CHAPTER12
“What do you think, will it work?” Sophia asked Rachel beside her as she turned back and forth, looking in the mirror. Sophia had dressed well for the theater, with a pastel blue gown that shimmered in the light, but all of that was now hidden by the rather poor cloak she had put on. “Could I be mistaken for a maid, Rachel?”
“If no one looks beneath your hood.” Rachel smiled and gestured to Sophia’s face. “Here, let us try this.”
Sophia had not wanted to stay alone in the house anymore. She and Nick were mostly avoiding each other. The few meals they had shared, hardly anything was said. She wished to believe she had been right the other night that Nick had been in his cups and that had made him act in such an ill manner.
Yet that still meant this other version of Nick could return, if he drank again.
When she had suggested to Nick that she went to see Rachel for the evening, he had been firmly against the idea. No amount of her arguing that he did not control her seemed to change anything. He had given the staff plain instructions that no carriage was to be prepared for the night.
Fortunately, Rachel had solved everything. When Sophia had written saying she could not come, Rachel had appeared at the door to see Sophia instead.
“Your brother-in-law will think I am keeping you company in here all evening, I will make sure of it,” Rachel said with a scandalous whisper as she stepped back from Sophia. “You can sneak out under the guise of a maid and take my carriage from where it waits for you on the corner. Return the carriage to me later, and I will go home. Is it not a brilliant idea?” Rachel said with false pride, mocking herself. “I wonder at my own genius sometimes.”
Sophia laughed with her friend as she turned back and forth, looking in the mirror.
An evening with Jeremy… it is worth the risk of being caught.
“Thank you for doing this, Rachel.”
“Oh, it is my pleasure.” Rachel went to fetch a reticule from where it rested on a vanity table. “I have crept off enough times in the middle of the night, it is only right you get the opportunity to, though you shouldn’t have to.” Rachel grimaced at her own words as Sophia took the reticule. “Your brother-in-law has developed a sudden taste for keeping an eye on you.”
“Indeed, he has.” Sophia chewed her lip. She was about to tell Rachel what had passed between her and Nick, that he had declared a wish for her to share his bed, but there wasn’t time.
“Goodness! The clock has struck. You must go, now, if you are to reach the theater in time.” Rachel busted out of the room, prompting Sophia to follow.
Rachel kept watch on the staircase, her eyes on the study door on the other side of the entrance hall, ensuring it did not open as Sophia crept down the stairs. In the hallway, Sophia angled her head back and forth, not only wary of Nick seeing her leave, but any of the staff. After all, if a valet had already told Nick she had crept out once, then he could well tell Nick again.
Once she was certain no one was around, she crept toward the front door and unlocked it. The sound was unpleasantly loud, making her grimace as she looked back up to her friend. Rachel seemed to be holding herself still on the stairs, afraid of the study door opening at the sound, yet it didn’t. It stayed firmly still.
Sighing with relief, Sophia opened the door and waved at Rachel one last time. Rachel waved too and hurried up the stairs, disappearing onto the landing.
Once Sophia was outside, she crept down the footpath that led to the gate, out to the main road, hopeful that if anyone did see her leaving through the windows, they would mistake her in the poor cloak for a maid or another member of staff. As she stepped out onto the road, a loud whistle pierced the air. Sophia angled her head to the side, seeing a small brougham carriage with a driver at the front who was waving at her.
Sophia smiled and hurried toward him, rather relieved that Rachel’s staff seemed happy enough to take part in all their creeping around. Once she reached the side of the carriage, the driver jumped down from his place at the horse’s reins and opened the door, helping her inside.
“Here you go, My Lady.”
“Thank you,” Sophia said, barely able to contain her excitement. Once she was in and the door closed, she breathed a sigh of relief and unpinned the cloak from her head. She didn’t bother to light the lantern in the carriage with her, in case someone was still looking her way. She was more than happy to travel in darkness, as they moved away from her house.
Sophia looked back once at the house, peering at the windows, but she saw no figure standing there, looking out toward her. There was no one at all.
Perhaps this will work after all!
The excitement bled into Sophia as she sat back again in the carriage, giggling, unable to hold it in. As she waited with anticipation to arrive at the theater, she thought of the moment Jeremy had crept into the house the day before. The touch of his hands on her hips and how near he had come to kissing her. Even now, it brought goosebumps to her skin, out of the want to relive that moment.
Something is happening here. He is breaking his rules. Thank God for that!
* * *
“You bought a box? You neglected to tell me that,” Sophia said as they sat down at the only two chairs in their balcony box at the theater. Jeremy was beside her, smiling proudly as he sat back, flicking the tails of the tailcoat behind him.
“Perhaps I rather liked the idea of having you to myself.” His flirtatious words made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up on end. “Sophia, are you going to tell me why I just helped you out of Lady Rumpton’s carriage, not your own?”
Her smile faltered at his words. She had rather hoped Jeremy wouldn’t notice it at all. She didn’t want to speak of what Nick had said and done over the last couple of days. She wished to forget it all and lose herself in this moment with Jeremy.
“Another time,” she murmured. “I do not wish to think of it tonight.”