Tananguard 02 - To Love a Lord (3 page)

“Sophia, this is my cousin, Mr. Connor Tananguard. Normally he isn’t so rude,” Sarah said, shooting Connor a look of disapproval.

Ah, now he understood. He had skipped right over his introduction. He bowed to
Sophia and she curtsied. “Again I apologize.”

“Thank you. I was not offended.” Sophia smiled at him.
“Lady Markham has told me much about you. She claims you are from the north?”

“Yes, and I believe she would blame my manners or lack thereof on that fact,” Connor said with a smile. “As she would say
, I am nothing but a country lad with little understanding for the city and society,” he added, slipping Sarah a wink.

“Well, it is true,” Sarah defended.

“Not all of us had the opportunity to be raised in London, my dear,” a man’s voice said. Sarah’s husband, Captain Peter Markham stood behind her.

“No, but he has been here for three years, and one would think he would gain some semblance of a gentleman, yet he continues to ignore common courtesies and continues to brawl
in the streets with the foulest of souls. A gentleman does not do such things,” Sarah complained.

Sophia’s eyes widened, but it was not her voice that asked the next question.

“Brawl? What on earth do you mean?” Lady Cunningham’s voice asked, eyeing Connor curiously. She wasn’t the only one to turn her attention to this conversation. Several of the women did as well as a few of the men. Most of those men knew of Connor’s secret pastime because most attended the underground fights. The women, however, seemed rather stunned by this conversation.

“Shall I explain or would you like to, Cousin?” Sarah asked Connor.

“It’s nothing that concerns the delicate ears of these gentlewomen,” Connor said.

“He does have a point,” Peter added. “Is it truly polite to speak of
fighting competitions in front of your guests?” Peter asked his wife innocently.

Several of the women gasped, and Peter
gave Connor a devilish grin when all eyes turned on him.

Connor gave a weak smile to the wide-eyed, astonished women.
Several of the men shook their heads and chuckled at Peter’s purposeful disclosure of Connor’s addiction.

Connor
liked to fight, and he was good. He’d boxed for a year at university, but now he fought for money and bets wherever Lucas could land him a match. It was exhilarating, and he rarely lost.

“Now you must explain
. Do you truly fight for pleasure?” Lady Cunningham demanded. She sidled up to Connor and eyed him with concern, but beneath it, Connor could see something else in her eyes as well. The vulture was back.

“I have been in a few brawls. Nothing more,” he understated
, stepping casually to his left to distance himself from Rebecca. Quickly, he turned his attention back to Sophia and changed the subject. “Tell me, Miss Murrieta—or is it Mrs.?”

She flushed. “No, it is simply Miss.”

He nodded, and within, his mind’s eye smiled. She was not married. “How do you know my cousin?”

Sarah jumped in. “Her mother
was my pianoforte instructor. Jo—” She shook her head, flushing slightly and giving Sophia an apologetic look. “Sophia often accompanied her for our lessons.”

Rebecca snorted in response. “Honestly Sarah, why are you lying? You knew our dear
Sophia
long before her mother was giving instruction,” she said, emphasizing Sophia’s name with derision.

Sarah paled, but she responded without hesitation. “Yes, but it wasn’t until I began receiving those instructions that
S-Sophia and I became friends.”

“Of course. It wouldn’t be acceptable to befriend a servant girl after all.
”

“Servant girl?” someone asked.

“Yes, our pianist scrubbed floors for my mother when we were younger. Isn’t that so?” Rebecca asked.

“It is, but that life is far behind me,” Sophia answered. “And I believe it is due to those years of working for your family that my mother was discovered for her talents in teaching the pianoforte.”

“Indeed,” Rebecca said. She eyed Sophia with disdain.

“Yes, we must be grateful for the discovery,” Sarah said nervously. “
It has given us such pleasure in music this day. Doesn’t our Sophia play beautifully?”

“Indeed,” Connor agreed. “
She has very lovely hands.”

Sarah gasped.
“Connor, why would you say that?”

“Sarah, I don’t think he’s speaking of my—”

“Why shouldn’t I? It’s quite true,” he stated simply. “They’re beautiful.”

Rebecca Cunningham
chuckled deviously. “Mr. Tananguard, you mustn’t tease a woman about her flaws.”

He stared at her in confusion, not understanding what she could possibly be speaking of. How was he teasing Sophia? He glanced her direction.
She was quite pale suddenly. She was looking down at her hands, and Connor finally understood what the fuss was about. There were scars covering the backs of Sophia’s delicate hands.

Connor’s heart sank.
How had he missed the scars? They were quite obvious when one looked, yet all he had seen was beauty and grace. But those hands which had enthralled and captured his heart had once been horribly burned and were very noticeably scarred.

Connor reached for one
instinctively as Sophia tried to tuck them behind her back. She glanced at the pianoforte in search of the white gloves she had so carelessly left there earlier. She turned back, looking as if she wished to say something that would excuse her when she saw him reaching for her. Her eyes furrowed, and she stepped backward.

He stared at her in
earnest. “I was not teasing,” he said most seriously. The entire room was silent.

Sarah was looking at
Connor as if he had grown horns. “Then why would you say something like that to her when it is obvious—”

Sophia tried to speak. “No, please Sarah. I simply wish to ignore—”

“Because it wasn’t obvious to me. I was sincere in my words.” He took a cautious step toward Sophia.

She eyed him warily.

“
Please, Miss Murrieta, you must believe me. I did not see any flaws when I said those words. I still do not see flaws. I see grace and beauty in your hands that can produce such fine music. Nothing more.”

Lady Cunningham laughed. “
Nothing more? You are a terrible liar, Mr. Tananguard. There’s no need to apologize to
her.
After all, she is nothing but a commoner, a maid who scrubs floors.”

Sophia’s back stiffened and she glared daggers at Rebecca. “I am no maid
. As I said earlier, those days are behind me!”

“
A good investment made by your father does not raise your station in life. You are still a commoner. Honestly Sarah, what possessed you to bring her kind amongst us?” Lady Cunningham asked.

Sarah flushed red. “S
he is my friend and an excellent player of the pianoforte. Why should it matter if she is a commoner? She is still quite skilled and has provided excellent entertainment for us.”

Rebecca sighed
and began to speak quite patiently as if addressing a child. “But her
kind
are beneath us. You could easily have found another to play for us instead of one such as her. There are many Ladies among us today who could have performed nicely. Instead, you bring filth into your home.” Rebecca patted Sarah’s shoulder patiently. “You should not feel poorly for the mistake, but I would not let it happen again.” She turned her attention to the group. “Please, everyone, come to my home and allow me to entertain you properly. I believe this party is tainted.” She looked pointedly at Sophia before walking toward the exit.

The guests began to whisper in agitation amongst themselves.
Many began to follow Lady Cunningham to the exit.

Connor
fumed in anger as he stared at Lady Cunningham and the throng of people exiting the room. Even Lucas was leaving the parlor…of course, he looked as though he had ulterior motives. A beautiful woman was guiding him from the room. Lucas looked over at Connor, and Connor shook his head in disgust. Lucas shrugged his shoulders and smiled before slipping from the room.

Lady Cunningham was stopped at the door
, giving words of sympathy to those too confused to understand what was going on and words of encouragement to those too afraid to go against her. She continued shooting warning glances to those who refused to leave as if memorizing each face so she would know who to remove from her list of well-to-do individuals. Then her eyes fell on Connor, a look of surprise replacing her authoritative glare.

“Mr. Tananguard, aren’t you coming?”
she asked.

“No,” he said bluntly.
Why would she think he would follow her? Why did she even care?

“No?”

“No, I will not support your ethics in this. Sophia Murrieta is the finest pianist I have ever heard, and we were blessed to hear her play. Your jealousy has tainted this party, not her presence,” he said.

Several people stopped moving. They were eyeing Rebecca uneasily, but nodding their heads as if they agreed with Connor.

“Jealously? How dare you?”

“
I insulted this woman purely by accident, but you took it as an opportunity to completely degrade her. Everyone in this room was awed by her performance, a performance no one here could have equaled. In my opinion, this woman should be playing before the King, not us simpletons! Her past means nothing! Skills such as she has are rare. I would pay money to hear her play again,” he stated loudly. He wanted as many as possible to hear. “But please, you should leave. Your presence indeed
has
tainted this party.”

Rebecca Cunningham flushed the darkest shade of red possible, turned on her heel, and
stormed out of the parlor.

The room was silent. Many eyes were on him. He braved a look at Sophia and found her eyeing him
with a look he could not read. He half hoped to see adoration on her face from his chivalry in defending her honor. At least he thought he’d been quite chivalrous. Then again, he had caused the problem in the first place. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

A large hand slapped his back, startling him.

“Bravo, Connor. I believe you have just insulted one of the most influential women in society,” a deep voice said with a laugh.

Connor turned a dry smile to
Peter. “It seems that way, doesn’t it.”

Captain
Markham grinned at him in amusement and pride.

Connor
suddenly felt very tired. He turned his attention to Sophia. “Yet again, I apologize. I—”

“I did not need you to defend me,” she said simply. Then she s
hoved past him and headed for the exit.

“Oh bloody hell,” he grumb
led. Could he do nothing right? He turned and followed right behind her. “It needed to be done,” he argued. “I could not stand by and allow her to demoralize—”

Sophia rounded on him. “Rebecca Sterling believes everything she said—that I am beneath her. That all commoners are beneath her! Whether you defend my honor or not doesn’t matter because she will find a way to demoralize me and everyone here who has not left. She was raised that way, Mr. Tananguard. It is in her blood to
undermine everyone around her in order to lift herself higher.”

Sterling?
It took him a moment to realize she was still speaking of Rebecca Cunningham. Sterling was her maiden name. He shook his head. “Nonetheless, the more people who stand up to her, the harder it is for her to alienate them from society. You are what matters. Your skill, your talent must be shared with others. I cannot stand by and allow one woman to throw that away, and I am certain everyone here feels the same way. You must perform again.”

Sarah was beaming at him and many others were nodding in agreement.

“I,” Sophia hesitated. “Thank you. All of you, but I cannot. I will not allow any of you to lose your good reputations because of me. I shall leave, and Sarah will claim she dismissed me after the havoc my presence caused. And that will be the end of it. Good day, Mr. Tananguard. It was a pleasure to have made your acquaintance.” She curtsied and practically sprinted from the room before anyone could stop her.

Connor sighed in frustration. He knew there were many lords and ladies who held themselves above other citizens, and he struggled to understand it.
He wasn’t one of those people, and he was certain Cunningham wasn’t either. Why had he married a woman who was one of the worst? No one would have realized Sophia wasn’t upper class had Rebecca kept her mouth shut, but she hadn’t. Now Sarah’s reputation with the other noblewomen was at stake, and Sophia Murrieta had been humiliated and alienated from playing the pianoforte for them again.

Connor wore a scowl as he left the Markham estates. He was the cause of Sophia’s demise, and he could not make amends because he knew not where to find her. Sarah was no help either. He had begged her to tell him where Sophia lived so that he might again apologize for the debacle he had caused. She refused. She insisted Sophia would come to them when she was ready. Thus, Connor found himself walking aimlessly through the streets of London.