Two Shades of Seduction (5 page)

Sophie squared her shoulders. She refused to give way to her fear. All her life, she’d lived under her father’s tyranny, and she would not allow herself to suffer the same fate in her marriage to Devlyn. The only reason she’d suppressed her rebellion where her father was concerned had been to avoid physical retaliation. She wouldn’t jump from one frying pan into another.

Once he left her bed, she would lead her own life and Devlyn would lead his. That’s how all her friends’ marriages worked, it would be no different for her. After all, wasn’t she simply buying a husband with her offer of revenge? Determined to regain her footing on the slippery slope she was climbing, she sent him a forthright look.

“You’re correct, my lord. I proposed a bargain and you accepted. It would be dishonorable of me to back out of the agreement.” At the look of satisfaction on his fact, she shook her head. “There is one more item that is to be settled between us.”

“Item?” His gaze narrowed at her, and her heart skipped a beat.

“I will have your word that once we are no longer…sharing a marital bed, I am free to lead my life as I see fit. I will gladly see to the management of the household, but I will not agree to you dictating my every move.”

“That’s a rather bold demand.”

“It is part of our bargain. Agree or don’t.” She shrugged with a nonchalance she didn’t feel. “It is your choice.”

Despite her bold words, she knew in reality that Devlyn could easily break his agreement once they were married. As her husband, he would essentially own her, but something about him made Sophie believe he would honor their agreement. For all his efforts to make himself out to be unredeemable, something in Devlyn’s gaze said there was another man hiding behind his reputation as a scoundrel.

“I agree to this additional item,” he said with a note of amusement in his voice as he nodded his head. “Are there any
other
points you feel necessary to negotiate?”

“No,” Sophie said as her cheeks grew hot.

“Then it’s settled. And your father, I assume you’ve a plan as to what to tell your father.”

“My father?” She flinched and felt the blood drain from her face.

“Surely you didn’t think he would just let you waltz down the aisle with me.”

“No, but in all honesty, I didn’t expect you to agree to my proposition.” For the first time, she realized it was true, she really hadn’t expected him to say yes to her proposal. A small smile twisted the corner of his mouth.

“Well, now that I’ve agreed, we need a plan of action.”

“A plan?”

“Yes, a plan.” His authoritative manner seemed less intimidating to her as she realized it was simply his way to bring order to his thoughts. “Tomorrow, I’ll request a license from the local magistrate, and we’ll marry in three days. I believe my vicar is still in residence at the Devlyn parish. He can perform the ceremony. With regard to your father and sister, I believe the element of surprise will work in our favor.”

“But—”

“Are you familiar with the trail that winds through the glen near the old woodcutters cottage?”

“Yes.” She nodded her head as she tried to keep up with each new twist of their conversation.

“Good. Meet me in the glen at noon tomorrow. Cook will prepare a lunch basket for us.”

“I’m sorry, my lord, but I don’t understand.”

“How long have you known me, Sophie?” he asked with a note of exasperation in his voice. Startled by the question, she frowned. How long had she known him? She glanced at the mantle clock.

“Less than an hour, my lord.”

“Precisely. The gossips will wag their tongues enough at our alliance. But if we spend time together before our marriage, we can honestly say we courted in secret. It will protect your reputation to some degree.”

He was worried about her reputation? It was an honorable gesture, and it warmed her heart. She’d learned a long time ago not to believe anything her father or Eleanor said. But her friends had hardly been complimentary about Devlyn, either. Her face must have signaled what she was thinking as his mouth twisted into a derisive smile.

“My reputation for debauchery doesn’t mean I have no honor.” There was just a tinge of bitterness in his voice, and she experienced a flash of guilt at having judged him without knowing him. She shook her head.

“I try never to listen to gossip. Invariably, it proves false in the end.”

“So, I’m to marry an innocent philosopher who craves excitement.” The gentle teasing made her cheeks hot for not the first time since entering his domain. Something dangerous glinted in his green-eyed gaze, and a frisson skimmed across her skin. “Remember, Sophie, desire is not shameful, but lying to one’s self is.”

“And you call me a philosopher?” At her retort, he grinned. It lightened his dark features and made him look like a youth far younger than his thirty-two years.

“Just remember that I also hold the title of scoundrel as well.”

The wicked glint of humor in his eyes made her laugh. As he arched his eyebrows at her laughter, her pulse hummed along at a faster pace. She would need to guard her heart well. Despite what she’d heard about this man, he was far more enigmatic than she’d ever expected. Being his wife could easily be her downfall.

S
ophie quietly entered Townsend Hall through the servant’s entrance and hurried up the back stairwell in her effort to remain unseen by her father. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to hide her lack of composure at the moment. Once inside her room, she breathed a sigh of relief. Deceiving her father would not be an easy task. She’d never been very good at lying.

Her stomach lurched as she remembered how at six years old, she’d accidentally knocked over the inkwell on her father’s desk when he was away from home. She had ruined his blotter and the desk had been marred. It had been the innocent mishap of a small child, but her father had been furious when he’d returned home and discovered her crime. Her childish attempt to avoid his wrath had resulted in a lamentable attempt to deny any wrongdoing. Despite her mother’s protests, the lie had earned her a beating she’d never forgotten.

Now, she was about to ignore that terrible childhood lesson by betraying him. Sophie swallowed the ball of fear tightening her throat as guilt lowered its weight on her shoulder. What sort of a daughter would turn her back on her father? In the next breath, a fiery anger knocked the thought aside. Her father was a tyrant. A man without scruples who treated his servants better than the woman the world believed was his firstborn. Not once in Sophie’s life had he ever spared her a kind word or the benefit of his affection. She owed him
nothing
.

With a sharp inhalation of air, she crossed the floor to her dresser and its oval looking glass. Slowly, she rolled the veil covering her face upward until the netting rested on the brim of her hat. The woman staring back at her seemed like a stranger. Confidence and determination shone in a pair of wide hazel eyes. It was an expression she’d never seen in the mirror before.

Was this what happened when one took their destiny into their own hands and shaped it into the form they wished? And that’s what she was doing. Her decision to offer Devlyn his revenge had taken more daring than she thought she possessed. She still couldn’t believe she’d been audacious enough to propose their bargain, or that he’d accepted. But then she’d never believed she would be daring enough to secretly keep a second set of her father’s financial records either.

From the time she was a little girl using her fingers to count off her numbers, her skill with calculations had been obvious. It was practically the only thing her father had ever noticed about her and then only to exploit it. When she’d failed to make a match in her first season, her father had refused to pay for a second season in town. Instead, he had put her in charge of his accounts.

He’d always claimed his reason for denying her another season had been his inability to pay for it, but Sophie had quickly seen through the lie. The sudden death of her father’s long-time accountant and her failed season had coincided too easily for her to think her father hadn’t taken advantage of the situation. It became even more clear when she’s actually grasped the extent of her father’s holdings.

Blindly, Sophie tugged off her gray gloves then dropped them on her dressing table. She bent her head slightly and removed the hatpins from her hair before piercing the hat’s stiff wool with the pins. The hat landed next to her gloves. She frowned as she realized more than twenty years had passed, since she’d taken on the role of her father’s bookkeeper.

Now she was about to escape the pain of her current life. She was to be married. Her heart sank. Once before she’d thought she would marry, but her father had destroyed that chance. If he discovered her plans to marry Devlyn, he would prevent this marriage as well, and not without painful consequences. Determination swelled inside her.
No
.
Not this time
. She wouldn’t let her father discover her plan until it was too late. A knock on her door made Sophie jump nervously with guilt.

With a slight tremor of fear, she crossed the floor to open her bedroom door. The sight of Spencer standing in the doorway made her shoulders sag in relief. She’d not really expected her father to be on the other side of the door. He would have sent a servant to fetch her. Still, it hadn’t lessened her guilt or fear.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Phee,” her brother said with concern.

“It’s your face,” she lied, hoping her brother wouldn’t realize she was lying. Gently, she tilted his chin with her fingers. “This is much worse than when I saw you earlier. Have you had Mrs. Hobarth look at it?”

“Yes, she made me put a cold slab of beef on it earlier,” he said with a grimace of disgust as he strode into the room and walked toward her bed.

Although they had different mothers, she could not love him more if he were her real brother. It had been more than a year since his last visit to Townsend Hall, and she’d missed him. As she watched Spencer plop down onto the mattress, he reminded her of the little boy who’d always found his way to her room after being punished by their father. The baron had never dealt as harshly with Spencer as he had with Sophie, but their father’s cruelty had still left its mark on her much younger brother.

“The blood from the damn piece of beef ruined my new coat.”

“From what I could tell, your coat was ruined
before
you entered the house,” she said with a wry laugh as she recalled Devlyn’s appearance a short time after her brother’s brawl with the earl.

Despite his missing coat, Devlyn had seemed to have emerged from the fight unscathed. The memory of the Earl minus his coat sent a wave of heat streaking through her. Devlyn’s relaxed state of undress had made it easier to discern the powerful muscles and heat through his white linen shirt when he held her close.

Sophie tried to ignore the way her pulse quickened at the memory. It was more than possible the earl’s coat had been damaged in the brawl. Although something made her think any damage to Devlyn’s coat had been minor. Yet Spencer, despite the bruise on his face, seemed little the worse for wear. Had the Earl restrained himself from doing more damage to Spencer than he could have? She eyed her brother with amusement.

“I’m wondering how well the Earl fared.”

“I managed to land a few blows that no doubt will leave the man sore enough.”

“I’m sure you did.” She laughed knowing better. The Earl had indicated no sign of pain when he’d pulled her into his arm. A frisson of heat skimmed across her skin at the memory.

“It’s not funny, Phee.” Her brother glared at her, and she arched her eyebrows at him. With a snort of disgust, Spencer shrugged. “All right, don’t tell Father, but Devlyn is an excellent pugilist. He beat me fair and square.”

There was something close to admiration in her brother’s voice, and it didn’t surprise her. Like her brother, she’d been surprised by the Earl as well. The man her father had ruined had not been what she’d expected either.

“I take that to mean the Earl remained unscratched? Sophie bit back a smile as her brother glared at her.

“Not completely, but the few blows I landed were well worth the effort.”

“Fighting has never solved anything. It’s unacceptable behavior,” she chastised him in a quiet voice.

“Not when it comes to protecting the honor of one of my sisters it isn’t.”

Spencer’s emphatic declaration made Sophie look away from him to hide her anger. She’d never shared Eleanor’s shameful, scandalous behavior with Spencer, so her brother’s loyalty was understandable.

“I think you judge the Earl too harshly, Spencer,” she said. The conviction in her voice made her brother direct an irritated frown in her direction.

“Not harsh enough.”

Sophie scowled back at Spencer. There was little love lost between Sophie and her much younger stepsister, but she knew her brother loved Eleanor. Even if Eleanor had never seen the back of their father’s hand, she knew Spencer had always felt helpless as a child when their father had beaten Sophie. It had instilled in him the desire to protect those he loved. His affection might be greater for Sophie, but she understood his need to protect both of his sisters.