” Avis said after walking back into the parlor.
Elizabeth shook her head. “I would have to say Sophie fell in love while in Venice. I have never seen her act so oddly.”
“Damn,” Jennette muttered. “How are we supposed to introduce her to Nicholas if she won’t stay for dinner?”
“We don’t,” Victoria said with a smirk. “Anthony told me that Ancroft said he would start his search for a wife when he returned. And he might even pay a visit to a certain matchmaker in town to find his true love.”
Avis smiled fully. They had all decided over the winter that Sophie and Nicholas would be perfect for each other. Now that they had both returned from their travels, it was time for an introduction. Since Sophie had matched all of them, they had determined it was their turn to find her love.
“Then all we need to do is push him in that direction during dinner,” Avis commented. And everything would work out as planned.
Nicholas handed his greatcoat to the Selby’s footman and then followed the butler to the salon. He smiled hearing the sounds of laughter coming from the room. While it felt good to be back home, that feeling of something missing had been with him since he awoke to find Sophia gone from his room.
He had asked around but no one seemed to know of her. With nothing more to go on, he had given up his search for her and decided to return home. Still, he needed to know who she was. He’d stupidly forgotten to withdraw from her during intercourse. He knew better. That was how he ended up with his darling ten-year-old daughter.
“Lord Ancroft, my lord,” the Selby butler announced.
“Nicholas!” Elizabeth cried and then came running into his arms. “I have missed you so much these past few months.”
The rest of the occupants of the room all murmured his name and said some endearing remark. But the only one he heard was Jennette. She smiled at him as she sat next to her husband, Lord Blackburn.
“It’s so good to see you again, Nicholas,” Jennette said with a genuine smile.
“And you, Jennette.”
“Sit down, Ancroft,” Selby said, pointing at a chair far too close to Jennette’s seat.
Instead, Nicholas moved to the chair closer to Somerton. “Evening, Somerton.”
“Nicholas,” Somerton replied. “How was your trip?”
“Yes, Nicholas,” Elizabeth said. “Tell us all about your trip. Was Florence as beautiful as everyone says?”
Nicholas told them all about his trip to Florence. The museums that he saw, the operas he attended and the churches he visited.
“And Venice?” Victoria added. “I have always wanted to see Venice.”
“And so you shall, my dear,” Somerton said, leaning closer to his bride.
Victoria blushed as she smiled back at her husband. It warmed Nicholas’s heart to see them so happy. He doubted he would ever have a love like any of the people in the room. His father’s patience had run out with regards to marriage. Nicholas knew he had to start searching for a wife.
“Venice was lovely,” Nicholas finally responded. “It is a beautiful city with the water surrounding you. A bit warmer than London in winter. Though people say, the city can become very odorous during the warmer months.”
He noticed the women all glancing at each other with a strange look of confusion on their faces.
Finally, Jennette spoke up, “It seems rather odd that one of the most beautiful cities in the world gets described more by its weather than its splendor.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing at all,” Jennette murmured with a shake of her head.
A footman entered the room and announced dinner. Thankfully, there were no name cards so Nicholas chose to sit near Somerton and Victoria. Nicholas felt far more comfortable with the married couple than the woman who only considered him a friend.
“Nicholas,” Jennette said before sipping her lemonade. “I heard a rumor that you planned to seek the assistance of Miss Reynard to find you a wife.”
Nicholas tensed and slid a glance to Somerton who only shrugged. “Perhaps. I have not thought about it much since leaving town.”
“But now that you have returned, you really must see her,” Avis commented. “She is the best in London at finding people their perfect husband or wife.”
“I just haven’t decided if now is the right time,” he bit out, trying to constrain his growing frustration. The last thing he needed was his friends’ wives attempting to marry him off. That was his father’s job.
“Oh,” Elizabeth said with a smile. “She won’t match you unless the timing is exactly right. So there really is no reason not to pay a call on her.”
“I will think upon it, Elizabeth,” Nicholas said.
“Don’t be angry with us, Lord Ancroft,” Victoria finally said. “You are a dear friend and we want to see you happy, that is all this is about.”
Nicholas breathed in deeply. After meeting Sophia in Venice no other woman had crossed his mind. Not once. And the idea of visiting a matchmaker held no appeal. “I realize that. As I said, I will consider paying a call on Miss Reynard.”
Somerton and Selby started to chuckle while Blackburn and Kendal stared at the women in amazement.
As dinner finished, the men stayed behind to have a glass of brandy. The conversation went from staid politics to questions about the women in Italy.
“Are they as beautiful as everyone claims?” Selby asked with a laugh.
“I did not get much chance for such activities,” Nicholas responded.
All the men chuckled. He had no doubts that they all saw straight through him. While he would love to depart their company, he came here for one reason—a chance to speak with Somerton alone. After more questioning about the Italian women, the men finished their brandies.
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